Teacher educators are subject to the increasing complexities of our legal system. Legal complexity in teacher education has been engendered by the need to accommodate cultural and personal diversity, the decline of university paternalism (in loco parentis), an increase in the number of older college students, and the evolution of an implied contract between colleges and students. This article describes how teacher education is affected by evolving law, especially when the teacher is called upon to communicate evaluative comments about a trainee in the form of letters of reference, telephone recommendations, or submissions for placement files.
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