Teacher self-efficacy beliefs have been a topic of great interest because of their potential to positively influence teacher actions and student outcomes. This qualitatively-driven mixed methods study sought to better understand how such beliefs develop amongst the complex interplay of individuals, actions, and environments. With the challenges of…

Differentiated instruction occurs when teachers use students' level of readiness, interests, and learning preferences to adjust the content, process, or products, which increases engagement and academic performance. However, teachers cannot offer every form of differentiation to every student all the time. There exist limits of resources as well…

This single intrinsic case study utilized complexity theory to explore a complicated narrative of in-service professional learning for teachers undergoing improvement plans in underperforming schools. This study is bounded within a master's level online graduate course. We focused on the literacy learning of one student in the course, a U.S. Army…

Arizona is one of six states leading the nation in English language learner (ELL) student enrollments and requiring all teachers to complete coursework in methods of teaching ELLs. This policy requirement has impacted teacher preparation programs and the field of teacher education as a whole. As such, there is a growing need to identify and…

Our revised secondary teacher education professional development plan (PDP) project required preservice teachers to identify their teaching beliefs, use these beliefs to analyze practice, and create an action plan centered on a research question from this analysis. We predicted these plans would show evidence of Dewey's (1964) reflective…

The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the resultant effects of vertical team teaching and collaborative inquiry on elementary (Grade 8) and secondary (Grade 9) educators' literacy instructional and assessment practices. Key elements of the program included collaborative inquiry and vertical team teaching. The findings of this…

Classrooms tend to be absolute spaces, places where fluidity is rejected and nearly everything--from people, to ideas, to practices and policies--is viewed and organized through binary logic. Because binary logic is implicitly accepted as the natural order in schools and the structures resulting from it are highly unmalleable, individuals who…

One of the foremost challenges for K-12 teachers is to provide relevant learning experiences in an environment of increasing accountability and student diversity. This balance is particularly consequential for students with disabilities who rely on special and general education teachers to ensure access to and success within the general…

This study examined the effects of audio and video self-recording on preservice teachers' written reflections. Participants (n = 201) came from a secondary teaching methods course and its school-based (clinical) fieldwork. The audio group (n[subscript A] = 106) used audio recorders to monitor their teaching in fieldwork placements; the video group…

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…

In this analysis of promising practice, we demonstrate how social studies methods instructors can incorporate data analysis of the 2010 United States History National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP-USH) to facilitate pedagogical aims, engage teacher candidates in critical discourse, and investigate the contexts of teaching and learning.…

Through growing formative research, lesson study has emerged as a powerful practice that affects teachers' practical analysis of learning and teaching. Such research, however, also recognizes challenges to its implementation. In a methods course, lesson study has the potential to provide valuable links between teacher education and practice. In…