There is a need for research in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teacher education that addresses the challenge of building teachers' pedagogical skills in fostering the development of mathematical reasoning in students. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics provide teachers with guidance on how to promote…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiatives in the United States have surged as the demand for high-quality STEM education has escalated (Nadelson, Callahan, Pyke, Hay, & Schrader, 2009; Parry, 2011). The goal of this article is to present a description of how one STEM-focused elementary teacher preparation…

A decade ago, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, along with the Ford and Annenberg Foundations, undertook a reform initiative, Teachers for a New Era (TNE). The goal of the TNE was to "stimulate construction of excellent teacher education programs at selected colleges and universities"(Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2001, p. 1). As…

Although preparing teachers to be leaders is a common goal of teacher education programs, often "teaching" and "leading" are located in separate departments" (Mangin & Stoelinga, 2009, p. 56). Recently, however, the assessment of teacher leadership has become important in preservice teacher education. This importance…

This case study is an examination of one pre-service teacher's experience in a reading methods course, entitled Reading Models and Methods, and corresponding urban reading practicum. Jennifer (a pseudonym) participated in a program aimed to address varying dilemmas that persist in the field, including: pre-service teachers' discomfort with…

"These families must be so sad. I just wonder what they do and if they have any type of normal life." "I am not sure how I will work with parents. I think they probably look to the school for a lot of help." These quotes were taken from preservice teachers' papers early in their teacher education program, in which they were asked to describe what…

The literature is sated with calls for more and better communication between home and school. Teachers believe that parents should be more involved, but seem at a loss as to how to make that happen, and parents often feel disconnected to their child's teacher and the school. Few would argue that it is the responsibility of classroom teachers to…

The call for reform of teacher preparation programs by Arne Duncan (2009), U.S. Secretary of Education, has the potential to be the catalyst for a re-emergence of co-teaching in higher education. Duncan argues for the need to implement innovative preservice teacher education strategies that will result in an increase in K-12 student achievement.…

In response to a critical need in teacher preparation, study abroad programs aimed at developing multicultural competencies in pre-service teachers have proliferated across the United States. Multicultural competencies constitute the ability to challenge misconceptions that lead to discrimination based on cultural difference, reflect on one's…

The racial/ethnic populations in public schools have changed dramatically in recent years and will continue to shift to a majority non-White population. The National Center for Education Statistics (2010) reports 67.3% of the student population in urban districts is composed of students of color. Yet, the population of teachers in the United…

While programs have been established to support secondary level English Learners (ELs) in their transition to institutions of higher education (IHEs), limited attention has been given to how to support adult ELs who struggle with the academic language demands of their college or university content-area courses. Research indicates that many EL…

In 2005, a group of faculty who work in the field of teacher education and are invested in social justice formed a group to examine how teacher preparation programs address (or often do not address) LGBTQ lives and issues. Concern about the invisibility of LGBTQ people, movements in education, and a commitment to changing the current state of…

Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation's urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught…

Perhaps one of the most controversial topics in the field of teacher education today is what constitutes an effective preservice program for preparing individuals to instruct students in the twenty-first century. A discussion of the merits of the approaches to teacher certification has also been compounded by issues relating to legal mandates such…

The former president of Teachers College, Columbia University, Arthur Levine questioned the connection between what one learns in pre-service teacher education programs and what one does as a teacher. From a meta-analysis of several studies he found that: A shockingly low percentage of principals said that their teachers were very or moderately…