This study examines and analyzes the impact and support of preservice teachers on 74 featured P-5 students' learning outcomes during units of instruction in three practicum tiers in an early childhood education program. The quantitative results indicate a significant difference in the P-5 students' gains on the pre- and post-assessment…

This article describes a case study of an online literacy methods course offered at a small, midwestern university. Formal and informal instruments were used to assess students' backgrounds, interests, and dispositions. Archival course data were analyzed to examine interactions among content, course design, and student characteristics.…

Service-learning provides community service as well as authentic, curriculum-driven learning experiences (Furco & Root, 2010) and has been an effective component of teacher education courses (García, Arias, Murri, & Surna, 2010; Mitton-Kukner, Nelson, & Descrochers, 2010; Spencer, Cox-Petersen, & Crawford, 2005). With these…

Observations of preservice teachers often lack information about specific strategies they use when guiding children's behavior. This study investigated how preservice teachers used verbal and non-verbal behavior modification techniques within structured and transition classroom contexts. Using an on-the-mark 20- second observe and 10-second…

Educational standardized testing impacts millions of children and educational professionals each year. In the current accountability climate, an effective educational system depends on professionals who are literate in assessment and can take the appropriate actions in response to test results. Measurement researchers should begin to focus more…

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of probationary teachers' contracts. Principals in the Southeastern Unites States completed an e-mailed survey. Two nonparametric tests,…

This case study of a joint school/university professional development opportunity explored how 12 practitioners came together to examine change in light of discrepancies between current practice in local schools and promising practices recommended in the literature for students identified as having significant disabilities. The group met monthly…

In this article, the author presents an analysis of 23 school stories (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996) composed by preservice teachers as part of an elective course in an undergraduate teacher preparation program. Three layers of analysis--topical, thematic, and theoretical coding--provide insight into the contribution of the school story genre…

This article presents findings from a study conducted with a teacher focus group asked to read and discuss their responses to selected published teacher narratives of reflective practice. The teachers challenged features of practitioner reflection presented in several of the reading selections as not representative of how they experienced…

This study investigates the role that a socioculturally grounded university English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program played in shaping teachers' work with English Language Learners (ELLs). Subjects were a group of teachers at "Wheatland Elementary School," a newly designated ESOL site for a school district in Kansas. From an analysis…

This investigation addressed the use of problem-solving teams (PST) to support general education teachers working in inclusive classrooms. Eight teams in a high-poverty elementary school that had recently implemented an inclusive program were the focus of the study. Teachers noted several benefits of PSTs, including social support, learning new…

Teacher preparation programs have been under attack by policy makers in the last decade, and teacher educators are constantly striving to improve their programs. Yet, there are several research-based practices that have been shown to be effective for developing teachers. In this article, the author summarizes a study in one science methods course…

This study investigated the favorite subject to teach and enjoyment of teaching of 490 elementary school teachers (K-5) from two rural school districts in the southeastern United States. Reading and language arts were consistently ranked among the favorite and most enjoyed subjects to teach, whereas science and writing were consistently ranked…

In conducting a study on the programmatic experiences of lesbian and bisexual preservice teachers, narratives of the silenced identity categories of participants led researchers to consider more queer approaches in their own research practices. In this article, we use queer theory and autoethnography to explore what queer research in teacher…

This article describes research conducted to examine 71 preservice teachers' theoretical orientations of classroom management and the impact of student teaching on these orientations as well as their overall views regarding classroom management. Results indicated preservice teachers demonstrated inconsistent beliefs with regard to philosophies of…