Like America at large, Kansas sees a divide between a largely white teaching body, and an increasingly diverse student body. Teacher performance assessments have been created to facilitate "good teaching" and high-quality teachers. At the same time, multicultural teaching research indicates that diverse students need more than a single…

Until 2014, admission requirements for the educator preparation program at a university in the north central United States included a minimum competency level on the Praxis I basic skills writing test and completion of one general education writing course. However, evidence from the university's ETS reports showed that less than 60% of students as…

To meet the demands of living and working in the 21st century, it is critical that every P-12 student in every classroom have an effective teacher. Yet, each year, thousands of new teachers enter the field unprepared to meet the challenges of today's classroom. Recent federal policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have made…

Teacher preparatory programs need to evaluate their programs to determine if they are producing highly effective teachers. This study utilized the professional development school (PDS) program versus the traditional program to determine if there was a difference in the promise and effectiveness of pre-service teachers. The study analyzed the…

Institutions of higher education attempt to select and prepare the finest K-12 teachers possible. National, state, and local influences also search for the best and brightest teacher candidates to become K-12 teachers. The result has been increased accountability measures to ensure quality. The selection process for admission to teacher education…

The purpose of my study was to determine if there are any differences in performance measures of student teachers with varying levels of participation in professional development schools. The population in my study was the 2002 through the spring of 2006 kindergarten through 6th-grade student teachers from a small, private postsecondary…