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…

"Teacher Prep Review 2014" is the second edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) annual assessment of the nation's 2,400 teacher prep programs. The "Review" uncovers early evidence that teacher prep programs are beginning to make changes. It arrives at a time of heightened, unprecedented…

This case reflects a yearlong project I, as the instructor of an Advanced Methods course, conducted with my students to help them plan and implement critical literacy units in their high school and middle school student teaching placements. To do so, I assigned student teachers to explore notions of critical literacy (including resistant reading,…

Service learning experiences hold the potential to significantly influence participants' view of cultures other than their own. This qualitative study examines how service learning affects preservice teachers' attitudes about working with students from diverse backgrounds. Two groups of preservice teachers enrolled in a reading methods course…

Most reading methods courses taught in the United States do little to change student teachers' actual classroom instruction because new pedagogies are not practiced in a structured, supportive, closely supervised manner. This lack of practice results in failure to develop strong feelings of self-efficacy during university courses. Because literacy…

Investigates whether a reading methods course and/or student teaching can influence an individual's conceptual framework of reading. Finds some effect on changing subjects' perspectives about teaching reading, but also finds (in a subsequent study) that neither the reading methodology course nor student teaching had a statistically significant…

The value of a practicum as part of a reading methods course is explored through a questionnaire soliciting reactions of pupils and of student teachers. The statements gathered are interpreted as indicating that the experience has a positive effect on the attitudes of all participants. Classroom teachers are urged to allow their pupils to…

Confirms the view that the more alternatives avilable to students in preservice education and student teaching, the better their education will be meeting individual and future needs. (Author/RB)

Thirty-one student teachers participated in a study of the language arts and reading module of a competency-based program at the University of Toledo, to determine the extent to which objectives were implemented during the student teaching experience. Results from an observation schedule and questionnaires completed by student teachers and…

In order to improve the reading methods course at The University of Texas, a program was designed based on tutorial instruction. At first children were brought into the university classroom, one child for every two tutors. The university students (tutors) became directly involved in teaching reading and in being responsible for children's…

A study analyzed the experiences of 10 student teachers, 5 of whom taught in a traditional program and 5 of whom taught without cooperating teachers. The study's purpose was to gain insight into factors influencing views and actions of student teachers and to determine why they did or did not correspond to views they expressed after participating…

Cognitive apprenticeships have three essential characteristics: (1) they make use of the learner's prior knowledge; (2) they allow that learned procedures for solving problems may be modified in new situations; and (3) they acknowledge that individuals generate their own solution paths, often through a collaborative process. Preservice elementary…