All but four states in the nation now permit teachers to come into the profession through an "alternate route," compared to only a few 30 years ago. Alternate routes into the classroom have grown so acceptable that about one in five teachers now enters the profession through one of these programs, which offer some real benefits to the…

We examine access to effective teachers for low-income students in 26 geographically dispersed school districts over a 5-year period. We measure teacher effectiveness using a value-added model that accounts for measurement error in prior test scores and peer effects. Differences between the average value added of teachers of high- and low-income…

With the rapid increase in the amount of online learning opportunities available has come with it an increase in challenges concerning how to support effective teaching and learning in online learning spaces. Through two research studies, this dissertation explores two challenges in the field of online teaching and learning: community development…

As part of a larger mixed-method study on teacher evaluation, this paper explores how cultural and socio-political contexts of the Israeli Arab public schools inform principals' high-stakes evaluation processes for attaining tenure. Concepts from micropolitical theory were used to analyse data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty…

The purpose of this study was to reveal the pattern in a structure of teachers' instructional performance. Specifically,seven teachers' performances (Standards and Objectives, Presenting Instructional Content, Lesson Structure and Pacing, Activities and Materials,Academic Feedback, Grouping Students, and Teacher Content Knowledge) were…

Reports in recent years have demonstrated math teacher shortages in hard-to-staff school contexts due to high rates of teacher turnover. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of exposure to new, new-to-school, and emergency/unlicensed teachers on student math achievement on one recent cohort of Indiana students in 3rd through 8th grade. I find that…

In our civic engagement afterschool program in the southeast of the United States, our youth and adult participants used a wide range of modalities including mapping, rapping, drawing, and performance to construct and convey their unique visions of school and community spaces. The purpose of this methodological paper is to explore systemic…

Student teachers informed their professors that it was no longer the practice to use traditional textbooks to teach mathematics to teens. This notion caused the authors to undertake a nationwide survey to inquire about the types of math text used by novice teachers. Responses showed that a textbook did continue dominance. A majority said they…

The 2018 NSSME+ was based on a national probability sample of schools and computer science, mathematics, and science teachers in grades K-12 in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The sample was designed to yield national estimates of course offerings and enrollment, teacher background preparation, textbook usage, instructional techniques,…

This study compared the three most common pathways of traditional preparation for novice middle level teachers (elementary, middle level, and secondary) and attempted to answer the central question of which group felt best prepared for middle level teaching. Selected novice teachers from each of the three pathways were interviewed and asked to…

New teachers are common in the teaching workforce (Ingersoll and Merrill 2012). All new teachers will learn about the school curriculum and school policies in their first years. New science teachers, however, need to attend to the "Next Generation of Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) as they build their instruction and knowledge…

To provide a shared vision of effective mentoring and language for practice, Schwille developed a temporal framework depicting mentoring practices referred to as "inside" and "outside" the action of teaching. "Inside" mentoring occurs when teachers are working with students (e.g. co-teaching and demonstration…

At the heart of this paper is a well-founded belief in the importance of play in the lives of children; play that leads to social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Teacher educators have the responsibility and opportunity to educate and enlighten in-service and pre-service teachers on the role of play in schools. At our university…

The issue of attrition and retention has been a chronic problem in the field of education for decades. School districts across the United States are experiencing shortages of qualified special education teachers largely due to high turnover rates, with many of these teachers electing not to return after their first year of teaching. In fact,…

This study explores teachers' first enactments of a set of theory-based curriculum materials designed to support academic language instruction. Specifically, this multiple case study looks at how six middle school English teachers in three US schools adapted the materials; each case includes a pair of teachers, one novice and one more experienced.…