In 2013, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards received a 5-year Investing in Innovation Fund Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop, implement, and study Accomplished Teaching, Learning, and Schools (ATLAS). ATLAS is an online case library that contains examples of "accomplished teaching"…

As college students in a literacy foundation course became pen pals with third graders, individual voices from each group were heard and, on both ends, it was a meaningful, authentic learning experience. The college students from a homogeneous environment were able to communicate with a diverse population of children. The children shared book…

Describes a study that examined elementary teachers' perceptions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Researchers surveyed teachers with and without experience and training who were teaching students with ADHD. Results indicated teachers considered four barriers to providing effective instruction very important. Differences between…

As classrooms change and become more student-centered, it is essential to provide preservice teachers with opportunities that enhance their learning of different strategies. One strategy commonly seen in student-centered classrooms is the use of learning centers. This study began when three primary teachers (two third grade teachers and one…

This chapter consists of a conversation between a third-grade teacher and a teacher educator about the advantages of the portfolio method of assessment. The advantages of portfolios are that they are a powerful learning tool as well as an assessment tool, they can make the separate subjects in a curriculum come together in an integrated way, and…

This narrative account describes issues confronted by third grade students, their teacher candidates, and their experienced teacher as they sought to implement a knowledge building approach. Data come from the class database, videotape recordings, and the teacher's narrative account of the year. There is particular emphasis on the teacher's…

A study examined preservice practicum teachers' use of field-based research to assess their teaching so that they might learn the positive aspects and successful instructional strategies utilized with at-risk students during the practicum field placement experience. Subjects were eight preservice teachers enrolled in a reading practicum…

A pilot study examined teacher expectations and how expectations are manifested in student participation in class discussions. Subjects, 10 third-grade student teachers, were observed as they led a discussion of a story following silent reading and participated in a self-monitoring process. Using a seating chart, the university student teaching…

This study investigated what would happen when a student teacher incorporated different techniques for improving comprehension into a third-grade reading group consisting of 10 diverse students. The study noted how comprehension changed when students did creative writing in response to literature and how story mapping or character perspective…

A study outlined the processes through which two beginning elementary teachers in the San Francisco Bay area learned to overcome institutional constraints which tended to standardize ethnically diverse students' responses to literature. The study focused specifically on the changes in one teacher's instruction which freed her third/fourth grade…

A study examined the role of audience in preservice mathematics education students' writing experiences. Subjects, students in two mathematics education classes taught by the same teacher, completed writing assignments explaining the principles of mathematics to elementary school pupils. Students in one class wrote to actual students, serving as…

A case study approach was used to explore the relationship between subject matter knowledge and the acquisition of pedagogical content knowledge in the preparation of preservice elementary mathematics teachers. A preservice elementary teacher was interviewed prior to her mathematics methods course to ascertain her subject matter background and…

Surveyed third-grade Massachusetts English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers regarding models of ESL instruction used, noting types of cooperating teachers available to mentor preservice teachers. Independent ESL classrooms tended to be combined with or replaced by pull-out or push-in services. ESL teachers were experienced and usually…

This study was conducted in order to determine the kinds of knowledge third grade teachers need to teach an effective unit and to determine the relationship between content knowledge and classroom performance. The research focused on the subject matter areas in which three student teachers believed they were most and least confident. Data for this…

Using data from a study of two white student teachers in inner city classrooms, the paper analyzes differences in their success through the model of assisted performance (where knowledge is acquired through interaction between more competent and novice individuals in learning situations). Cooperating teachers powerfully influenced student…