This is a case study about how teacher education might better prepare rural teacher candidates for rural schools. Parents, teachers, community members, and students associated with a rural school described what is important in the preparation of teachers for today's rural schools. Their goals and wishes for their children's school and…

This article explores the place of teacher dispositions in English teacher preparation by contextualizing the issue of dispositions in English teacher preparation. This allows consideration for the importance of developing professional dispositions during English teacher preparation by recognizing that various stakeholders (teacher educators,…

The purpose of this study was to use the Stages of Concerns (SoC) framework established by Hall and Loucks as a way to usefully identify types of teachers. Teachers who participated in the study were attending a professional development program called Great Expectations (GE). A modified version of the SoC questionnaire was used, so an exploratory…

The value of research-informed classroom practices is well recognized and thus this qualitative study was designed to explore, from multiple perspectives, the experiences and influences of classroom practices for students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The inductive analysis of 11 focus groups and three interviews involving 60…

This longitudinal interpretative case study examined the constructivist beliefs and related practices of four secondary history teachers from their teacher preparation through their first year in the classroom. The results of this study showed that issues of classroom control were major barriers for the implementation of constructivist-oriented…

We examine preservice mathematics teachers' conceptions of writing as a tool for learning mathematics before and after participation in and reflection on writing tasks. We describe the use of two targeted activities incorporated into a secondary methods course: writing to learn mathematics (WTLM) and reflection on that writing. Prior to…

Since becoming an educational researcher in the late 1980s, Gregory Marchant has struggled with the disconnect between what is known from educational research and what is practiced in educational policy. In fact, his dissertation looked at support for practices identified through the process-product effective teaching research from elementary and…

Building on Ball's (2009) model of generative change, we explored how two experienced literacy teachers, after completing a graduate-level multicultural literacy course, enacted the tenets of critical literacy. Ball defined teachers' generative thinking as "connecting their personal and professional knowledge with the knowledge that they gain from…

With a view to attracting more students and offering flexible learning opportunities, online teaching and learning is becoming increasingly widespread across the higher education sector. It is now found across a wide range of disciplines (e.g., business, health, psychology, accounting, information technology) and program levels (e.g., from…

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…

Approximately 80% of new teachers have mentors, yet mentoring typically fails to foster new teachers' professional learning--particularly in high-poverty schools. This qualitative study was situated within an urban teacher residency context and explored how six first-year urban teachers and the two induction mentors with whom they worked perceived…

Although education is not the highest priority in this year's presidential election, the fact that education is an issue at all highlights the role of politics in education. More than for most professions, from the district to the national level, elections and political agendas shape the policies that govern classrooms. Although the teacher unions…

The federal School and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) were used to examine the impacts of induction activities on beginning teacher turnover. This study excluded those teachers who moved or left schools for unavoidable and involuntary reasons, a confounding factor in previous research. This analysis revealed that three…

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…

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between achieving The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification and feelings of marginality of physical education teachers. Data sources included a focus group interview with 6 National Board Certified Physical Education Teachers (NBCPETs) and individual phone…