This project emerged from the voices of eight female teacher candidates of color, who wanted to address the inequitable representation of historically underrepresented groups within elementary school education. Using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) advanced by Fals-Borda, the teacher candidates designed instructional units that used…

The Texas A&M University System recently developed six quality standards for educator preparation programs, the Texas A&M Quality Standards for Educator Preparation, that are to be implemented and met by all system schools. These standards are: quality of selection of teacher candidates; quality of content knowledge and teaching methods;…

In this participatory research, two pre-service teachers (PSTs) and a mathematics teacher educator (MTE) collaboratively analyzed multiple voices that influence syllabi from elementary mathematics teaching methods courses. Findings suggest syllabi fall along a continuum from harmonious to dissonant orchestration of the voices of past and present…

The analysis of word problem types and schema-based diagrams are assumed useful for helping students and thus, important for preservice teachers to learn in their preparation programs. Drawing on pre-and post-assessments and videotaped demonstrations, this study analyzed elementary preservice teachers' understanding of addition and subtraction…

Although increasing numbers of teachers of color are entering the teacher pipeline, they continue to be in high demand, but short supply. Research shows teachers of color have lower pass rates on certification exams, a single factor that functions as a gatekeeper to teacher licensure. This study explores the impact of a science methods…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the effects of a tutorial program on first-grade children's reading skills and their tutors' (also preservice teachers) knowledge of reading instruction. Participants consisted of a group of 30 first-grade children served in the program and a control group of 30 children. Literacy…

This convergent parallel mixed-methods pilot study explored the collaboration of preservice teachers (PSTs) in a university reading clinic. PSTs from a reading course and special education course were paired and shared responsibility for tutoring one child. Tutor surveys and focus group interview transcripts were used as data sources. Topics…

Despite its importance within the literacy continuum, handwriting is an overlooked component within teacher training. The researcher utilized a pre-experimental, mixed methods approach to explore perceptions of and provide explanations of preservice training in handwriting, current handwriting instructional practices, and attitudes among educators…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all universities in the United States switched to online learning in March 2020. We, as educators, faced the reality of switching to online teaching using Zoom. Our approach was to use COVID-19 as the course content to help motivate preservice teachers (PSTs) and alleviate some of the challenges of online…

This study examined the impact of action research conducted by five science teaching methods course instructors on their students' perceptions of the classroom learning environments at a large public university in Texas. The study analyzed the results from 133 students who completed two administrations of the What is Happening in this Class…

In response to the dearth of research on K to 6 teacher preparation for teaching writing, we investigated writing methods course instructors' course assignments. Participants' courses met the following criteria: (a) Courses taken by undergraduate elementary teacher candidates; (b) Writing methods courses; (c) Use of exemplary writing instructional…

Previous research has shown knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes are essential factors during mathematics classroom instruction. The current study examined the effects of a 3-week fraction instructional unit using concrete models, problem-solving, and problem-posing to improve elementary preservice teachers' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes…

This study highlighted the characteristics and patterns of preservice teachers' informal formative assessment conversations woven into mathematics classrooms. Participants were four preservice teachers from an elementary mathematics methods course whose videotaped lessons were analyzed using an analytic framework based on Initiation, Response and…

This article examines a culturally sustaining approach to learning about and enacting multimodal literacy instruction that was developed during a field-based reading methods course for elementary preservice teachers. Despite a large body of work exploring preservice teachers' learning about multimodal literacies, few studies have explored their…

This study examined the impact of microteaching experiences of preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a science teaching methods course. The microteaching lessons targeted the physical science concepts represented in the Texas Educational Agency's exam for early childhood through sixth grade teacher certification. The results of this study…