scholarly journals Developing High Quality Teachers Through Professional Pre-Service Teaching Opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nichole Walsh ◽  
Nancy Akhavan

Based on the reform movements over the past two decades, it is evident that while effective teachers are critical to student learning, not all teachers are coming to the profession highly qualified. Policy and research continue to highlight the need to reorganize and refocus teacher preparation programs to produce higher quality teachers ready to meet the demands of the classroom from day one of employment. This study focuses on the enhancement of traditional preparation programs in public Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) as this continues to be the context for which most teacher candidates come to the profession. Using a six-group, four measure mixed-methods design, the objective of the study is to determine the impact California Teaching Fellows Foundation (CTFF), a pre-service teaching and learning opportunity for future teacher candidates, has on developing higher caliber teachers prepared in a traditional University-based teacher preparation setting. Through the use of an online survey, interviews, and focus groups, the relationship of CTFF participation to teacher efficacy before, during, and after traditional preparation participation is examined and explored from the perspective of teacher and supervisor. Unexpected findings show that CTFF participation has a relationship to decreased Teacher Efficacy for teacher candidates and CTFF is not creating a significant pipeline to teaching as proposed, leading to questions for further study.  

2022 ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Marie A. LeJeune ◽  
Jessica Dougherty ◽  
Mandy S. Olsen

This chapter presents a description of a collaborative approach to clinical induction for pre-service teachers, the benefits of a collaborative clinical approach, and the voiced experiences of public school teachers, teacher candidates, and university faculty/supervisors reflecting on the impact of professional involvement in the collaborative process. Arguments for disrupting traditional models for clinical practice are presented. Tips for other educators and education preparation programs for developing collaboration and co-teaching induction models are included.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nakeshia N. Williams ◽  
Brian K. Williams ◽  
Stephanie Jones-Fosu ◽  
Tyrette Carter

As the P-12 student landscape continues to grow in cultural and linguistic diversity, teacher preparation programs have yet to adequately prepare teacher candidates’ teaching and learning skills in meeting the academic and socio-emotional needs of diverse student demographics. This article examines teacher candidates’ cultural competence and cultural responsiveness to enhance candidates’ educator preparation and stimulate candidates’ personal growth development as developing culturally and linguistically responsive new teachers. While many teacher preparation programs require one multicultural or diversity education course, the authors examine a Minority Serving Institution’s integration of a cultural immersion experience for teacher candidates as one way of supporting their development as culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogues. This paper aims at supporting school districts’ need of culturally competent new teachers who have the content knowledge and pedagogy to teach and support culturally and linguistically diverse children. Recognizing this need, this qualitative analysis highlights the importance of and a need for cultural and linguistic competence among teacher candidates. Findings from this study provides a means by which universities can implement cross-cultural coursework and field-based experiences to prepare culturally responsive teacher candidates.


Author(s):  
Linda M. Brown

The concerns are growing when it comes to today's demands on education. This chapter will explain how demands on teachers are critical to student success. It is imperative that teacher preparation programs are preparing quality teachers who will contribute to effective schools and student learning. The scholarship of teaching and learning needs to accompany teacher education so that teacher educators can understand and communicate the complexity of instruction and learning. Teachers as professionals need to be able to make informed and accountable deliberations about how they will engage in their practice to increase student learning. Reflective practice needs to begin early in teacher preparation programs and continue throughout the preserves teachers' programs.


Author(s):  
Rebecca Smith

This mixed methods study examined preservice teacher perspectives on the impact of using untethered lecture capture (ULC) as an instructional technology in a teacher preparation course, both on learning experiences as students and confidence using technology as teachers. Results found statistically significant (p < .05) increases in confidence using technology as a teaching tool. Additionally, Darling-Hammond et al.'s (2018) Teacher Preparation for Deeper Learning framework was utilized to analyze qualitative data to explore the impact of ULC on preservice teacher learning. Challenges and recommendations for effective implementation of ULC, based on participant feedback, are provided. This study contributes to research on using technology in teacher preparation programs to enhance the teaching and learning process for preservice educators and is grounded in the TPACK model (Mistra & Koehler, 2009).


2020 ◽  
pp. 105382592097369
Author(s):  
Karen L. Anderson ◽  
Margaret E. Pierce ◽  
Kathleen M. McNamara

Background: Despite an extensive literature-base documenting strong outcomes for undergraduates engaged in service learning, few studies have investigated whether, and to what degree, these outcomes extend beyond the semester(s) undergraduates are actually engaged in service learning. Purpose: This study addresses this gap by following up with undergraduates who participated in an innovative service-learning project as part of their teacher preparation program. Our goal was to investigate the impact their participation has on their practice as teachers of mathematics (postgraduation). Methodology/Approach: Project participants (PPs) and matched controls (MCs) were surveyed using Qualtrics, a web-based survey tool. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Findings/Conclusions: Results indicate robust differences between PPs and the MCs self-reported descriptions of their current classroom practices, with the data confirming that participation in reimagined service learning has the potential to affect undergraduates’ beliefs, practices, and global mindsets postgraduation—while employed as classroom teachers of mathematics. Implications: Findings suggest that engagement in innovative service-learning projects, as part of undergraduate teacher preparation programs, has the potential to help early career teachers: transform their ideas about teaching and learning, move beyond traditional ideas of what mathematics looks like, and to embrace reform-based instructional methods.


Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Blankenship

Engaging in reflective practice is certainly not a new concept in the field of teacher education. Over the course of their pre-service training, teacher candidates characteristically experience changes in their teaching philosophy, and by extension, their pedagogic identities. Typically, these changes occur at the initial, midpoint, and final stages of the candidacy resulting from iterative reflective practices demonstrated through coursework and field experiences. Traditional models of teaching and learning situate these reflections through exchanges of experiences during discussions in face-to-face classroom or field-based settings. However, as existing and emerging technologies continue to impact teaching and learning in the 21st century, teacher preparation programs must respond in kind by adapting courses and aligning curricula to be responsive in the short term and nimble enough in the long term to change as institutions of higher education are only at the precipice of understanding the deeper impact of technology on teaching and learning.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Brady ◽  
Katie Miller ◽  
Jazarae McCormick ◽  
Lawrence A. Heiser

Educators struggle with “value-added” teacher evaluation models based on high-stakes student assessments. Despite validity and reliability threats, these models evaluate university-based teacher preparation programs (TPPs), and play a role in state and professional accreditation. This study reports a more rational value-added evaluation model linking student performance to teacher candidates’ lessons during Practicum and Student Teaching. Results indicate that K-12 students showed learning gains on these lessons, with mixed findings on comparisons of part-time to full-time internships, academic and functional lessons, and candidates’ grade point averages (GPAs). Results indicated that teacher candidates’ lessons are a viable value-added model (VAM) alternative for TPPs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Kathryn Strom ◽  
Jason Margolis ◽  
Nihat Polat

Background/Context Despite noted difficulties with defining and assessing teacher dispositions, U.S. state education departments and national accreditation agencies have included dispositions in mandates and standards both for determining teacher quality and for assessing the quality of the teacher preparation programs that certify them. Thus, there remains a significant impetus to specify dispositions to assess, identify what “good” dispositions look like in practice, and determine the best way to measure them. Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we aim to problematize the construct of “teacher dispositions” through a critical synthesis of literature and a discussion of a rhizomatic perspective to generate a (re)conceptualization that is more closely aligned with the immensely complex nature of teaching and learning. Second, we draw on samples of university-generated teacher disposition assessment tools to provide concrete examples that “put to work” this complex perspective on dispositions. Research Design To apply ideas introduced in our rhizomatic framework focused on multiple, dynamic assemblages, we conducted a qualitative textual analysis of a sample of 16 widely available assessment tools used by university-based teacher preparation programs to measure teachers’ professional dispositions. Findings and Conclusions Overall, the vast majority of disposition criteria included in the tools reviewed were temporal and relational, seeking to assess the interactions of the teacher candidate amidst a variety of potential circumstances as well as material and discursive factors. This reveals a paradox, however, since, despite their more contextual phrasing, these criteria ultimately seek to assess an individual and are high-stakes only for that teacher. Yet, we suggest that the results of this review may be an indication that the field is moving toward a more multifaceted vision of teaching that can better take into account the dynamic, situated, and relational nature of teaching activity. We also suggest the language accounting for some of the complexity of teaching in the disposition assessment tools we reviewed may be an entry point into a more dynamic, vital materialist vision of the profession.


Author(s):  
Lisa VASQUEZ

The current state of education embodies increasing public demands and policy mandates for teacher accountability in all classrooms, pre-kindergarten through Grade 12. Leaders expect increased academic performance to meet grade-level curriculum standards within a multicultural society. Teacher preparation programs are tasked to create and manage field experiences that guide practice within diverse learning communities. Teacher candidates interact with the cultural, social, and historical context of schools, of professional colleagues, and of the pupils they teach. In addition, teacher candidates should be prepared to develop practices that are intentional, personalized, differentiated, and purposeful for the pupils within their classrooms. This paper offers a case study of one university’s re-design of field experience supervision in its teacher preparation programs. The curriculum designers sought to ensure support for teacher candidates based on each student’s individual needs, while fostering systemic change responsive to ideas of race, gender, and other areas of intersectionality in a multicultural society. The field supervisor was the key to connect the practical, field-based experiences with the vision and mission of the university. Thus, program leaders identified the need to invest in the professional development of field supervisors in a way that brought the vision and mission to life—from words to action. The resulting framework included a multi-faceted approach of coaching / mentoring, professional development, and reflective discourse with colleagues.


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