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The study presented here sought to determine how student teachers' personal characteristics, attitudes, knowledge, experience and skills for using collaborative learning influence their willingness to use this demanding pedagogy in their classes. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis model based on data from questionnaires emphasized the direct effect of experience on attitudes and skills, but showed no such effect on knowledge. There was no difference in research variables based on gender, age and degree in respondents' willingness to integrate collaborative learning. One major conclusion of the study is that teacher education programs should include a study of the theoretical and strategic aspects of collaborative learning, as well as active experience with this pedagogy.

The purpose of this study is to compare alternative teacher education programs in English as a foreign language (EFL), biology, and mathematics to traditional programs in the same subjects. To do this, we analyzed data on all of the students who studied in the aforementioned programs during 2009 and 2010 in the largest college of education in Israel--a total of 91 students from the alternative and 74 from the traditional programs. The study used administrative data provided by the college and by the Ministry of Education. The study examined the following aspects: performance during initial training, success during the induction period, retention rates in the first 5 years of teaching, and the characteristics of their placement in schools.

During 2009, three alternative teacher retraining programs in English as a Foreign Language, mathematics and biology were launched for the first time in one of Israel's largest teacher education colleges. The programs, which offered varied economic incentives to participants, were initiated by the state owing to shortages of teachers in these disciplines and the economic crisis in the hi-tech industry. After hundreds of candidates responded to the program's advertisement, 90 candidates were accepted and enrolled following rigorous screening. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the demographic, academic and occupational profiles of the candidates and students in each of the three programs in comparison with applicants and students in traditional teacher education retraining programs. The research population included a total of 611 candidates who had applied to all the teacher retraining programs offered in 2009. The study's findings indicate that not only did the alternative programs make the teaching profession more accessible to potential candidates; they also attracted students with impressive demographic, academic and occupational profiles that varied considerably from the profiles of the students in the traditional programs. Longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to investigate the adjustment, success and retention rates of these new teachers in the educational system.