A major challenge faced by elementary education programs is the vast amount of content preservice teachers must master in various subject areas. With limited time and coursework, how can teacher preparation programs scaffold meaningful experiences and provide a progression of opportunities to aid preservice teachers in mastering this content and…

The National Academy of Education (NAEd) undertook this consensus report on the evaluation and improvement of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Specifically, this consensus report aims to (1) identify and disseminate best practices for evaluating and improving TPPs to promote teacher effectiveness and student achievement; (2) provide…

Recent research and reform efforts in science education have consistently stressed the importance of coherent science instruction, in which learning opportunities are connected and contextualized by meaningful phenomena, focus on a small set of core ideas over time, and generate a need-to-know about new ideas through a set of connected lessons.…

The rationale, process, critical features, and lessons learned by faculty members during the redesign and implementation of our previously existing special education teacher education program into an innovative program integrating research-supported effective teacher education practices are described in this article. We begin with the rationale…

Initial teacher education programs offered at Australian universities tend to qualify graduates to teach in the age-related contexts of early childhood/primary or secondary, a model that has reflected the organisational evolution of schools. Greater flexibility is required in the design of teacher preparation courses in order to produce graduates…

Most of the world's English language teachers speak English as a second or third language rather than as their first language. For many, their level of proficiency in English may not reach benchmarks established by their employers, raising the issue that is the focus of this article, namely, what kind of proficiency in English is necessary to be…

Online education for K-12 students has grown rapidly over the past decade. Approximately four million K-12 students enroll in one or more online courses each year. Because online learning is expanding into K-12 settings, teacher education programs need to prepare preservice teachers to be successful in these areas. This paper describes the design…

This article describes the middle grades teacher preparation program at Augusta State University in Georgia. It describes the negotiation between the middle school concept and the standardized testing culture of the local schools as the faculty redesigned the undergraduate middle grades program to adequately address both. Ways in which new…

Researchers and mathematics educators are trying to understand which learning experiences will help pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) be successful in the classroom. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the understanding of educational experiences that will lead to PSMTs, learning practices for teaching secondary…

State oversight for teacher preparation programs mostly ignores the impact of graduates on the K-12 students they teach, and it gives little attention to where graduates teach or how long they remain in the profession. There is no evidence that current state policies hold programs to high standards in order to produce teachers who can help…

Our current system for holding U.S. teacher education programs accountable doesn't guarantee program quality or serve the needs of schools and students. State oversight for teacher preparation programs mostly ignores the impact of graduates on the K-12 students they teach, and it gives little attention to where graduates teach or how long they…

A case is made that professional development activities in science, when designed as generic programs, can limit pathways individual teachers may take or even select to meet their specific professional development needs. Teacher professional development programs in science have consistently been designed to address system wide needs. These needs…

This paper introduces a Chinese teacher induction program. In China it is believed that formal teacher education constitutes only half of teacher preparation; the other half has to be accomplished on the job with the active support and involvement of the teaching community. The voice of teachers is introduced to the field of educational research…

Project 30 is a collaborative effort involving 30 representative institutions of higher education whose mandate is the redesign the way that prospective teachers are educated at the nation's colleges and universities. Faculties of arts and sciences and faculties in education are engaged in joint action for fundamental reform. The 30 participating…