Includes bibliographical references (p. 377-398) and indexes.

1: Creating powerful teacher education -- Why teacher education is important--and difficult -- Addressing the dilemmas of teacher education: evidence of success -- 2: Conceptualizing knowledge, skills, and practice -- Conceptualizing the knowledge base for teaching -- Developing and assessing teaching: constructing performances of understanding -- Constructing the clinical experience: the glue for powerful preparation -- 3: Bringing it all together -- The double helix of teaching: managing the dialectic between students and subjects -- Educating for equity -- Preparing teachers to reach all students -- 4: Issues of context and change -- Transforming teacher education: institutional challenges -- Developing professional policy.

Powerful Teacher Education describes the strategies, goals, content, and processes of seven highly successful and long standing teacher education programs at Alverno College, Bank Street College, Trinity University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Southern Maine, University of Virginia, and Wheelock College. All these colleges and universities have succeeded in preparing teachers to teach diverse learners to achieve high levels of performance and understanding. In discussing the common features of these programs, Linda Darling Hammond shows what outstanding teacher education models do and how they do it, and what their graduates accomplish as a result. Powerful Teacher Education also examines the policies, organizational features, resources, and relationships that have enabled these programs to succeed.