This study explored how preservice teachers engaged in collaborative inquiry with elementary students to facilitate social justice and equity in science education. By inviting elementary students as key stakeholders into collaborative inquiry, we examined how preservice teachers uncovered critical problems of science education in underserved…

Teacher preparation programs assist candidates with the pedagogical, theoretical, and practical application of teaching and learning. This article explored the dialog between a state education agency and teacher preparation programs' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The author presents a research study of current teacher performance…

A sociocultural context of interruption and instability illuminated our teacher candidates' funds of knowledge and identity (e.g., Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014) during the global pandemic of 2020. Their expertise, skills, and self-understandings strengthened both the mentor-teacher candidate relationship and student engagement. Teacher…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, issues regarding social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect were at amplified levels. Pacific Oaks College (PO) endeavored to keep its promise and maintain its mission and core values by connecting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris, 2012) with Engaged Pedagogy (Florence, 1998) to leverage critical…

This dissertation investigates a perennial problem in teacher education: the theory-practice divide. There has always been a rift between theory and practice; however, this gap and the responses to it take on different shapes and meanings based on the reforms, politics, and structures of the time. For example, in the 1980s and 90s Professional…

This study provides a comparative analysis of the pre-service education system for preschool educators in China and the United States. Based on collected data and materials (literature, policy documents, and statistical data), we compare two areas of pre-service training: (1) the formal system; (2) the informal system. In the formal system, most…

Education is an act of love. One may argue however, that because it is such a personal act, it is difficult and nearly impossible to achieve it in an authentic manner beyond the face-to-face interaction of teacher and student. Yet, we now live in a time in which education has been transmitted to a virtual platform. This paper highlights how I…

This phenomenological qualitative study involved 15 veteran K-6 public school teachers--each having taught a minimum of 24 years--from several districts in Southern California. It identified and examined what factors influenced the ongoing commitment and engagement of these teachers over the course of their careers. Factors mirrored the study's…

Over the past two decades, mathematics education reformers have increasingly called for new approaches to assessment. This call urges mathematics teachers to merge their assessment with pedagogy, to employ assessments that engage students in the process of "doing mathematics," and to exploit assessment to support learning. This paper…

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist institutions of higher education (IHEs), states, and local districts. During a 5-year period, OSEP…

Some states have used new teacher performance assessments in an attempt to improve teacher quality for more than two decades. New teacher performance assessments include performance expectations, scoring rubrics, and writing prompts, which are organized into subject-specific handbooks. Teacher candidates completing performance assessments assemble…

Empirical evidence that horizontal alignment of policies and practices from preschool through the early elementary grades sustains the effects of quality preschool and contributes to children's learning is scarce, as discussed above, but there are nevertheless good reasons to expect benefits to such alignment. Moreover, many districts and schools…

The Department of Education is moving to change accountability for teacher preparation institutions to include surveys of the graduates and their supervising principal following paid employment. This study describes one of a number of quantitative studies that examine the validity and usefulness of such follow-up surveys. Using multiple years of…

This article describes a teacher education program in the California State University system that made significant changes in order to address and change the sentiments of new teachers in the Central Valley of California. It describes how a teacher education program focused on preparing faculty and teacher education supervisors to meet the needs…

Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…