The professional development school (PDS) is a model of choice for many teacher preparation programs. This approach integrates the functions of teacher preparation, professional development, inquiry and research, and student achievement to bring about whole-school improvement and the simultaneous renewal of the teaching profession. Ideally,…

Within communities, groups that control the creation and use of language hold the power to dominate those marginalized by powerless speech and an inability to coconstruct the language of evaluation. In this article, I explore taken-for-granted teacher education practices, and I challenge the deficit model of instruction, which views future…

Given that the numbers of culturally and/or linguistically diverse students being educated in U.S. public schools are growing immensely, teacher educators must take responsibility for preparing teacher candidates to work in today's diverse classrooms. This can be difficult, however, if teacher educators are not culturally responsive in their…

This research examines perceptions of special education teachers toward mathematics as related to self as student and teacher throughout a semester-long mathematics methods course. Eighteen alternate-entrant special education teachers provided data in the form of mathematics autobiographical essays and classroom drawings. Autobiographical essays…

Within the current high-stakes accountability context, student achievement data have become a central focus for instructional decisions given that teachers are held accountable for student performance. Furthermore, as response to intervention is implemented nationwide to identify and monitor students with disabilities, teachers will be required to…

Studies examining the discourse on issues related to sexual orientation in physical education reveal that the physical education setting is an environment where heterosexism, heteronormativity, and homophobia subsist fervently. The purpose of this article is to review the growing research that has been conducted on homophobia in physical education…

Based on a conceptual framework explaining the characteristics and learned traits gained from student teaching abroad, this study sought to identify common perceptions from hiring school administrators in the state of Iowa. A common question asked by teacher candidates is "Does my experience abroad help me acquire a teaching position?" The…

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2008) requires that institutions preparing teachers consider not only the knowledge and skills needed to enter the classroom but also the dispositions for professional practice. Thus, teacher educators need to develop pedagogical practices designed to foster dispositions such as those…

Male teachers are in demand in U.S. elementary schools and elementary teacher education programs. The 2002 National Education Association's Representative Assembly approved a measure to "identify, recognize, recruit, and retain" more male teachers, with an emphasis on elementary and minority teachers. The present article reports on a qualitative…

Students entering school from economically disadvantaged homes may have difficulty developing early literacy skills, leading to subsequent reading difficulties and poor academic performance. It is not sufficient for at-risk children to make progress; their achievement has to be accelerated, given that their middle-class peers are also making…

This article explores learning experiences utilized in an adolescent literacy course to facilitate preservice teachers' development of knowledge and dispositions to teach critical literacy for social justice. The analysis is conducted through self-study methods and the theoretical construct of third space. Findings indicate that engaging…

Teachers (n = 20) and administrators (n = 18) from two school districts in southern Ontario, Canada, were interviewed with a semistructured format. Employed in both elementary and secondary schools, participants were asked about their understanding and use of assessment "of" (summative), "for" (formative), and "as" (student metacognitive skills)…

The belief that teachers are professionals has become so pervasive during the past one third century that it is increasingly viewed as a fact. This article reviews the 13 characteristics of a profession advanced by sociologists of occupations, and it provides evidence that teachers fall far short of achieving them. However, it is noteworthy that…

In this response to Donald A. Myers's "The Teacher as a Service Professional" (2008 [this issue]), the author suggests that teacher educators should not buy into Myers's concept because such would sell them short and be counterproductive to the advancement of the teaching profession. Teacher educators must not give up their struggle to advance the…

This response to Myers's concept of the teacher as a service professional considers each of his positions in analogy form. With support from the literature from education and elsewhere, the article maintains that teaching is a profession and that it matters greatly to teachers and society that it be strengthened as such. Examples are offered…