The imperative for prospective teachers, school districts, Illinois policy makers and the public as a whole to know more about teacher preparation is the motivation behind this report. At the request of Advance Illinois, the authors evaluated 111 undergraduate and graduate programs in 53 education schools as well as three "independent…

The current study aimed at examining the efficacy of technological projects as learning tools by exploring the following questions: the extent to which projects in technology develop students as independent learners; the types of knowledge the students deal with in working on their projects; the role of problem-solving in technological projects;…

This study examined the contribution of a Decision Support System (DSS) to minimizing differences between the educational decisions of 310 teachers who were classified, according to the teaching skill categories of the NBPTS, as excellent, mediate, or poor. The teachers were asked to analyze the same educational dilemma, once intuitively and a…

What does it take to be a "master" teaching artist (TA)? Are there certain skills and abilities that are common to all TAs that are at the top of their field. In this article, the author describes the process and purpose behind the first national fellowship for teaching artists. The fellowship was a significant event: (1) no such…

A random sample of language arts, social studies, and science high school teachers (N = 361; 53% women) from the United States were surveyed about what their students wrote, their use of evidence-based writing practices, the adaptations they made for weaker writers, how they assessed writing, their preparation to teach writing, beliefs about the…

The principal author developed a workshop through the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program, based on central Wisconsin's prairie chicken population, to present teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to provide quality environmental education. Seventeen high school teachers attended the 2003 workshop. Pre-and post-workshop surveys were…

In this study, the researchers analyzed stories told by students (n = 80) of their poorest K-12 teachers who behaved in an unprofessional manner. Nine dominant themes were identified: poor teaching; learning not occurring; poor communication with students; uncaring; no explanations; being overly emotional; high school teachers; off-task behaviors;…

In the summer of 2009, a professional development partnership was established between the Peoria Public School District (PPSD), a local education agency (LEA), and Illinois State University (ISU) to improve geometric and trigonometric knowledge and skill for high school mathematics teachers as part of the Illinois Mathematics and Science…

Most experienced high school science teachers are asked at some point to serve as a mentor to a novice teacher. While mentor-training programs have been established in many states, they often only focus on how the mentor can help new science teachers understand and negotiate the school culture, such as how the school runs and where supplies are…

The transition from preservice science teacher education programs to the first years of full-time teaching is arguably one of the most critical stages in the professional development of science teachers. This report documents a longitudinal study aimed at enhancing the research base for understanding this critical stage. The research is framed as…

While it is generally acknowledged that the first years of teaching are the most difficult, little is known about the development of subject matter specialists during this period. In order to add to the knowledge in this area, the present study explores the first year of 114 secondary science teachers as they participate in one of four different…

Many students enter high school unskilled in the art of reading to learn from science textbooks. Even students who can read full-length novels often find science books difficult to read because students have relatively little practice with the various types of expository text structures used by such textbooks (Armbruster, 1991). Expository text…

This report focuses on two aspects of teacher supply and quality: (a) the under-representation of racial/ethnic minorities, especially African Americans in the teaching pool, and (b) teacher candidates' performance on licensure assessments, including general skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics (known as Praxis I[R]) and selected…

Recent studies of the relationship between teacher preparation pathways and student achievement have resulted in similar statistics but contradictory conclusions. These studies as a group have several limits: they sometimes focus on student-level indicators when many policy decisions are made with indicators at the school-level or above, are…

One of the most publicly celebrated figures in mathematics teaching during the last century was Jaime Escalante (dramatized in the film "Stand and Deliver"). The Escalante story aptly fulfills three prevailing myths about effective teachers: the Teacher is self-made, the Teacher is the expert, and everything depends on the Teacher. These…