"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) When Worlds Collide: Universal PreK Brings New Challenges for Public Elementary Schools (David McKay Wilson); (2) Answers and Questions: Schools Survey Their Students--and…

Team-based learning (TBL) is a unique student-centered instructional strategy that emphasizes learning to use concepts rather than merely learning about them. As such, TBL requires students to become active participants who are accountable and responsible for their learning. This does not occur, however, unless teachers transform their primary…

This article describes an online experience that has not only created a fantasy world for the general public but has enabled some tech-savvy educators to create virtual educational opportunities. Second Life, or SL, is a 3-D Internet-based virtual world created by Linden Lab and populated by nearly 1,000,000 active users worldwide since 2003.…

This article documents the development of foreign language (FL) teacher standards in Uruguay. It begins by discussing what it means to be a teacher, what standards are and are not, and how they can be helpful or misused in teacher development. In the proposal, a distinction is made between teacher preparation programs that are course-based and…

An attitudinal resistance among teachers regarding the inclusion of children with disabilities is well documented in the literature. Studies collectively highlight two specific areas that contribute to this resistance. First, a lack of teacher knowledge or preparedness for meeting the diverse needs of children with disabilities stimulates…

A survey was conducted of teacher education baccalaureate graduates from the first five years (2004-08) of St. Petersburg College's (SPC) programs in Florida, along with teacher education baccalaureate graduates from 2004-08 of the nearest state university, University of South Florida (USF). The survey focused on graduates who were found to be…

Music theory faculty members in all four-year institutions of higher education in Texas that are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and offer degrees in music education were invited to take an online survey. The content of the survey consisted of competencies taken directly from standards outlined by the National…

This paper makes a fundamentally simple line of empirically supported argumentation. The increasing demands for high level student learning can best be achieved by the use of the substantive research evidence of the past decade demonstrating that developmentally oriented instruction facilitates academic, behavioral, and social performance. Most…

Teachers' integration of computer-based assistive technology has been linked to positive educational outcomes for students with disabilities. This study was conducted to identify factors that are predictive of integrating assistive technology into teaching practices among general and special education teachers of students with severe disabilities.…

Over the last few decades, governments of all political hues have introduced measures to regulate the development of the professional status of teachers in England. In the first part of the article, we compare and contrast how teachers from schools, colleges and universities are regulated by the state and the nature of the ITT qualifications and…

The mathematics instructional approaches of effective elementary teachers in urban high- poverty schools were investigated. Approximately 99 urban elementary teachers were administered the Star Teacher Selection Interview; a total of 31 were identified as star teachers. These teachers were then administered the Instructional Practices…

If one reads the paper or listens to the news, professional disposition are almost becoming critical job skills in the world of work. Similarly, faculty dispositions, defined in this article as "attitudes, values, and beliefs demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal behaviors as educators interact with students, families, colleagues, and…

This study explores the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning in the area of mathematics by developing and evaluating an innovative approach to assessing teacher knowledge. This approach is based on teachers' analyses of classroom video clips. Teachers watched 13 video clips of classroom instruction and then provided written…

A central part of education reform today is the wide-ranging and unprecedented effort to either revamp existing teacher evaluation systems or develop and implement entirely new systems. High-quality teacher evaluation systems are seen as one lever for improving the teacher workforce and hence the outcomes of students, including high school…

The national educational initiative "Our New School" will have a direct influence on the content and technologies of pedagogical education in Russia, and is aimed at providing the system of general education with the qualified teachers who are currently needed. In this article, the author emphasizes that in connection with attributing…