Recently, interdisciplinary instruction has come back to the educational scene, specifically supported through the Common Core State Standards. As teacher educators and former middle-level teachers, the authors see this as a positive move to enhance learning for adolescents. This qualitative study sought to answer: How do secondary preservice and…

Teacher efficacy represents a powerful influence on the behaviors of teachers due to its impact on instructional choice, effort, and persistence. Yet few studies have been conducted examining differences in efficacy among groups of teachers with varying levels of experience, including those still engaged in teacher preparation programs. This study…

This study compared the effectiveness of three teacher education programs in terms of their impact on teacher competencies. The programs include a traditional 4-year teacher certification program, an alternative certification-based master of arts in teaching program, and an alternative certification program without the master degree option. The…

This article describes an investigation into the use of self-assessment to facilitate students' learning in teacher education. The study aimed to explore whether there were any changes in students' teaching and learning practice after using self-assessment. Participants comprised 47 students who were enrolled in an in-service teacher education…

This article examines how preservice and in-service teachers can be prepared to understand and implement school law. First, we report on research findings about what teachers know, do not know, and want to know about education law and where they get their information. Second, we identify the current norms, practices, and implications of preservice…

This study investigates in-service early childhood teachers' "practical knowledge" (Elbaz, 1981) in implementing changes in the classroom in the Republic of Singapore. In Singapore, many early childhood classrooms are teacher-directed where learning takes place in large groups. As part of the in-service teacher education program, a…

The literacy-content dualism, which suggests that teachers must decide whether to provide literacy or content instruction, is a false dualism and adherence to it is detrimental to student participation in content-area reasoning, learning, and communicating. This article describes the experiences that prompted the teacher educators who authored…

Movies with teachers as main characters provide a powerful medium of instruction in the teacher-education classroom. The authors describe a graduate course for practicing teachers, "The Portrayal of Teachers in Film," in which such movies stimulate the examination of trends in the portrayal of teachers and serve as springboards for the exploration…

Presents a model of practicing teachers' technology learning processes, which emerged from comparative analysis across life-history case studies of four English teachers with varied technology and teaching experience. Teachers' knowledge and experience and the nature of the technology learning experience, together, led to multiple pathways through…

Explores contradictions and tensions in action research on the technical aspects of good teaching and democratic possibilities of empowering teachers and learners. A case study of an action research course for practicing teachers highlights dilemmas in teaching action research as a university course. Most participating teachers felt empowered by…

Describes Idaho State University's Partnership School Program, which educates preservice and inservice teachers about Native cultures, values, and ways of knowing, highlighting a public school on the Fort Hall Shoshone-Bannock Indian Reservation. By applying principles of constructivist teaching and collaboration as communities of learners, many…

Presents findings from an action research study that addressed the problem of promoting change in teaching practices through graduate teacher education. A naturalistic case study describes factors for understanding successful change in teaching practices for one first grade teacher who initiated a writing workshop in her classroom following a…

Describes two teacher educators' efforts to understand ownership in learner-centered programs. Participants were K-5 teachers in a collaborative master's program guided by constructivist theory. Data from weekly planning meetings, classroom observations and follow-ups with teachers, group discussions, and surveys helped researchers identify:…

Describes one university's graduate teacher education programs, which reflect continuous teacher development to stimulate teacher expertise, explaining how student achievement depends upon teacher quality. The paper describes the graduate licensure program, alternative licensure for bilingual teachers, the Master's degree for inservice teachers,…

Investigated preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions about adopting case methodology for instruction. Interviews with students in a graduate course on using computer technology and case methodology to integrate instruction indicated that for teachers to adopt innovations, the learning process must be individualized. Collaboration,…