The Office of Field Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville has implemented a research-based, collaborative-interactive student teacher supervision program featuring the provision of objective feedback during the preobservation conference, observation, and postobservation conference. (CB)

A review of research relating to the writing and use of letters of recommendation suggests that students, placement officials, employers, and authors of recommendation letters should work from facts rather than opinion. Categories such as lesson planning, lesson presentation, classroom management, discipline, and interpersonal relations can be…

Congress is considering establishing a Literacy Corps that will enable college students to volunteer a few hours a week as assistant teachers to students in nearby public schools in return for college credit. How this program would work is described. (CB)

Research relating personality factors to teacher effectiveness is reviewed. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed. (MT)

Literature focusing on teacher educators is reviewed in an effort to understand who is preparing our teachers. The importance of critical examination of professors in order to strengthen their effectiveness is emphasized. (MT)

Penmanship is not simple for most young children, nor for many older students; yet, the skill is virtually ignored in teacher education. A model for training teachers to teach handwriting is suggested, incorporating: (1) diagnosis of students' needs; (2) motivational techniques; (3) classroom strategies; and (4) balancing creativity and mechanics.…

This article discusses the status of the teaching profession, addressing such issues as entry into the profession, the job market, the image of teaching and teacher education, and reform efforts. The success of reforms will largely depend on whether teaching conditions, especially salaries, improve. (PP)

Reasons why teachers do not use educational research are summarized, and an interactive research and development project aimed at overcoming utilization problems is described. In the project, teachers, staff developers, and Texas Tech University researchers worked collaboratively to study problems and concerns of classroom teachers. (PP)

Areas of stress that might interfere with student teachers' performance are identified, and strategies for ameliorating stress are recommended. Teacher training institutions should take steps to alleviate areas of stress prior to the student teaching experience. (PP)

In spite of the recent emphasis in preservice teacher education on more and earlier field experiences, studies are challenging the contributions of full-time student teaching to professional growth. Although pragmatic findings favor the inclusion of field experience in teacher preparation programs, the importance of field experience has not been…

The future of teacher education programs at most private universities is uncertain. Student enrollments in education courses are at an all-time low. Private institutions suffer from competition with state universities which can offer training in teacher education at a lower tuition fee. (JN)

The issue is no longer whether control of teacher education will shift away from institutions of higher education, but to what extent, and to which of the interest groups now vying for control of major program components it will shift to. The impact of potential changes in preservice and inservice teacher education, field experiences,…

The Ohio State Board of Education approved new standards for colleges and universities preparing teachers, which have major implications: (1) joint governance of teacher education by universities and school districts; (2) university involvement in in-service teacher education programs; and (3) a new emphasis on field experiences in a variety of…

Explores the cooperating teacher's role as a central feature of the student teaching experience and as it relates to the cooperating teacher's own career. The paper stresses the need for K-12 schools and schools, colleges, and departments of education to acknowledge that teacher preparation is their joint responsibility. (SM)

Illustrates the value of technology in the classroom, describing an attempt to merge educational technology with multicultural course content. The article examines four software programs that helped reinforce principles of multicultural education for preservice elementary educators. Technology allows students to choose what they consider…