Providing support focused on real challenges is critical in retaining highly qualified new science teachers, but the field lacks a systematic description of these teachers' needs. The authors of this article examine the areas that science teachers are expected to understand: (1) the content and disciplines of science; (2) learners; (3)…

To explore issue-specific barriers to teaching environmental issues, the authors investigated secondary science teachers' perceived current and preferred teaching levels for 23 environmental issues and perceived barriers to teaching the selected issues. Subjects in this graduate project were 41 secondary science teachers self-selected to answer a…

This paper describes and interprets an action research project that supported student teachers learning to teach physical education in a community-based, after-school games program. Ten student teachers taught 10 lessons to elementary school children, under the guidance of 3 supervisory teachers, who were graduate students, and one program…

Project 30 is a collaborative effort involving 30 representative institutions of higher education whose mandate is the redesign the way that prospective teachers are educated at the nation's colleges and universities. Faculties of arts and sciences and faculties in education are engaged in joint action for fundamental reform. The 30 participating…

The California New Teacher Project (CNTP) commissioned pilot tests of assessment instruments during 1990. This document is the final report and analysis of the administration and scoring of these assessment instruments. The document, organized into 11 chapters, begins with an introduction describing research on new and experienced teachers,…

An exploratory study was conducted in North Carolina to examine the impact on teacher education programs of improved academic preparation for undergraduate teacher education majors. This report describes one such approach--the requirement that in addition to general college and teacher preparation courses, undergraduate education students complete…

Second language acquisition (SLA) courses are a perennial feature of graduate level teacher preparation programs in Applied Linguistics and TESOL. While there has been recent interest in exploring the interfaces of second language acquisition research and classroom teaching (Ellis, 1997), the teaching of SLA courses at the university level is…

"A Focus on Professional Development" is the fourth in the Research-Based Practices in Early Reading Series published by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) at Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). Because reading proficiency is fundamental to student achievement across all subjects and grades, the preparation of the teachers…

This fastback explains that better teaching is the key to higher student achievement, and improving the quality of both teachers and their teaching is an important challenge for departments of education and schools nationwide. The fastback focuses on: "Enhancing Teacher Quality" (content knowledge, licensure and certification, and…

This paper describes efforts to promote professional development among Brazilian elementary teachers via a 6-year public school-university partnership, presenting theoretical and methodological frameworks, general research characteristics, and results. Researchers investigated how a constructive-collaborative intervention that examined reflection…

This study examined the teaching practices of Maria, a special educator who worked with students who had multiple disabilities, were nonverbal, and used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). It highlighted the complex, interdependent, and dynamic nature of teacher knowledge, beliefs, and practices and evaluated what Maria knew and…

The preparation of preservice teachers plays a major role in closing the achievement gap in the education of urban children. Urban teachers often do not understand how their low expectations and deficit assumptions influence their instructional practices and contribute to a widening achievement gap between urban and non-urban students. Many…

Fourteen school-to-work programs characterized by strong work-based learning components and solid employer involvement were examined in a 3-year study to identify pedagogical factors associated with successful work-based learning programs. The main data collection activities were as follows: site visits to the 15 programs to interview faculty,…

To explore the implications of recommendations from national reports on teacher education reform, a university course was designed for teachers using practical inquiry to structure the use of craft knowledge, collaboration, and reflection. Participating teachers reported that they gained confidence in their teaching choices through the course.…

Drawing inspiration from Shulman's (1986) construct of pedagogical content knowledge, we propose that leadership content knowledge is a missing paradigm in the analysis of school and district leadership. After defining leadership content knowledge as that knowledge of academic subjects that is used by administrators when they function as…