In the present study, we examine whether characteristics of student teaching sites and cooperating teachers predict teacher candidates' edTPA scores. Using data from North Carolina, we find that candidates earn higher edTPA scores if they student-taught in a high value-added school and with a cooperating teacher earning higher evaluation ratings.…

The student teaching experience is often an important capstone experience of teacher preparatory programs. Student teaching is designed to provide college students who are preparing to be educators with experience in an actual classroom while supervised by a certified teacher. The purpose of this study was to determine preservice teachers'…

The effectiveness of teacher-preparation programs to produce high-quality teachers has been an issue of concern for a long time. Teachers play a significant role in shaping students' academic achievement and social-emotional growth. Therefore, it is critical to focus on how teacher education programs, especially the field placement component,…

Ensuring teacher candidates have high-quality experiences in their clinical placements is essential for sustaining their progress as teachers, and ultimately, the teaching profession. This article explores mentor teachers' perceptions of effective university supervisors and the ways in which the mentors' perceptions of effective supervision…

Preparing student teachers for the world of work is seen globally as a challenge. This research aims to explore mentors and mentees experiences in teaching practice during the COVID-19 period. In order to explore the challenge in this study, the following research question guided the paper: What are the teaching practice experiences of mentors and…

Teacher education is in the midst of a national shift toward clinically centered teacher preparation, answering recent calls from professional associations, scholarly and policy reports, and accreditation agencies. This model of educator preparation centers efforts in clinical or school-based settings--rather than in university-based…

Against an international policy backdrop that favours school-led initial teacher education, this paper presents the results of a study seeking to explore the role of the teacher mentor in the English context. Using an online survey (n = 64) and semi-structured interviews (n = 7), the study examined how mentors conceptualised their roles and…

Paraeducators play an important role supporting children with developmental disabilities in early childhood settings, and the current educational system has come to rely heavily on paraeducator supports. Unfortunately, most paraeducators receive limited training prior to engaging in their classroom roles and responsibilities, and teachers receive…

In this article, mentors' perceptions of paired practicum in initial teacher education in Sweden are studied. Taking the mentors' perspective, we describe the potentials and the pitfalls of paired practicum. The pros and cons of the model are analyzed from a perspective of learning the vocation of teaching as a two-sided endeavor. Inspired by a…

This study examines the validity of a student teaching evaluation instrument used in a teacher preparation program. Grounded in research-based conceptualizations of teaching and aligned to standards from relevant professional associations, the instrument is used to evaluate teacher candidates during their student teaching experience. To determine…

Coteaching, an alternative to traditional conceptions of student teaching in general teacher preparation, may be enhanced if researchers and practitioners achieve consensus with respect to operational definitions and descriptions of practice. The focus of this article is coassessing -- one component of coteaching -- where coteachers…

Special education (SPED) teacher preparation programs are intended to help preservice teachers (PSTs) learn and adopt effective teaching practices to serve students with special needs. To help SPED-PSTs learn needed skills, SPED mentor teachers (MTs) must employ high-leverage practices (HLPs) such as performance feedback, conferencing, and…

This study aimed to examine the effects of a physical education teacher education programme on (a) preservice teachers' (PSTs') specialised content knowledge (SCK), and (b) the game-play development of their students, during a student-centred Sport Education-Step Game Approach (SE-SGA) unit. Three PSTs selected by convenience sampling (22-24 years…

A team of teacher educators conducted a phenomenological study to explore the perceptions of teacher candidates (TCs), their cooperating teachers (CTs), and university supervisors (USs) during and after they participated in a redesigned seven-week practicum that led directly into seven weeks of student teaching. Data were collected via two surveys…

The problem addressed in this study was new elementary teachers lack preparation in classroom and behavior management. This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to describe (a) perceptions and experiences of new teachers, cooperating teachers, and elementary school principals regarding teacher preparedness in classroom and behavior management…