Teacher educators have an obligation to prepare pre-service teachers to understand and work with the diversity represented by students across K-12 schools. However, diversity is much broader than the categories of race or ethnicity. Because of current legislative mandates' emphasis on providing access to the general education curriculum for…

This study highlights one semester of ongoing research reflecting how preservice English students performed dispositions for social justice. This work draws on a postmethod approach, observing participants' artifacts and participation in a variety of classroom activities. By tapping into participants' funds of social justice knowledge,…

In this research reflection, we develop a portrait of our engaged pedagogy for teaching educational foundations classes in teacher education. Our engaged pedagogy--based on autobiography and self-disclosure traditions-- emphasizes instructors and students' self-disclosure of lived experiences as being central to practical curriculum in…

In order to determine the ways in which teacher preparation programs will need to change to meet the needs of preparing STEM teachers in the near future, it is necessary to ascertain what STEM teacher preparation programs are actually doing in the present. This chapter presents a comparative analysis of six different science teacher education…

This article describes the first phase of a longitudinal study that examines the impact of teacher preparation programs on the literacy instructional practices of teacher candidates. Case summaries and cross-case analysis by 12 researchers of 10 teacher preparation universities across the United States determined (1) the signature aspects of…

Increased use of field-based teacher preparation offers important opportunities to develop skills with diverse learners. However, limited focus on theoretical content restricts understanding and generalization of well-proven theoretical approaches, resulting in fragmented field applications unlikely to result in broad application. Inspired by Kurt…

In this study, we examined six preservice teachers' learning of knowledge for secondary English-language learners (ELLs). The results indicated that the Student Teacher Enrichment Program helped preservice teachers become aware of the strategies for teaching ELLs and realize the discrepancies and differences between ELL code and linguistic…

Loyola University Chicago's Teaching, Learning, and Leading With Schools and Communities (TLLSC) program is an ambitious break from traditional university-based teacher preparation models. This clinically based initial teacher preparation program, fully embedded in local schools and community organizations, takes an ecological perspective on…

We used qualitative methods to explore how a graduate literacy program prepares in-service teacher education candidates to support the literacy development of diverse learners in the United States. Using data from program evaluations collected in 2009 and 2010, coursework, rubrics, candidates' work samples, and surveys from 24 respondents (a…

To address shortfalls in the preparation and achievement of U.S. students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), instruction in these areas must begin in the elementary grades, as early as kindergarten (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2007; Natural Academy of Sciences, 2007; National Research…

An alternative mathematics preparation program for K-8 teachers is described as an existence proof that steadily increasing effectiveness of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) preparation is possible. The program is based on treating every lesson in each of five mathematics content and methods courses as objects of study.…

This article describes a unique approach to developing and delivering the curriculum for an experimental program that prepares STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates for teaching in high-needs secondary schools. The context for the collaborative design--including the charge, personnel, and purpose of the program--is…

Various iterations of STEM have been in the forefront of national educational reform of science and math teaching over the last two decades. Most recently, STEM is being viewed as the integration of the sciences, math, technology, and engineering to solve authentic problems, rather than an individual collection of related subjects. This approach…

With the recent interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), educators have begun to rethink how these disciplines are taught. Beyond redesigning curricula and core standards, an educational culture is emerging that reexamines the purpose of STEM education and whom it serves. To ensure that all learners are inspired and prepared…

Given federal mandates, public school districts have adopted inclusive practices with the expectation that general education teachers can accommodate students with disabilities. For teacher preparation programs to prepare future teachers for this reality, it is important to understand the composition of a "typical" general education…