In this article, we challenge the status quo of current student-teaching practice, which has remained relatively unchanged for close to 100 years. This 4-year study identifies the differences between a coteaching and a non-coteaching model of student teaching. Quantitative and qualitative results clearly demonstrate the positive impact of…

This study explored preservice teachers' perceptions about coteaching. Two classes of preservice teachers in special education and social studies were paired and asked to modify a lesson plan for students with disabilities. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed, and themes were extracted. Two findings emerged: First, preservice teachers…

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…

This study focuses on the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample's critical sections Assessment Plan and Analysis of Student Learning. Preliminary review of scoring data based on the sample revealed that preservice teachers at a large comprehensive institution teacher program appeared to be most challenged with designing assessments and analyzing student…

Because of the present, increasing economic circumstances, poverty is fast becoming a crisis, and teacher preparation programs must begin to prepare teachers to explicitly address the needs of poor children. The inclusion of poverty in this discourse is in no way intended to discount the issues of race, ethnicity, and gender. The intention here is…

Social studies students are inundated with pedagogy in which exposure to factual information is overwhelmingly the paramount means to success. Students are often encouraged to regurgitate facts as a means to demonstrate academic understanding. Passive learning dominates social studies curriculum despite the abundance of research calling for…

We administered two instruments designed to assess and predict teacher effectiveness, the TeacherInsight Interview (TI) and the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (TWS), to student teachers (N = 396) at a large comprehensive institution in the Southeastern United States to investigate whether TWS performance predicts TI scores. We first investigated…

The importance of the social studies curriculum has been potentially underestimated for individuals with cognitive disabilities. Inherent in this curriculum are standards and expectations for skills with citizenship. Collaborative instruction in citizenship requires planning, understanding of diversity, authentic instruction, and an emphasis on…

This article examines how film can be used to engage students in critical thinking, and it offers a framework for using film to build citizens of character. We argue that the use of film in the classroom can help students analyze their values and decision making for the purpose of becoming effective citizens. A brief history of character education…

This article presents the natural rights construct as the perspective used in civic education, by outlining its moral, theoretical, and curricular elements. Morally, the construct holds a liberal view of individual rights and liberty from subjugation. The theoretical element consists of a description of the political systems model, which…

Online discussions enabled preK-12 teachers (n = 125) from five nations (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and the United States) to share their perspectives of culture and citizenship and the intersections of those concepts. Discussion moved between elements of personal and others' theory into effects of theory on practice. Teachers identified…

Citizenship preparation is recognized as a main goal of education (Parker, 2009); however, some individuals believe that only social studies teachers are required to prepare students for citizenship. At a Southeastern university, 77 teacher education students consisting of 28 men and 49 women from various content areas were interviewed on civic…

The reality of tribal nationhood and the dual citizenship that Native Americans carry in their tribal nations and the United States significantly expands the definition and parameters of citizen education. Citizenship education means including and understanding the historical and political contexts of all U.S. citizens--especially, those…

This article explores secondary preservice teachers' attitudes toward the use of teacher self-disclosure as a tool for citizenship education. Based on the notion that teacher self-disclosure may function as citizenship curriculum, this study addressed critical issues of teachers' sharing their knowledge about religions (including their own) and…

As public schools become increasingly diverse, novice teachers are being called on to prepare their students for a multicultural democracy. This article presents a case study of three preservice teachers who attempted to teach for critical multicultural citizenship during their student-teaching semester in an accountability-driven school context.…