The purpose of this study was to assess preservice teachers' comfort levels and familiarity with the teaching competencies embedded in the Texas Reading Academy curriculum. Participants in this study were eight clinical teachers involved in a pilot program with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which was evaluating the feasibility of extending…

In this qualitative, grounded theory, pedagogical action research study, we, as mathematics teacher educators, sought to develop a conceptual framework in which we could help elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) construct understanding of, and then fluently use, mathematics vocabulary essential to PSTs' future work as elementary teachers. The…

Special education teachers play an integral role in preparing students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) for a successful transition to their desired postsecondary pathways. As more opportunities arise for students with IDD to attend inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs, there is a growing need for special…

This study focused on preservice secondary teacher's use of the Understanding by Design (UbD), framework to create effective, engaging lessons for their future secondary level students. The subjects consisted of 69 secondary pre-service secondary education majors at a Texas University who were enrolled in a required course for admission into the…

Despite the impetus from professional organizations for science and mathematics integration, few teacher training programs provide opportunities for teachers to develop the knowledge and skills in effective content integration. This study reports on the impact of a graduate course on in-service middle school, math, and science teachers'…

This longitudinal study explores how one university's practice-based teacher preparation program prepared literacy teachers to develop practical knowledge for teaching and how that knowledge was tested and adapted in the first years of teaching. To understand change, we identified and analyzed points of tension, challenge, or dissonance in the…

Educators by definition are now required to utilize a variety of student data to shape the decisions they make and design the lessons they teach. As accountability standards become more stringent and as teachers face increasingly diverse student populations within their classrooms, they often struggle to adequately meet the needs of all learners.…

Inspired by critical race and feminist perspectives, this paper complicates the conversation on preparing arts educators for diversity and equity. The authors ground their research on the premise that arts educators committed to challenging social inequalities must understand sociocultural influences on art, curriculum, teaching, and learning. The…

Teacher preparation program administrators face the issue of expanding curricula to prepare teacher candidates for the diverse population of students they will encounter (Trent, Kea, Oh, 2008). Globalization demands that teacher candidates grasp how to function in a more integrated and interdependent society (McGrew, 2005). According to…

NIET [National Institute for Excellence in Teaching] continually evaluates the impact of TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement on raising student achievement, improving instruction and increasing the ability of high-need schools to recruit, retain and support effective teachers. In addition to national results in student achievement…

This study examined mathematics teacher content knowledge in terms of policy maker recommendations, college coursework and teacher certification mathematics test scores. Transcript analysis indicated poor alignment of national policy maker recommendations for mathematics teachers and college degrees in mathematics. Teacher certification test…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to evaluate the efficacy of 14 Mathematics, Science and Technology Teacher Preparation (MSTTP) academies located across the state of Texas. The aim of the academies was to increase the number of highly qualified mathematics, science and technology teachers, while also improving the quality of certified…

A growing number of American students are nonnative English speakers. These students are vulnerable to early school exit and schools are facing more and more such students each year. Presently, about 56% of all public school teachers in the United States have at least one English language learner (ELL) student in their class, but less than 20% of…