In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 30 teaching residency programs received funding through one of 28 Teacher Quality partnership grants awarded to establish or expand residency programs. These programs follow a model of teacher preparation in which prospective teachers complete graduate-level coursework alongside a year-long fieldwork experience in the…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

One characteristic of the field of TESOL is that it appears to be in a constant state of change. For example, new curriculum frameworks currently being implemented in different parts of the world include competency-based, text-based, and task-based models. In many countries English is now being introduced at the primary rather than secondary…

This article is the documentation of a sub-research question of a larger empirical study that employed quantitative methods to identify variables that are impacting on the delivery of music in the learning area Arts and Culture in South Africa extrapolated from questionnaires. Analysis of the data revealed that educators lack specialisation in…

Having taught ESL/EFL for seven years has led me to believe that non-native instructors can teach English effectively since we are ESL/EFL learners ourselves. We can relate to our students through our shared difficulties and insecurities. However, a number of us face the insecurity of not being "fluent enough" to teach a language other…

To answer the editor's question "What are the major challenges faced by teacher education in an increasing global society?" many issues deserve notice. They may be summarized as building the will, the space, the capacity, and the evidence. The author starts with an assumption that, at least rhetorically, is not controversial. Teacher…

The purpose of this study was to examine K-12 physical education teachers' perceptions of ability and usage of technology. Physical educators (n = 114) completed the Physical Education Technology Usage Survey assessing their perceived technology competency, how and why they utilize technology, challenges they face in implementing technology, and…

Improved science education is seen as an important goal for many developing countries. The role of elementary science is of particular importance, given that research has shown a high correlation between economic growth and the time spent on elementary science education. However, the teaching of science in many developing countries is dominated by…

The inability of American colleges and universities to produce teachers for America's urban classrooms has reached epidemic proportions. This article seeks to describe the legal effects of policies and laws designed to create conditions for highly qualified teaching professionals. Issues germane to the topic of urban teacher preparation and…

It is essential for teacher training institutions to reflect continually on changes in education policy with the view of ensuring that teacher training programmes that take the present needs and policies into account are in place. This article describes a four-year process through which a particular faculty of education went in search of an…

The authors examined the confidence of teachers from Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and the United States (N = 1,375) to address civic topics with their students. The authors also used differential item functioning models to examine responses to items from the Teacher Confidence Scale of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational…

Given the known relationship between physical inactivity and chronic disease (US Dept. of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2000, 2001), learning more about antecedents for physical activity engagement is an important research priority. In this vein, a number of studies have found a relationship between perceived and actual motor skill…

Akiba, LeTendre, and Scribner (2007) identified two problems with mathematics education in the United States: (a) a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers and (b) unequal access to those teachers by students of high and low socioeconomic status. Akiba et al. called for further research on how South Korea and other countries have achieved…

Earlier reports have shown that prospective teachers' conceptions about teaching science to a high degree are resistant and do not change substantially during the teacher-training programme. In our investigation we elucidate the prospective teachers' initial conceptions about pupils' understanding of science and mathematics. We applied "The…

This study explores the nature of teacher-parent relations as perceived by principals at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Participants included 144 principals who completed a survey examining differences in parent and teacher involvement at each level, preparedness of first-year teachers to communicate with parents, and the types of…