Preservice Teacher Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This is a report on a survey of the heads of education units, faculty, and students in United States higher education institutions that prepare teachers. Questionnaires were sent to administrative officials of teacher education institutions, faculty of these institutions, and students. The size of the selected schools ranged from small colleges to large universities. The body of the report deals specifically with the characteristics of institutions, programs, and students and presents speculation on potential future directions in teacher education. The design seqment of the study commenced with a needs survey, during which more than one-hundred policy makers in education were interviewed to determine what they believed to be the major data needs and issues in preservice teacher education. In addition, a series of position papers on major dimensions of preservice education was created. These include: (1) the structure and content of teacher preparation programs, which deals with the issues surrounding the curricula at schools, colleges, and/or departments of education; (2) the characteristics of faculty and students in teacher preparation programs, which outlines the descriptive as well as value and attitudinal information important to the survey; (3) governance and decision-making processes in institutions that prepare teachers, which describes the major decisions made within teacher preparation programs and the institutional forces that impact on these decisions; (4) cost and financing, which explores the current sources of revenue and expenditures, and the implication of these for the financial viability of programs. Questionnaires and responses are appended. (JD)