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…

The EdResearch for Action "Overview Series" summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. This overview brief discusses what research shows about how student teaching experiences can best prepare new teachers.…

Mathematics teacher education programs vary widely in the learning opportunities they offer to prospective teachers. Improving the quality of teacher education necessitates an understanding of which of these learning opportunities have the largest impact on teacher preparedness. To understand this, there must be a meaningful method for assessing…

In order to prepare pre-service teachers for their roles in the classroom, it is important to examine the rigor and purpose of the mentoring experience. This study explored the aspects of co-planning conversations that helped experienced and novice teachers expand their expertise and develop a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship at the…

Many prior studies have explored average differences in initial levels of teaching effectiveness among graduates from different teacher preparation programs (TPPs) and the features of preparation that predict these differences. We focus on another important dimension of effectiveness--how graduates from different TPPs improve over time. Examining…

Background/Context: In recent years, Canadian and U.S. schools have increased efforts to recognize gender diversity and reduce gender-based harassment, in large part because a growing number of young people are coming out as transgender or nonbinary in adolescence. However, little research explores nonbinary teachers' experiences or investigates…

Teacher attrition has been around since the beginning of American education. Teacher attrition is problematic to the success of students' academic achievement. One perceived way to reduce teacher attrition is through better training during the pre-service phase. The purpose of this study was to explore university-based teacher education programs…

Pre-service teachers in Australian Initial Teacher Education programmes gain classroom experience through supervised, formally assessed professional experience placements and internships. This in-situ experience is recognized as important in the development of professional identities, knowledge and skills. However, many pre-service teachers lament…

We used data on the student teaching placements, degrees, teaching credentials, and workforce outcomes of more than 1,300 graduates of special education teacher education programs in Washington to provide a descriptive portrait of specific measures of special education teacher preparation and their relationships with workforce entry and…

This policy brief summarizes the responses by early-career science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers in Washington State to the Washington STEM Teacher Survey. These early-career STEM teachers were asked about their perspectives of their teacher education program (TEP) and STEM subject preparation, with a focus on their student…

Children in kindergarten and first grade are missing more school than at any other point during the elementary years. Some research has examined schoolwide policies and practices that might help reduce absences, but limited research has focused on the role of teachers. This is the first known study to examine the role teacher preparation programs…

This qualitative case study responds to calls for research on the ways critical reflection develops in preservice and novice teachers. While evaluating capacity to reflect is a dominant practice in teacher education, few studies explore empirically how different factors impact teachers' reflection. Building from earlier research that…

This paper describes the development, implementation, and follow up study of a program for undergraduate research in education, student teachers as action researchers (STAR). Students in a new urban education honors program at a large public university were given coursework in action research, developed a research plan in their practicums,…

This three phase longitudinal multiple-case study, framed by positioning theory, investigated how four novice teachers learned to use professional judgment in their literacy instruction. Data sources from coursework, student teaching, and novice teaching were included. Interviews, observations, researchers' observational notes, and school and…

Background: Though policy makers are beginning to hold schools accountable for reducing chronic absenteeism, little attention has been paid to the role of teachers. No known study has examined whether rising cohorts of new teachers feel prepared to address this challenge. This is particularly problematic given that teachers with less experience…