The purpose of this study was to determine perspectives of teacher education graduates about their cooperating teachers during preservice placements. Discovering how graduates of a teacher education program perceived their cooperating teachers with regard to the attributes of leadership, diversity, collaborating, reflecting (and thinking critically), remaining a learner for life, caring, and teaching about social responsibility provided insight into what was needed in the future to aid the cooperating teacher in helping the preservice teacher begin the lifelong journey toward effective teaching and teacher leadership. This discovery also led to identifying not only the needs that existed for the preservice teachers but also for the cooperating teachers and recommendations for ways in which these needs may be met by the College of Education. This information may lead to stronger cooperating teacher/preservice teacher relationships and to stronger relations between the cooperating teachers and the College of Education.;The major finding of this study was the high, positive responses that preservice teachers gave to the evaluation of their cooperating teachers. The entire group of preservice teachers and all subgroups of these indicated that they perceived their cooperating teachers positively.
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