Five Attributes of a Teacher Education Program Knowledge Base

Abstract

Prominent researchers in teaching and teacher education have advocated the development of a formal knowledge base to guide program design in teacher education. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education's recent adoption of an accreditation standard requiring that teacher education programs be based on essential knowledge forces teacher educators to specify the knowledge base for their programs. To assist teacher educators in defining a knowledge base for their programs, five attributes of a knowledge base are described: a set of beliefs, an organiz ing theme, program outcomes and evaluation processes, a bibliography of essential references, and a program model.