Reimagining the Contextualization of a Rural Teacher Educator Preparation Program During COVID

Within the rural context of our nation, education has largely been overlooked or ignored within the research. The predominant educational research focuses more upon larger urban areas with a distinct context. Training quality teacher educators within the context of a worldwide pandemic dismisses many established and traditional methods. In order to prepare our teacher candidates within this new context, our EPP revaluated its current practices. Innovation in teacher preparation is clearly at hand and is well within our reach if we use the pandemic as a springboard to reimagine a teaching force equipped to face any challenge and problem-solve to create the most effective learning environment for the students they teach. It is possible and doable and can sustain our public education system in ways that we thought impossible prior to the pandemic. It pushes us out of the rut we find ourselves within. The chapter address strategies to support preservice teachers in rural settings.

Technology in Education, Win or Fail?

Educator preparation programs and institutional polices should provide background knowledge and experience with digital literacies and emerging technologies in coursework and strategies. The emphasis on the integration of technology instruction is relevant in the literature today. This chapter will explore the intersections and disjunctures between digital literacy practices in an educator preparation program and personal digital literacy use from a recent study that examined the digital literacies of six teacher educators. The chapter will be organized into sections, examining technology tools, digital interactions, and online resources applied classrooms.

The Need for Multidimensional and Longitudinal Teacher Training

This chapter focuses on the need for multidimensional and longitudinal teacher preparation that begins in the educator preparation program (EPP) and continues into and throughout the school district level for all teachers. Discussion of topics that are foundational for teachers include continuous improvement, assessment, use of evidence-based and high leverage practices, collaboration, feedback, and self-reflection. Additionally, specific strategies and resources that can support teachers in planning for the academic and social-emotional needs and success of students will also be shared.

Higher Education and the Ethic of Care: Finding a Way Forward During a Global Pandemic

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, before we had a chance to acclimate to our world turned upside-down, I was genuinely confounded by the inflexibility of some professors to help students. After all, we had been offered the grace of an extension on tenure-track requirements, and afforded the opportunity, and relative safety, of working from home. How was it possible then, to not understand that students, too, might need grace? And how could anyone be OK with choosing not to help? Far from traditional research questions, my wonderings provoked lively conversations with colleagues, and a lens through which to consider my own positionality and difficulties in dealing with the challenges posed by the pandemic. Framed by Nel Noddings’ Ethic of Care, and through poetic inquiry, this article presents a personal response to teaching in an Educator Preparation Program during a global pandemic.

Teacher Residency as Alternative Pathway to Licensure

Teacher residencies have been an ongoing discussion in the educator preparation world for nearly a decade. This paper describes a promising practice in program design at a university that offers alternative pathways to licensure to meet the demands of school districts, especially in economically disadvantaged communities in one region of the United States. The one-year residency model was developed to address the teacher shortage in a state with growing teacher attrition. Aligned with recent legislation that created a residency license, a traditional educator preparation program examined its strengths and incorporated the most critical needs for novice teacher success to offer a one-year teacher residency as an alternative pathway. The residency model was co-constructed with school district personnel and teacher education faculty to focus on the most critical dimensions of teaching that include planning, instruction, and assessment. After one year, the feedback from school district personnel included high favor for readiness to teach. Residency candidates reported increased self-efficacy. The residency program has implications for future research and potential replication at other institutions of higher education.

Case Study and Self Study as Means for Program Improvement in Teacher Education

Proponents of the evidence-based movement in education maintain that decisions around policy and practice should be grounded in data outcomes. However, insufficient research exists on data use in teacher education programs as much of the research on data use is concentrated on K-12 programs. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the data use practices of an educator preparation program so as to facilitate program improvement efforts. The collective qualitative data described in this study was key to informing continuous improvement areas within this educator preparation program. Therefore, this case study offers insight as to how qualitative data can support and inform program improvement efforts.

Impact of the edTPA on teacher candidates’ perceptions of preparedness to teach

This longitudinal case study conducted at a private University in the northeastern United States explored the impact of the edTPA assessment and preparation process as an embedded component of the University’s educator preparation program. The study tracked 59 graduate level candidates from entry into the program through candidate licensure. The researchers examined the impact of the edTPA preparation process on teacher candidates’ perceptions of their readiness to teach in comparison to their actual readiness to teach as indicated by their edTPA portfolio passing score. The University’s School of Education has an estimated 30% ethnic diversity population, thus a second research question compared perceptions of readiness to teach of candidates of color to those of Caucasian peers. Framed by Bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory, this study contributes to the research on the edTPA as an efficacious and inclusive evaluation tool, particularly within diverse schools of education.

Choosing Culturally, Linguistically, and Cognitively Distance Learning Platforms

Upon completion of their educator preparation program, a study done by Archambault found that teachers felt most prepared in the areas of pedagogy, content, and pedagogical content. However, the same teachers reported feeling least prepared in the areas of technology and technology integration. With instruction shifting to an online space during COVID-19, the consideration of how to teach virtually was no longer abstract. This chapter highlights the journey of a teacher working to find supportive technology for their class, evaluating existing resources, connecting the tools to teaching standards, and ensuring platforms are inclusive and relevant for the culturally, linguistically, and cognitively diverse (CLCD) learners who utilize augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. This chapter is rooted in early childhood education, social constructivism, and disability critical race theory (DisCrit) and seeks to serve as a critical guide, or model, for intentional and inclusive educators, researchers, practitioners, and learners.