Qualifications of Professional Education Faculty.

Overview & Synopsis

A major criticism leveled at professional education faculty appears to be that their elementary or secondary school experience is often outdated and inadequate. The purpose of this study was to explore the validity of this criticism. A questionnaire designed to investigate the qualifications and elementary secondary teaching experience of teacher education faculty was sent to 62 public and private schools of education in Texas. The following activities were listed most often by the respondents as avenues through which professional education faculty remained familiar and up-to-date with elementary and secondary practices: (1) supervision of student teachers and interns; (2) inservice programs; (3) various types of field based programs; and (4) teacher center interaction between university faculty, elementary and secondary teachers, and school administrators. It was concluded that the professional education faculty members surveyed were well qualified educationally for preparing elementary and secondary teachers. (JD)