This study examined teacher education students' knowledge about word structure and improvements in their knowledge as a result of instruction, using three tasks: graphophonemic segmentation, classification of pseudowords by syllable type, and classification of real words as phonetically regular or irregular. Conclusions support the need for…

Examined the practice of experienced teacher induction leaders and mentor-new teacher pairs to determine what mentors needed to know and be able to do to sharpen new teachers' focus on individual student learning and growth. Results found that mentors were able to focus new teachers on individual student learning, particularly among…

This paper describes a professional development model with promise for supporting meaningful shifts in practice. We begin by introducing the theoretical principles underlying our professional development model, with a focus on explicating the interface between collaborative inquiry in a learning community (Lave, 1991, In L.B. Resnick, J.M. Levine,…

In this article we report a study of a teacher, Jimmy, making the transition from his university teacher education program to his first job. We explore what we characterize as tensions between traditions in his effort to develop a conception to inform his teaching of high school English. These tensions are rooted in conceptions of teaching that…

This article sketches out a comprehensive approach for preparing history teachers. It argues that grounding in historical content knowledge is necessary for success in the classroom, but such grounding is not enough to ensure that success. For beginning teachers, the problem is not merely acquiring content knowledge but acquiring it in ways that…

Our study investigated the knowledge 13 elementary teachers gained implementing a student-centered curriculum in the context of district-wide reform. Participants comprised all the teachers in grades three, four and five at a single elementary school. We believed that investigating teachers' responses to fictional pedagogical scenarios involving…

In this article, the author discusses how theories about the way teachers think and learn influence teachers' style of teaching. The author explains that if a teacher's theory of mind is essentially mechanical, then strategies based on reading mechanics will make sense to this teacher. He further expounds that teachers have an obligation to think…

There is considerable evidence that use of anthropomorphism and animism in science teaching is a common practice in all grades of education. However, not much is known about teachers' own views on the real reasons why they have been using animistic and anthropomorphic formulations or on the issue of whether animism and anthropomorphism should or…

The purpose of this study was to introduce an AR approach to a group of science teachers during an in-service AR course program and learn its contributions to their professional development. Data were gathered through an AR project by working with a group of eight science teachers throughout a four-week period. In the content of the course,…

In this paper, the author presents a study which explored K-8 preservice teachers' concept images and mathematical definitions of polygons. This study was carried out in which K-8 teacher candidates enrolled in an elementary mathematics content course were asked to sort, identify, and provide definitions of such shapes including triangles,…

Teachers aren't doctors. Unlicensed educators generally prove quite satisfactory, and, in any case, their certification should not be vested solely in Ed Schools. There is no reason why a math department shouldn't train and authorize math teachers, writes Michael Podgursky, who wants us to do everything possible to lower the walls between academic…

Three key features of a proposed capstone mathematics course for the preparation of teachers at the secondary level are: 1) teacher candidates examine concepts from the curriculum at a deeper level in the context of rich problems; 2) they investigate common themes in the math curriculum, such as shape and change, then collaborate on and present…

This paper offers an analysis of how six experienced teachers, and two in particular, used portfolios to aid and chart steps in their own professional development. The key finding of the study was that the pattern of growth of professional knowledge conformed strikingly to the central features of the model proposed by the philosopher of science,…

Teachers don't resist change, the author suggests, they resist programs that call for change without support. This Topeka, Kan., program added full-time instructional coaches to middle schools and found that teachers, with the coaches' support and time, adopted new practices that affected student learning.

This issue of CPRE Policy Briefs summarizes the findings on issues related to teacher quality in the chapter by the author in the book, "The State of Education Policy Research" (Cohen, Fuhrman, Mosher, Eds., 2007). This report also draws on discussions that took place during a summer, 2006, policy briefing on teacher labor-market issues…