Renovating and refurbishing the field experience structures for novice teachers

Teacher education at both the preservice and the inservice level has been criticized for not adequately preparing teachers for the demands and challenges in the classrooms of today, or for the future. This article describes a federally funded project awarded through the Office of Special Education Programs. The intended outcome was to improve the knowledge and application of professional skills and competencies for both preservice teachers (student teachers) and inservice teachers (supervising master teachers) through continuous, focused staff development, reflection, discussion, and coaching. The project focused attention on three related issues: (a) the role and training of the supervising and/or master teacher, (b) better partnerships between teacher preparation programs and the public schools, and (c) the effects of school structure on teachers' continued professional growth. This article describes the program planning, goals, activities, components, and impact of this personnel preparation project.