Today's schools are more culturally and linguistically diverse than ever before, prompting the need for teachers with the requisite expertise for work with emergent bilingual learners. As students grow in numbers and fill seats in classrooms spanning grades and disciplines, teacher educators must consider ways to prepare an increasing number of…

In this investigation, we assessed 443 teachers' beliefs with the "Teaching Ability Belief Scale" (TABS) and the "Importance of Teaching Knowledge Scale" (ITKS). Using cluster analysis, we identified four groups of teachers based on their responses to the TABS reflecting "Innate," "Learned,"…

The edTPA, a nationally available performance assessment for teacher candidates, has recently been developed and implemented in teacher education programs across the United States. Advocates make arguments for the need for such an assessment while critics of standardized performance assessments point out the dangers of standardization. This…

Student teaching is a cornerstone of teacher preparation, yet it remains one of the most difficult experiences to understand. Calls for an ecological approach to research on student teaching prompted this study in which the experience is examined from the perspective of the three key triad members. Using activity theory, this study explores how…

The authors present a program of research on the teaching practices of 1st-year teachers that has evolved within a partnership between and among a university and area school districts. The research links observed 1st-year teaching practices with school level (elementary, middle, high school) and type of teacher preparation (traditional bachelor's…

A small group of Boston Public School teachers met for a year to explore the question of what keeps teachers going, a question that bears asking because of the precarious situation of public education today. In this article, I describe the work of the What Keeps Teachers Going? inquiry group as a way to challenge current notions of what it means…