Individuals who desire to pursue the teaching profession have two primary paths for preparation: either completing a traditional college-based program or an alternative program. A generic qualitative inquiry methodology was used to explore the perspective of novice teacher participants on how prepared they felt based on the preparation program…

There is a crucial need for social justice-oriented educators in today's classrooms given the growing population of America's multicultural student population. Social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs (TPPs) have contributed significantly to shaping the pedagogies of teacher candidates, better equipping them to serve all students. The…

This phenomenological multiple case study explored five first-year special education teachers' transfer of knowledge and skills learned in their preparation program to their professional setting and the support provided through their school system induction programming. I employed Baldwin and Ford's (1988) Model of Training Transfer and Rolfe et…

Novice elementary classroom teachers spend more time addressing off-task behaviors than teaching in the classroom which affects teaching and learning. The problem to be addressed in the study is that elementary education teachers struggle to balance behavior management strategies during instruction because they are not exposed to enough authentic…

This study delved into the experiences of novice secondary teachers (NST) in California, with a focus on the support systems and preparation programs that influence their professional growth. Through two interconnected phases, district support systems were analyzed via interviews, followed by NST interviews to gauge their perceptions of support.…

The first years of teaching can be often some of the most stressful in an educator's career. "Reality shock" is a phase new teachers go through when they transition from learning to being responsible for teaching in their own classrooms (Dicke et al., 2015). It often results in a "collapse of ideals or expectations developed during…

The current study took place in a North Texas public school district. The purpose was to compare levels of teacher self-efficacy among beginning teachers who had participated in traditional and alternative teacher educator preparation programs (EPPs). Additionally, the perceptions of beginning teachers were explored in relation to their…

Widespread skepticism exists about preparation programs' impact on novice teachers' learning to teach. This is not new. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers question whether preparation matters. Despite these questions and a growing consensus about the importance of teachers, we have a limited understanding of when, why, and how teacher…

The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which teachers received the education or training that prepared them to teach social studies content knowledge, social studies critical thinking skills, and their overall preparation to become highly qualified teachers. The participants in the study were active social studies teachers in Tennessee…

Enrollment in traditional special education teacher preparation programs has declined while enrollment in alternative preparation programs has increased in Georgia (Georgia Insights, 2024). Since alternative preparation programs have become the viable recruitment vein for rural schools challenged to fill special education teaching vacancies,…

This dissertation formulates and investigates a set of hypotheses about the mechanisms that support the successful implementation of partnership models in K-12 public education. The research study is conducted within a rapidly growing type of partnership model known as "teacher residencies," in which a partnership between a higher…

The nationwide teacher shortage has led to a shortage of fully trained teacher to hire leaving schools more open to hiring nontraditional teachers. Within this study, a nontraditional teacher is one who did not complete a formal teacher education process that included student teaching. These teachers are left to rely on their mentoring process for…

Researching the process of development during field experience before an elementary education teacher is hired is necessary to better understand their teaching self-efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative, single case study design was to explore how field experience, as part of a university undergraduate teaching program, developed novice…

The United States is seeing a widespread teacher shortage. Enrollments in TPPs have declined over the past decades, attrition rates are high, and the COVID-19 pandemic just exacerbated the issue. National and state governments, colleges and universities, and school districts have been looking to strengthen the teacher pipeline by establishing…

The United States is seeing a widespread teacher shortage. Enrollments in TPPs have declined over the past decades, attrition rates are high, and the COVID-19 pandemic just exacerbated the issue. National and state governments, colleges and universities, and school districts have been looking to strengthen the teacher pipeline by establishing…