Professional development that scaffolds and supports supervisors is critical for quality field experiences and is our responsibility as teacher educators. The literature supports this statement and two ideas that conceptually frame our work: (1) quality field experiences are a critical component of preservice programs and (2) training and support…

Although the importance of field experience is supported and attended to by teacher education programs across the United States, there have been numerous national reports and research findings stressing the need for major improvements in the preparation of teachers with an emphasis on more authentic experiences. Quality field experiences have the…

To evaluate the impact of the emergent national teacher performance assessment (TPA) on student teachers, this study examined a pilot implementation at one university in Washington State during Spring 2011. The qualitative research focused on the lived experience of those directly affected by TPA implementation: student teachers, mentor teachers,…

Although classroom video is well recognized as a valuable reflective resource for student teachers, we know very little about how university supervisors' pedagogical practices are shaped by creating and using videos with their student teachers. This study explored how 12 supervisors developed greater stances of inquiry toward their practices…

The middle-grades program at a state university recently underwent a program redesign in an effort to ensure that teacher candidates are well prepared to teach in today's contemporary middle schools while maintaining the principles and standards established by the Association of Middle Level Educators. The purpose of this article is to…

Colleges of education must instantiate their candidates' knowledge, skills, and dispositions for accreditation. Professors often have candidates reflect on field experience as a way to enhance their learning. This study examines reflections of 43 candidates over a 2-year period. Candidates engaged in an after-school enrichment program as…

Field experiences hold great promise for preparing candidates for effective urban teaching. This article reviews the research investigating the influence of field experiences on teacher candidates' perceptions of urban students from 1995 to 2010. The 36 articles that met the authors' criteria were organized into three general categories: studies…

This study describes the components of a field-based Read Aloud Project (RAP) in which teacher candidates create and implement language and literacy rich read-alouds for bilingual learners. In addition, an examination of the impact of such a project on several areas of teacher candidates' pedagogical expertise reveals that the RAP produces…

The field-based mentoring of student teachers is often an idiosyncratic and nuanced practice in which mentors' conceptualizations of their interactions with student teachers are generated through personal experiences with teacher education. If teacher educators and programs are to strengthen the tie between campus and field-based teacher…

This study examined the differential effectiveness of three pathways to an elementary teaching credential across a large public university system. The study compared traditional campus-based, intern, and online credential programs across a 22-campus system using ratings of program preparation by 12,590 graduates after their first year of teaching…

This article chronicles the perspectives of two teacher candidates who displayed comfort with cultural issues and teaching for social justice, in contrast with many of their peers in the program who were uncomfortable with diversity. Their field experiences in a piloted urban reading practicum are documented, as part of a partnership with a…

Federal legislation (Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act, No Child Left Behind) mandates access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. As a response, K-12 schools are moving to coteaching models with increased frequency (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). However, preservice teachers…

Teacher education programs must continue to find greater parallels between the experiences provided to teacher candidates and what is occurring in classrooms. In this article, we describe technology use in schools, our courses, and our students' field experiences. Specifically, we describe the results of our efforts to mirror our teacher education…

This article examines the effectiveness of a 1-year full-time credential program in recruiting, preparing, and retaining elementary, secondary, and special education teachers for urban schools. The program was designed to restructure teacher education as a shared school-university responsibility and to reflect best teacher preparation practices…

The purpose of this 3-year investigation was to determine if a relationship exists between teacher reflectivity and the classroom performance of novice teachers when final evaluations are aligned with national standards. This study included 98 novice teachers enrolled in their final field-based teaching experience. Participants reflected over two…