Twenty middle school special education teachers from five states were interviewed in order to gain insight into their understanding of accommodation practices. Interview questions solicited information about teachers' understanding of test accommodations, the decision-making process they employed when choosing accommodations, and their reasons for…

Data literate educators can generate questions about learning in their classes; collect and analyze classroom data to answer them; and develop inferences and explanations. Two elements may promote data literacy: (a) breadth of classroom-based data collection and (b) depth of analysis. We examined these in inquiries conducted by 80 preservice…

Over the past several decades a growing amount of research has considered the role, challenges, and complexities of teaching reflective inquiry to preservice teachers. Generally accepted as a valuable component of a teacher education program, there are persistent levels of ambiguity regarding how reflective inquiry can be intentionally fostered…

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,…

The concept of teacher accountability assumes teachers will use data-driven decision making to plan and deliver appropriate and effective instruction to their students. In order to do so, teachers must be able to accurately interpret the data that is given to them, and that requires the knowledge of some basic concepts of assessment 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…

Despite assessment-based accountability movements throughout educational systems in the United States, teacher assessment literacy continues to be an identified area of concern. Contributing to this concern is a dearth of research on preservice assessment education including both its curricular and pedagogical approaches. The purpose of this study…

This study is based on an intervention designed to enhance early childhood teacher candidates' critical thinking abilities. The concept, elements, standards, and traits of critical thinking were integrated into the main course contents, and the effects of the intervention were examined. The results indicated that early childhood teacher…

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…

What can teachers and schools do to support achievement for all students? Surely this is a basic and critical question for teacher educators as well as families, communities, policy makers--everyone concerned about our children and our future. The question is not new and the answers proposed are legion. What could I add to the conversation? The…

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…

Although most innovative professional development encourages reflective dialogue among teachers, we still know very little about how such dialogue enables teacher learning. This study describes how teachers make sense of the conflicts among their intended goals and actual practices by responding to their peers' teaching. Four teachers in a large…

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…

Online professional development (OPD) has potential to improve teacher quality by improving teachers' knowledge and instructional practices. These changes, in turn, have potential to improve student achievement. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of scientific research on the effects of OPD on teachers and, more importantly, on students. This…