The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers who participated in a professional development program continued to learn about inquiry and inquiry teaching as they implemented inquiry in their classrooms. A qualitative design utilizing inductive analysis was used to investigate teachers' understanding and classroom implementation of…

Teacher educators frequently express concerns regarding teacher candidates' writing knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Concerns include candidates' proficiencies for writing correctly and communicating effectively, teaching writing appropriately to preK-12 graders, integrating writing authentically across the curriculum, guiding preK-12 student…

This paper explores the relationship between teacher testing and teacher effectiveness using a unique dataset that links teachers to their individual students. My findings show a positive relationship between some teacher licensure tests and student achievement. But they also suggest that states face significant tradeoffs when they require…

The purpose of this study was to investigate initial evidence regarding the reliability and validity of scores from a digital professional portfolio (DPP) designed to assess the instructional competencies of preservice teachers. Data were collected from 30 preservice teachers during their intern teaching experience. Data were analyzed using a…

The purpose of this research was to determine the pre-service primary mathematics teachers' competency of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics. The data were collected by means of four open ended problems from the participation of 45 primary mathematics teacher candidates. Teacher candidates' responses were analyzed based on pre-determined…

This paper reports on research concerning Greek in-service Primary teachers' perceptions about environmental issues and attitudes towards Education for Sustainable Development. A questionnaire with multiple-choice and open-ended questions was used in order to gain more comprehensive understanding of their thoughts. The analysis of data revealed…

Based on the policies and goals of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), this study reviews how educators in the state of Alabama have addressed the many critical issues posed by this Presidential directive. Challenges such as certification, competency, quality of instruction, teacher training, and funding are discussed. Several state legislative…

This article describes the evolvement of standards-based reform in teacher education, to highlight the debate concerning this reform and to present the critique leveled, first against the notion of teaching standards, and second against the validity of teacher tests. Part of this critique deals with some negative consequences of standards-based…

This paper explores the relationship between teacher testing and teacher effectiveness using a unique data set that links teachers to their individual students. The findings show a positive relationship between some teacher licensure tests and student achievement. They also suggest that states face significant tradeoffs when they require…

Proponents tout licensure reciprocity as a means for alleviating teacher shortages. In this paper, we describe existing national and regional reciprocity agreements and consider the arguments underlying this proposition. We use research on teacher shortages, the reserve pool, within-state variation in demand, and teacher mobility to draw…

Certification tests for elementary teachers in Ontario were introduced in 1871 and in 2002. Although the provincial government's stated goals for the testing programs were similar, the 2002 program was opposed by the initial teacher education programs and the teachers' associations, but the 1871 program was not. The authors argue that much of this…

The empirical, conceptual, and theoretical knowledge of early-career EBD teachers was assessed two years after student teaching and compared to their ratings of the importance of specific instruction and classroom management competencies as well as to their application of those competencies. Twelve teachers, six elementary and six secondary, with…

This article describes how the design of digital learning objects can spark professional learning. The challenge was to build learning objects that would help experienced special education teachers, who had been teaching in math classes, to demonstrate their proficiency in middle and secondary school mathematics on the PRAXIS examination. While…

Self-efficacy beliefs are defined as context-specific assessments of one's competence to perform specific tasks, influence one's efforts, persistence, and resilience to succeed in a given task. Such beliefs are important determinants when considering agricultural science teachers' subject matter knowledge, teaching comfort levels, and their…

There is growing concern over graduating trainee teachers' insufficient level of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy. The main purpose of this research was to describe the nature of trainee teachers' ICT literacy at the beginning of preservice training: (a) to explore the structure and to identify the main components of…