Teacher Education: Evaluating the Student Teaching Process in Special Education

Robert M. Anderson discusses a two day conference which was conducted by a university department of special education for the purpose of establishing closer lines of communication between supervising teachers in the public schools and university personnel and to evaluate the student teaching program. Lectures, group and panel discussions, and other activities were included in the conference. Following the conference, an evaluation form was sent to each of the participants. Ninety percent of the participants responded to the questionnaire. There was a consensus that the institute had been productive and that similar institutes should be held periodically in the future. Henry A. Goodstein discusses a questionnaire to assess teacher preparation practices in the area of mathematics education. The questionnaire was responded to by 152 out of 190 scholarship programs for the training of teachers of mentally retarded children. The results indicate a wide variance in the approaches various programs use in providing training in mathematics education. It is suggested that closer cooperation between special educators and mathematics educators be effected in future program modifications.