Teacher residency models are gaining momentum as powerful models for preparation because preservice teachers spend an entire year in a local classroom while also continuing their learning through required coursework. In its inaugural year of offering a teacher residency program, Texas Christian University modified course structures to allow…

Developing knowledge and understandings related to children's literature among preservice elementary teachers is a vital component of teacher preparation that should be addressed in a required course. The purpose of the present study was to identify essential learning outcomes addressed in children's literature courses that were required…

In response to No Child Left Behind mandates, budget cuts and various accountability demands aimed at improving programs, colleges and schools of education are in need of practical, quantitative evaluation methods which can be utilized internally to meaningfully examine teacher preparation programs and related coursework. The utility of multiple…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine preservice teacher education candidates' perceptions of quality in online education courses within a regional comprehensive university located in Texas. The research questions also addressed students' perceived efficacy in their level of preparedness to: engage in field experiences;…

Within personal leadership education courses, leadership educators should include experiences which help students develop themselves as leaders. In this article, the authors discuss results from a qualitative research study involving the analysis of Personal Growth Project (PGP) assignments in a personal leadership education collegiate course. The…

Some U.S. universities use Web-based formats to offer most of the course work required to become a certified teacher of the deaf. Yet little research exists on how students judge the content and delivery of such courses compared to on-campus instruction. Parton (2005) described previous research concerning this topic as descriptive rather than…

"I really don't like mathematics, but I can teach it to elementary students without any problem." These words are frequently voiced by elementary teacher candidates. "It's just elementary school math it's not like I'm teaching anything really difficult. Otherwise, no way would I do it." These words are powerful in terms of…

The past two decades have been times of heightened emphasis on changing structures between universities and public schools toward collaboration as a means of improving the education and preparation of pre-service and in-service teachers. Numerous studies have found that students in teacher education courses often have difficulty utilizing the…

Test-based education reform efforts continue to limit the number of minority teachers in the United States. Minority-serving institutions face numerous challenges in recruiting and preparing highly qualified minority teacher candidates for the academic demands of a changing teaching climate and the influx of a diverse student population in public…

Teaching, to a large degree, depends on more than just technical skills. The demands of classroom teaching require interpersonal skills and dispositions that are often ignored when determining a preservice teacher's fitness to teach. This article provides an example of how one university addresses the challenge of evaluating students' skills and…

This article describes collaborative efforts to frame university teacher preparation program activities within transfer of learning and transformative learning theories to promote teacher leadership. Specifically, we describe (a) a community sponsored, public school, campus-based experience during an introductory teacher preparation course; (b) a…

The constructionist concept of social negotiation of meaning recognizes peer interaction and feedback as an important factor for expanding meaning. This concept has particular relevance in the context of developing habits of reflective thinking in teacher preparation programs. This article describes an approach to increasing opportunities for peer…

This article presents a study of preservice teachers' attitudes to language diversity. Using a modified version of the Language Attitude for Teachers Scale (Byrnes & Kiger, 1994), we surveyed preservice teachers (N = 518) before their multicultural education course. The pilot study sample included White college students and Mexican American…

Objectives of a training project for a consortium of colleges were to provide on-site assistance to new vocational technical teachers, conduct approved teacher education courses for eligible personnel, assist the state in conducting workshops for vocational technical personnel, develop needs assessment and delivery system with community colleges,…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for "The Link between Dinosaurs and Birds", along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual…