This study examines the motivating factors that prompted post-baccalaureate students to change careers and to pursue an initial teaching license. Researchers collected survey data from 346 nontraditional teaching candidates who were part of either an initial licensure master's degree program or a statewide nontraditional licensure program.…

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.…

This study was designed to examine the effects of self-efficacy, expectations of future work environment, and emotional intelligence on preservice teacher commitment to the teaching profession on a sample of 209 preservice teachers. The purpose of the study was to add to the existing knowledge surrounding preservice teacher commitment and promote…

This article describes the Parent Teacher Education Curriculum, a Web-based curriculum focused on instructing teachers about best practices in family involvement and assesses its impact on the knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers related to family involvement. Pre- and post-measures of preservice teacher candidate knowledge of and…

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…

The positive impact of family-school relationships is well documented in the literature, as is the need for teacher education to prepare teachers to work positively with diverse families. This article reports the experiences and perspectives of candidates in an elementary urban teacher preparation program in the United States as they engaged in…

In the United States, but not only here, the movement to evaluate teachers based on student test scores has received powerful political and parental support. The logic is simple. From one testing occasion to another students should show growth in their knowledge and skill. Similar types of students should show similar patterns of growth. Those…

In this research study the authors analyzed the effectiveness of content-area education students tutoring adolescents and documented changes in the attitudes of the education students over time. Tutors tested the reading comprehension of both the students they tutored (treatment group) and students they did not (comparison group). The authors used…

This auto-ethnographic narrative presents the experiences of a teacher educator who came out to his preservice teachers. The narrative documents a diversity workshop in which some teacher candidates were uncomfortable after the instructor's previously undisclosed sexuality was revealed. The implications of this narrative raise questions about the…

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…

One characteristic of master's programs that has received little attention in the literature is the opportunity that cohorts allow for creating intellectually coherent programs rather than a collection of independent courses. We thus describe how the faculty who taught in a cohort for students earning a master of arts degree in K-8 mathematics…

The authors examined the beliefs of 351 teacher candidates, from various levels of training, regarding the effectiveness of potential interventions for childhood disorders. They were primarily interested in participants' responses to three categories of interventions: (a) evidence-based, (b) controversial, and (c) primarily anecdotal. They found…

Describes the experiences of elementary students and teachers embarking on a mathematics differentiation project in which teachers received training in curriculum modification. Data from interviews, focus groups, and observations suggest that a modified or enhanced curriculum unit, with appropriate, escalated learning goals and authentic resources…

Examined how white students in an undergraduate multicultural education course experienced difficult, emotional content about racism. Analysis of samples of students' reflective writing indicated that the coursework influenced students' racial identities. Reflective writing in combination with teaching practices informed by psychological theory…

The competency-based approach is used in teaching educational measurement during a five-week summer session. (SK)