Desiring to overcome sharp feelings of disconnection, a year-long participatory action research seminar involving both clinical and tenure-track teacher education faculty was formed. Working in teams with tenure-track faculty support, clinical faculty set research questions but they were reluctant to assume project leadership. In part, because of…

For past two decades, there has been a growing national concern about teacher quality. This presentation discusses Connecticut's Beginning Educator Support and Training Program (BEST) and emulation of its assessment component by a medium sized department of education. The support component of BEST requires that all school districts provide…

This article explores the needs, methods, and benefits of reconceptualizing art education teacher preparation from the enterprise of the university alone to a more collaborative model involving the university, primary and secondary public schools, and local and global communities. The goal of such a shift is to develop opportunities for preservice…

This Spanish contribution to the STTIS (Science Teacher Training in an Information Society) investigations of transformations of curriculum innovations studies the implementation of a particular innovative teaching sequence on energy degradation in Spanish secondary schools. The paper describes the transformations found in teachers'…

This article links failed reform to failed education through a case study of an annual collaborative revision of a program textbook in the Composition Program at the University of California at Irvine. Review of successive editions of the program's "Student Guide to Writing at UCI" reveals a progressive retreat from the program's…

Teacher education in California is currently under attack. Politicians and the general public have lost confidence in the entire educational system. While some critics argue that too many credential courses are required, the majority seem to criticize Colleges of Education for simply failing to produce quality teachers. One question asked by both…

The paper reports some of the findings of a qualitative case study that examined the perceptions of the role of cooperating teachers as they supported pre-service teacher colleagues. The study revealed a number of significant issues related to professional learning and teachers' "ways of knowing". One of the most significant results to…

A total of 204 K- 12 teachers were surveyed for the purpose of investigating the effect of pre-service student teaching on teachers' career goals, affective measures and classroom teaching. The study also explored whether different levels of supervision of student teaching may have had different effects on teachers' personal and professional…

Accountability in many and varied forms is being required of teacher preparation programs. Weiner (2000) explores the dichotomy of the belief that meaningful learning needs to be situated versus policy that demands educational outcomes be standardized. This contradiction demands urgent analysis as we look for appropriate measures of accountability…

To support the integration of technology in the K-12 special and general education classroom, especially for students with disabilities, teachers must be experienced in the application of technology to curriculum. Professional development programs continue to provide opportunity, but often do not result in teacher proficiency in the integration of…

Starting a new position is exhilarating. The key challenge is to make the strange familiar as soon as possible. There are new policies to learn, new colleagues to get to know, and new surroundings to adapt to. All these aspects and more need to be understood and managed well in order to focus on the primary task at hand--teaching and learning. Of…

This empirical study describes the administrative experiences of a collaborative model between a local middle school and a college of education. The project focuses on technology training and utilization using the current educational research concept Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL's basic principles of multiple representations, multiple…

A secondary school mathematics teacher and mathematics education researcher engaged in a collaborative professional development experience that focused the teacher's reflection on videotapes of his instruction. The purpose was to document and explore the teacher's experiences with respect to his reflections and classroom practice while trying to…

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

Academic departments in kinesiology and physical education have historically struggled with the important issue of interdisciplinary collaboration in the areas of teaching, research, and service. The resultant lack of coherence can prove problematic as undergraduates attempt to complete the often difficult transition from student to professional…