The call for research in the special educator preparation community is needed to help provide successful strategies to support effective teaching and student learning (Brownell et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of a learning environment for pre-service educator self-efficacy and their implementation of…

Recognizing that our preservice teachers are experiencing a euro-centered teacher preparation curriculum, this study aimed to explore Chicana preservice teachers' interactions with an array of criticalities focused on a bioregional context that highlighted critical and resistant resources. Chapter 1 surveyed the literature on growing critically…

This descriptive case study explored the impact on children of a 2-hour pre-service Social Emotional Learning (SEL) consultation module for teachers and school psychologists at Fairfield University. Also explored was the impact on children of Fairfield's extensive school psychology SEL pre-service training (i.e., mindfulness, psycho-education,…

This mixed methods study examined factors influencing practicing educators' decisions to mentor preservice teachers in Nebraska. Guided by Expectancy-Value-Cost Theory, the study utilized a sequential explanatory design, integrating a quantitative survey design and qualitative phenomenological interview. Findings indicated that educators' belief…

The climate crisis is an environmental issue that affects people of all walks of life but has disproportionate effects on those living in impoverished communities. The climate crisis therefore is not only an issue of environmental justice, but also social justice. However, incorporating environmental issues within education has typically been left…

A lack of teacher preparation for working with racially, culturally, ethnically, economically, and/or linguistically diverse (RCEELD) students is viewed as potentially playing a role in the issue of disproportionality in special education (Griner & Stewart, 2013). The conducted case study aimed to fill an existing gap through providing…

The problem addressed by this study was the lack of preservice teachers' educational preparedness to support homeless students. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of preservice teachers at the end of their educational program and how the educational experience prepared them to support the…

This paper is about leveraging cultural ways of knowing such as ethnobotany in order to increase STEM engagement in Chicanx populations. The novel Community Learning and Ecological Sustainability Paradigm (CLESP) framework utilized in this study combines social justice, Chicana feminist epistemology, land-based pedagogy, critical place-based…

This dissertation, utilizing a mixed-methods approach within a design-based research (DBR) framework, investigated the impact of augmented reality (AR) technology on the self-efficacy of preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) in integrated STEM teaching and technology. Incorporating both a pilot study and a subsequent dissertation study, the…

This study aimed to understand preservice teachers' perceptions of culturally responsive teaching within a teacher preparation program, guided by Geneva Gay's Culturally Responsive Teaching Framework. The research questions examined the extent of preservice teachers' knowledge of cultural diversity, their ability to validate the cultural…

As the number of Multilingual Learner (ML) students attending public schools rises, so does the demand for those who can teach them. Research shows that due to the existence of gaps between different types of knowledge, theory, and practice, the results of teacher preparation programs are often fragmented and do not fully benefit participating…

Critical Literacy (CL) is a teaching strategy that is designed to promote critical consciousness and enact social justice change as learning occurs. Critical literacy can promote and included in teacher education programs as a tool to increase Pre-Service Teachers (PST) Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE). The researcher examined…

This study investigates the relationship between Saudi pre-service teachers' perceptions of preparation and their teaching self-efficacy. The study is based on Bandura's social cognitive learning theory for self-efficacy to describe human behavior in which personal determinants, environmental influences, and behavioral factors interact…

This research aims to uncover the narratives of teacher candidates of color and their experiences with race and racism while learning to teach in a PDS context, develop an understanding of how state and local policies manifest within these experiences, and explore the roles of platicas as a context for critical conversations. This research study…

In support of school districts experiencing teacher shortages, the state of Alaska provides for provisional certification of individuals who hold a bachelor's degree but who have not completed the requirements for teacher licensure. This certification allows individuals early entry into a classroom as full-time teachers contingent upon concurrent…