Schools are increasing the time students spend learning to write, in part because of changing state standards. Studies of classroom practice suggest that most teachers devote little time to the teaching of writing, and many teachers report they do not feel prepared to teach writing. Here, we examine the titles and descriptions of required literacy…

The rationale, process, critical features, and lessons learned by faculty members during the redesign and implementation of our previously existing special education teacher education program into an innovative program integrating research-supported effective teacher education practices are described in this article. We begin with the rationale…

This reflective narrative explores the voices of two participants in the Early Childhood Professional Mentoring Group (ECPMG), created in response to our graduates' concerns about their lack of support as they entered the field of inclusive early childhood education. Building on their existing relationships with each other, and with us as their…

Drawing on our experiences as teacher educators in two programs designed specifically to prepare teachers for particular contexts, this article illustrates how we design our courses to help new teachers link foundational understandings to specific teaching practices in particular school and classroom contexts. We describe our integrated approach,…

This article explores the nature of a federal intervention into teacher education through state policy making and problem framing. The authors examined the 16 comprehensive educator equity plans that were approved by the U.S. Department of Education in 2015 and surface four inadequacies the reports communicate about teacher education: (a) an…

This study investigated how closely related the perceptions of student teachers were to those of the clinical educators and university supervisors who evaluated them in subject-specific content knowledge and teaching ability. Although our initial concern was low teacher self-efficacy, our study found student teachers consistently rated themselves…

This is a study of my dramatized narrative based on a true story of what took place in a mathematics class in an international school setting. My narrative includes the exploration of a mathematical "mistake" and the discovery of newly emergent problems. The drama, commentary, and reflections provide a close examination of the conduct…

This article responds to what seems a nearly ubiquitous call for teachers to be reflective practitioners. Despite near consensus that self-reflection benefits the classroom teacher, teachers struggle to apply this work to daily life in the classroom. Specifically, using Donald Schön's terminology, we find that successful teachers must…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how new educators respond to pedagogical tasks that require them to use and reflect upon their Teacher Language Awareness (TLA). TLA is defined as a teacher's ability to use, analyze, and teach language--an increasingly important part of teachers' knowledge base given high numbers of English…

In response to calls to resituate teacher preparation in clinical settings, teacher educators are increasingly repositioning their work in PK-12 contexts. In this article, we describe our efforts to connect theory and practice through site-based course instruction and explore how such experiences informed teacher candidates' perceptions of their…

This article recounts our efforts as three critical teacher educators to respond to the postelection aftermath at an Hispanic-serving institution by organizing a conference aimed at re(engaging) our students in the kinds of critical conversations we deem essential to the profession. By considering the ways in which neoliberal ideology has shaped…

As new teachers confront the realities of a Trump administration characterized by a troublingly tenuous grasp of history, we advocate for infusing historical thinking into all facets of elementary teacher education. Historical thinking can promote an inquiry stance, ably contribute to social justice initiatives, and enable teachers to appreciate…

Undocumented students and their families are in the crossfire as the Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance to criminalize, deport, and degrade them. Through the testimonios of three undocumented immigrant college students and graduates, this article sheds light on their memorable moments in high school and college to extract lessons…

Independent, critical thought has never been more important in the United States. In the Age of Trump, political officials spout falsehoods called "alternative facts" as if they were on equal footing with researchable, scientific data. At the same time, an unquestioning populace engages in acts of "willful ignorance" on a daily…

This qualitative study explored the experiences of general education secondary preservice teachers while immersed in self-contained special education classrooms. While secondary education teachers have expertise in content areas, little is known about their understanding of students with disabilities and their knowledge of specific strategies for…