One of the goals of successful teacher preparation is to develop professionals who are cognizant of their own backgrounds and who critically reflect on those experiences for future practice (Darling-Hammond, 2006). Overall, this study seeks to explore the ways in which blogging provides a space for reflection, interaction, and development of…

Torey Hayden's teacher stories are first-person accounts of being a teacher in classrooms for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Hayden's books offer readers a real-world look at the joys and challenges of teaching children whose lives are marked by emotional and behavioral disorders, child abuse and trauma, anger and defeat.…

This study examines students' experiences using letter writing designed as a socio-cultural-based tool for critical friend work to promote dialogue and critique of their self-study teacher research projects. It seeks to understand their diverse experiences to inform future practice and contribute to the knowledge base of critical friend work in…

This study examines the perceptions of elementary education majors (EEMs) and secondary education majors (SEMs) toward the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWDs) prior to and after taking a course on integrating exceptional students. The study is guided by Pajares' (1992) framework on beliefs. Successful teaching and learning in the…

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (2004), the United States is lacking 41,141 certified special educators. Texas is no exception to the national trend; in Texas alone, there is a shortage of 5,024 certified special educators (U.S. Department of Special Education). Any successful remediation of this…

An examination of the relationship of faculty levels of moral reasoning to that of students at various stages of a teacher education program revealed that no group of students (including graduate level) exhibited faculty members' abilities to recognize principled moral judgments and that the student groups did not differ from each other in such…

A four-level approach to teacher development was prepared from an 18-year study of teacher credential candidates. Characteristics of teachers at each stage are described, and conditions for successful passage from stage to stage are proposed. (DF)

Over three years, researchers interviewed and followed three black preservice teachers at a private liberal arts college, examining the role of personal histories in response to preservice teacher education, the importance of various bases of support for minorities, and the value of cocurricular activities in preservice education. (SM)

Due to concern about regular classroom teachers' attitudes towards handicapped children, a study was performed on teacher trainees. Three groups of preservice teachers were studied: those in a mainstreaming program, a group of special education majors, and elementary school majors. Results show that the mainstreaming program helped modify trainee…