This narrative case study describes the use of improvement science methods to strengthen the effectiveness of field experiences for teacher candidates. As part of a networked improvement community, we sought to reduce variation in the quality of field experience by providing a cohesive network of high-quality coaching supports. Using design-based…

Clinical practice has long been an integral component of teacher education. In the past two decades, however, the call has intensified for more purposeful, inclusive, integrated, and reflective clinical experiences for teacher candidates learning how to teach and, more broadly, what it means to be a teacher. This article aims to offer a conceptual…

The middle-grades program at a state university recently underwent a program redesign in an effort to ensure that teacher candidates are well prepared to teach in today's contemporary middle schools while maintaining the principles and standards established by the Association of Middle Level Educators. The purpose of this article is to explain the…

This article describes one teacher preparation program's approach to designing and implementing a mentoring program to support clinically-based teacher education. The design for the program is based on an interview study that compared the mentoring experiences of 18 teachers across three different contexts: student teaching, early field…

To meet the demands of living and working in the 21st century, it is critical that every P-12 student in every classroom have an effective teacher. Yet, each year, thousands of new teachers enter the field unprepared to meet the challenges of today's classroom. Recent federal policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have made…

This article examines a variety of work currently going on across the country in newly created hybrid spaces to more closely connect campus courses and field experiences in university-based preservice teacher education. It is argued that the old paradigm of university-based teacher education where academic knowledge is viewed as the authoritative…

The student teaching experience plays a significant role in teacher education programs by providing pre-service teachers with an opportunity to work directly with students in actual school settings. Recent reform movements in teacher education have emphasized mentoring and models of student teacher fieldwork such as partnerships and professional…

Elementary education faculty at this university embedded a Teacher Work Sample (TWS) performance-based assessment into the student teaching experience to assess candidates' ability to impact student learning as required by recent accreditation reforms. The authors conducted an internal evaluation of the TWS for the purposes of strengthening not…

Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed. This article sketches what teacher education in the US can do to advance equity and democracy in five areas: recruitment and admission, early fieldwork,…

This paper investigates the mentoring practices of 16 cooperating teachers as they prepared student teachers to integrate technology into teaching and learning activities. Data were gathered from multiple sources during a semester of student teaching. A complex variety of contextual and conceptual factors influencing the integration of technology…

In teacher education, as in many fields, there are several truths, each based on different assumptions and beliefs. "Conventional teacher education reflects a view of learning to teach as a two-step process of knowledge acquisition and application or transfer." In this view of truth, the university provides theory, skills, and knowledge…

Four cultural conditions within universities impede significant reform of field experiences in teacher education: lack of resources, low status, fragmented curriculum, and professional perspectives of teacher educators. Recommendations are made for altering the purpose of field experiences to include more than the acquisition of technical…

Explores the epistemological shift embedded in one preservice program that puts extended teaching experience first in the process of learning to teach. Emphasizes the role and power of experience in learning to teach. It responds to Jones's paper on the 10 dichotomies in teacher education (SP 527 128), relating them to the notion of early teaching…

Presents an introduction by the journal editor to a special issue that features the work of faculty and students at Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, who were involved in restructuring their teacher-preparation program. At the heart of the restructuring was the specific goal of emphasizing early fieldwork experiences. (SM)