A middle school is a complex setting in which to develop a sense of self. The following accounts of three young women reveal ways that identity is confronted, offering insights for all learners. The intent is to show how prospective and practicing teachers can gain greater access to fostering identities in the making. The language of Bakhtin gives…

Individual trainees have various responses to the initial teacher training process, but there are some frequently occurring patterns that require explanation, understanding and attention. Drawing on the literature, a multi-disciplinary approach is developed to examine the beliefs, concerns and priorities of trainee teachers' thinking from social,…

This program description presents a model of critical reflection that has helped teacher candidates appropriately apply behavior management theory to resolve behavioral problems. The authors developed the ENACT (Examine, Name, Analyze, Critically evaluate, and Treat) model to help teacher candidates analyze the cause of inappropriate behaviors to…

In this article, the author argues that university education programs' monopoly on teacher education--which makes them virtually the only path to state certification and thus to a career in public school teaching--has undermined the quality of the programs themselves. While he does not propose taking the professional preparation of teachers and…

This study examines the relationship between supervisor evaluation of classroom performance and exit portfolio ratings of candidates enrolled in the Professional Immersion Master of Arts in Teaching Program, a partnership between Johns Hopkins University and Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. This graduate-level teacher preparation…

In the fall of 1999, the first cohort group and the faculty in the new master of science in applied leadership for teaching and learning degree at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay began their journey. The tales of the journey, as told by its sojourners, would undoubtedly be as individually rich as the tales of the pilgrims described by…

Early childhood educators respect children's need to construct their own knowledge by supporting curricula that allow children to make choices and to be active learners. However, what everyone appears to want for students--a wide array of learning opportunities that engage students in experiencing, creating, and solving real problems, using their…

This study employed open-ended questions on a survey, a focus group interview and participant observations to document the perspectives of Latina paraeducators concerning the challenges and support systems they encountered in order to complete college and gain admission to a teacher certification program. Findings reveal that their challenges…

This paper addresses the question of how to develop prospective teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science teacher education. The main focus is on the knowledge transformation process and on the cognitive strategies used to shift prospective teachers' explanations within the domain of modelling thermal physical phenomena. This study…

This article features graduates of the Chicago-based Academy for Urban School Leadership who are channeled directly into low-performing "turn around" schools where they receive guidance from accomplished veterans. Founded by venture capitalist Martin J. Koldyke, the 5-year-old nonprofit academy is independent of the 426,000-student Chicago system,…

This publication provides a closer look at data reported annually by South Carolina's public institutions of higher education as part of institutional effectiveness reporting and as part of the process of performance funding. Prior to the January 2000 edition, this document was entitled "Minding Our P's and Q's: Indications of Productivity…

Preadolescent students are interested in learning the structure and function of the human body. However, their teachers are not trained in this content. The purpose of this project was to expand a successful outreach effort in the health sciences for grade 7-12 teachers to include PreK-3 teachers. A "Healthy Hearts" workshop was offered to train…

This study aimed to assess grade 10 Turkish students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and whether these conceptions were related to selected variables. These variables included participants' gender, geographical region, and the socioeconomic status (SES) of their city and region; teacher disciplinary background, years…

This paper reports on the perceptions of teacher education student of the value of using digital tools to analyse video-based information on the practice of teachers in classrooms. This strategy was employed to address a dilemma in providing sufficient exposure to real examples of good classroom teaching to link theory with practice. The use of…

What are the sources of teachers' professional knowledge for the teaching of reading? This paper reports findings from a study that investigated the role of teachers in the current Research-Policy-Praxis Nexus (RPPN). This was achieved by a specific focus upon constructions of reading in the early years in Victoria, Australia. All of the teacher…