In this study, the staff development opportunities among early childhood educators in community-based, nonprofit child care centers were investigated. The trends for professional development and implications for future staff development were determined from data gathered from surveys completed by 12 lead teachers, 5 paraprofessionals, and 5…

Analysis of the university careers of students who are training to become primary school teachers has shown that a certain number have real difficulty in passing examinations in the scientific and methodological fields. This paper uses both objective and subjective data to analyse the levels of competence in this cultural field, and the propensity…

Increasingly, teacher educators recommend authentic, performance-related measures for evaluating teacher candidates. Nevertheless, more states are requiring teachers to pass high-stakes, minimum-competency exams. This study examined the relation between teacher candidate scores on authentic measures and their scores on certification exams required…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 require that students with disabilities be included in statewide assessments and general education accountability systems, thereby placing increased demands on special education teachers. At issue is how new teachers are prepared to respond to…

Computer-based and web-based applications are primary educational tools that are used in order to motivate students in today's schools. In the physical education field, educational applications related with the computer and the internet became more prevalent in order to present visual and interactive learning processes. On the other hand, some…

Despite calls for greater agreement in defining the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), terms that resemble SoTL are proliferating. An NSF-sponsored center for teaching and learning coined its own term, "teaching-as-research" (TAR), believing it would resonate better with research-active scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. To…

This study represents a preliminary review of first year teachers' reported levels of development on selected dispositions. The responses of practicing first year teachers, in this case 52 first year teachers who were three-fourths of the way through the first year in one school district and participating in the district's mentoring program, will…

Teaching self-determination to students with disabilities has long been a focus of the fields of special education and psychology, with much of the research focusing on why self-determination is important, the effects of self-determination skills on academic and adult outcomes, and identifying strategies teachers can use to teach…

This study investigated whether undergraduate teacher education students were prepared to teach their students in both an academically stimulating and culturally sensitive way. During the fall of 2003, student teachers were asked to complete two open-ended questions about diversity. The students were working on certificates in either the preschool…

Students with fine motor problems can benefit from occupational therapy. Yet not all students receive the services because of a lack of teacher awareness about the problems and the services. This study aims to evaluate a workshop designed to improve teacher awareness about fine motor problems and occupational therapy. The study involved three…

This essay discusses the author's encounter with PRAXIS II test preparation questions that distort and misrepresent complex reading processes. Three sample test items are presented and discussed.

The study investigates the relationship between ICT competence and attitude as well as attitudinal constructs of teachers. Four hundred and sixty seven teachers randomly selected from 10 institutions (5 universities and 5 colleges of education) participated in the study. Information bordering on ICT competence and attitude of the teachers were…

This article examines the intersection of age and ICT (information and communication technology) competency and critiques the "digital natives versus digital immigrants" argument proposed by Prensky (2001a, 2001b). Quantitative analysis was applied to a statistical data set collected in the context of a study with over 2,000 pre-service…

Contends that Multiple Subjects Assessment for Teachers is not aligned with essential elementary-level teaching functions, thus preventing many otherwise qualified persons from teaching. Describes some individual test-taking experiences in California. Recommends changes in prospective elementary teacher assessment practices. (PKP)

This report focuses on prospective secondary mathematics teachers' understanding of irrational numbers. Various dimensions of participants' knowledge regarding the relation between the two sets, rational and irrational, are examined. Three issues are addressed: richness and density of numbers, the fitting of rational and irrational numbers on the…