Today's classrooms are changing and moving beyond the walls of a traditional school environment. With each passing year, a growing population of middle level learners are logging into full-time or blended learning virtual courses. However, teachers often lack the training and experience necessary to address the developmental needs of middle level…

Background and purpose: The purpose of this research was to understand the experiences of pre-service teachers in a service-learning program. The research questions that guided this research were: (1) How does an after-school service-learning program that utilizes pre-service teachers develop students' pedagogy? (2) What are the experiences of…

Background: English language learners (ELLs) are dramatically increasing in U.S. schools: by 2025, 25% of public school students will be ELLs (NEA, 2018). In one teacher education program in the Southeastern U.S., all students earning teacher certification must complete a course in second language methodology. This study seeks to understand…

The innovative volume seeks to broaden the scope of research on mathematical problem solving in different educational environments. It brings together contributions not only from leading researchers, but also highlights collaborations with younger researchers to broadly explore mathematical problem-solving across many fields: mathematics…

This research study sought to determine the impact from participation in a practicum field experience on teacher candidates' perceived professional dispositions for effective teaching. A further intent was to describe what teacher candidates perceived to be the necessary professional dispositions for effective teaching as they reflected on their…

UTeach is a well-known, university-based program designed to increase the number of high-quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers in the workforce. The UTeach program was originally developed by faculty at the University of Texas at Austin but has rapidly spread and is now available at 44 universities in 21 states;…

This dissertation 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…

Math achievement is critically important to the changing global economy. In order to be successful, students must develop a strong foundation in mathematics early in their school careers. But the training elementary teachers receive doesn't always prepare them to teach math well, and math anxiety can keep both students and teachers from reaching…

This paper provides a history of the standardized testing and accountability movement, the curriculum standards attached to the accountability movement, and the attempted shift to common core. Student poverty and its impact on student achievement are the focus of this paper. Recognizing the impact of poverty on student achievement as measured by…

This research explores the Critical Dialogue that I facilitated and engaged in as part of a dialogic Praxis cycle with four first year teachers in Chicago Public Schools, all graduates of the critical and urban-focused teacher education program where I am an instructor. Using a Freirean conception of dialogue, I engaged in third space Critical…

Early adolescence marks a developmental period during which there is a window of opportunity to explicitly teach and make a significant difference in a young person's development of social and emotional competencies (SECs). All students can benefit from the inclusion of SECs and failing to develop such SECs can result in poor outcomes in several…

A random sample of 1102 grade 4-6 Chinese language arts teachers in Beijing, Macao, and Taipei City were surveyed about their instructional writing practices. Seventy-eight percent (n = 857) of the teachers completed the survey. Teachers were generally positive about the usefulness of their college teacher preparation program. They slightly agreed…

The study contributes to language teacher education research by emphasizing an English as a second language (ESL) teacher's learning through critical activity, which includes my attempts to change my pedagogical practices to provide more equitable educational opportunities for ESL students in the mainstream content classroom. Framed by Engeström's…

The impetus for this study occurred when the principal of a secondary Professional Development School (PDS) questioned the traditional teacher education model utilized by the university partner. This principal asked the university to consider a model that better utilized both the teacher candidate and supervising teacher collaboratively to promote…

We use a novel database of the preservice apprenticeships ("student teaching placements") of teachers in Washington State to investigate the relationship between mentor effectiveness (as measured by value added) and the future effectiveness of their mentees. We find a strong, positive relationship between the effectiveness of a teacher's…