This article discusses developing special education teacher candidates who have a solid knowledge of scientifically aligned reading practices. Challenges in preservice teacher education are presented, including alignment of course work and clinical experiences to the robust evidence base in reading science. Key questions and resources are…

This article focuses on Lisa Wilson's recent teaching experiences at the School of Dance, University of Cape Town (UCT), where dance pedagogy courses are established curricular components of its two undergraduate programs, the three-year Diploma in Dance Education (DipEd) and the four-year Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree in dance. The DipEd…

The PETE program at Arizona State University (ASU) has taken several steps to diversify its focus in recent years and include the development of the needed knowledge and skills among its majors in not only developing focused physical education programs but also in providing expanded physical activity opportunities for all students. This article…

The Distance Clinical Connecting Candidates and Children (DC4) is an innovative new model for providing a clinical experience in a reading methods course. Pre-service teachers used this model to implement assessments and lessons via SKYPE with local elementary students. I designed this model to provide a clinical experience when faced with…

For the past two decades, scholars have advocated for reforms in teacher education that emphasize relevant connections between theory and practice in university coursework and focus on clinical experiences. This paper is based on our experiences in designing and implementing an integrated literacy methods course in a field-based teacher education…

New accreditation standards for teacher preparation programs call for more seamless and effective connections between methods courses, clinical experiences, and school-based mentoring. Intentional clinical experiences and intermediate instructional strategies can foster collaboration between teacher preparation programs and teacher leaders in K-12…

Rural schools are often overlooked in educational research. At least one in five children in the United States attends a rural school and one-third of all public schools are located in rural areas. Research on the effects of teacher education in rural schools on teacher candidates and the rural schools themselves is almost nonexistent. This…

Grounded in a belief in the transformative possibilities of social studies teacher education, I present an argument for considering the development of purpose as both content and pedagogy of social studies teacher education. As part of developing a coherent pedagogy of rationale-based social studies teacher education, I begin by exploring the…

The author shares the challenges faced in her social studies methods class due to the constraints of NCLB. By incorporating the jackdaw kit project within her social studies methods course, her candidates were able to connect what they were talking about in methods and apply it to their students teaching situations where there was little time for…

Dispositions supporting the teaching of science as structured inquiry by four elementary candidates are presented. Candidates were studied during student teaching based on their positive attitudes toward teaching science with reform-based materials in their methods course. Personal learning histories informed their attitudes, values, and beliefs…

Art educators have a unique opportunity to develop and strengthen a cross-curricular foundation in literacy through art education. Enrolled in a content area reading course, pre-service teachers in art education at one, large southeastern university discovered that using language skills as a lens sharpened their observations of student performance…

In this article the authors describe a collaboratively designed secondary teacher education program focused on the preparation of preservice general education teachers to work effectively with children who have diverse learning needs in inclusive classrooms. The focus of the article is on the collaborative development and initial evaluation of the…

Individual recommendation plans (IRP) for student teaching practice were co-constructed with two methods students based on the select application of National Science Teachers Association's National Standards for Science Teacher Preparation. Methods students completed a resume, an interview on pedagogical preferences, and a learning styles survey…

Combining a university methods course with math classes in an elementary school led to powerful learning experiences for the preservice teachers, the authors report. It also provided benefits for the elementary students and their teachers. This effort involved identifying and sequencing core mathematical tasks and concepts to be explored and…

When an instructor reframed the social studies methods course to include a service-learning project, both education certification students and a museum's outreach program benefited. University students gained practical teaching experience leading a children's summer class about local prairie dogs, and the museum gained quality teachers.…