Technology and Distance Learning Lessons from the Nation's Newest University: Perceptions and Reality

Little research has examined preservice teachers’ views on tenure and accountability. This study used a 35-item survey to investigate 89 preservice teachers’ attitudes toward both. Most valued tenure and recognized the importance of ensuring teacher quality. Fewer than one third saw mentoring or collaboration as ways to improve their teaching—surprising in an apprenticeship program. The authors argue for better alignment between teacher preparation and inservice accountability measures, and the importance of inservice mentoring and feedback.     

The role of subject-matter content in teacher preparation: an international perspective for mathematics

International comparative studies in education provide a fresh perspective on K-12 education policy by enabling countries to learn from each other’s approaches. The recently conducted Teacher Education and Development Study—Mathematics provides a worldwide lens by which to examine the role of subject-matter in the preparation of US teachers of mathematics for primary and lower secondary students. More specifically, a previous study looking at the international top-performing teacher preparation programmes identified a common set of learning experiences (topics/content) related to mathematics. This empirically derived international benchmark is used in this paper to examine the quality of the mathematics preparation of future US teachers in various university and college programmes.     

Ready to Lead? A Look into Jewish Religious School Principal Leadership and Management Training

Although most Jewish supplementary religious school principals have graduated from various academic training programs, there are no data about how these programs sufficiently prepare educational leaders. This study examined the essential leadership and management skills of effective Jewish religious school leaders, and assessed their preparation to undertake the key challenges of this complex job. This study also investigated the principals’ perceptions about their training and whether they experienced a knowledge gap as school leaders. The respondents felt unprepared to conduct essential tasks—such as working with lay leaders, managing human resources, and planning budgets—after completing their training programs.     

Collaborating to “Grow Our Own”: The Helios STEM Middle School Residency Program

In this article, the authors explain the need for clinically rich middle school STEM teacher preparation. They describe how one university and school district with an established partnership collaborated to meet this need. The result was the formation of a residency program that aims to prepare high quality middle school STEM teachers who can fill the district’s vacancies. The residency program is centered around clinical experiences where the triad—consisting of a preservice teacher, collaborating teacher, and university supervisor—is the nexus of learning. The authors share the takeaways from their experiences, highlighting the perspectives of the members of one triad. They conclude with an examination of the residency program’s effectiveness in meeting its intended aim.     

Policies,Agendas, and Practices Influencing Doctoral Education in Physical Education Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

If teaching physical education is a moral activity, it follows that there is a moral component to the preparation of teachers of physical education and thus a moral component to the preparation of teacher educators. In this article, I examine the major policies, agendas, and practices that influence doctoral preparation in physical education teacher education. I argue from both a utilitarian and realist perspective that we can best serve children and youth in schools by being knowledgeable of the contexts and effects of these policies, agendas, and practices in educating future professors of physical education teacher education.     

素质教育视野下的情商教育

情商教育又称社会及情绪学习教育。素质教育背景下我国情商教育发展进程中存在智商开发凌驾于情商培育之上,导致情商教育形同虚设;教学内容零散,教学目标模糊,系统性不足;教学时间不确定,情商教育缺乏长期性等问题。我国情商教育应转变观念,训练和培养学生的情感能力;系统设计情商培育内容,科学构建情商教育体系;坚持情商教育的长期性,做好打＂持久战＂的心理准备;建立＂学校—家庭—社会＂三位一体的情商教育体系等。     

Cyberbullying by Adolescents: A Preliminary Assessment

A new threat has arisen for which teachers, administrators, and parents admit they are poorly prepared. Cyberbullying—electronic forms of peer harassment—is becoming increasingly prevalent and often originates beyond the legal reach of the school. This presentation describes how cyberbullying differs from other forms of mistreatment, cites examples of Internet intimidation, identifies procedures for responding to electronic threats, explores implications for teachers and parents, recommends questions for initial research, and presents a poll for schools to use in assessing student experience with cyberbullying.     

Learning from direct instruction: Best prepared by several self-regulated or guided invention activities?

Learning from direct instruction can be enhanced by preparatory invention tasks: students invent an index that allows to differentiate a set of cases regarding important aspects (self-regulated). However, contradictory results have been found. As self-regulated activities often need practice, we tested whether the contradictory findings persist when students can practice inventing. We randomly assigned 99 eighth-grade students to two conditions (independent variable): they either invented twice (self-regulated; n = 49) or worked through worked solutions of the two tasks (guided; n = 50) before learning about ratios in physics from a lecture. Extraneous load, deep-structure recall, knowledge-gap perception, and self-efficacy were potential mediators. Transfer was the dependent measure. Guidance led to less extraneous load. However, self-regulation led to higher transfer because the students devoted more attention to the deep structure of the preparation tasks. Our findings suggest that—given some practice—self-regulated outperforms guided preparation for learning from direct instruction.     

Presidential Rhetoric and the Purpose of American Education

This study examines how U.S. presidents have defined the purpose of education. Presidential rhetoric about education in inaugural and State of the Union speeches was collected and examined. Throughout history, two purposes of education have gained the most attention—civic responsibility and economic efficiency—with emphasis shifting from civic responsibility to economic efficiency over time.     

新中国教师教育政策变迁历程、演进逻辑及发展趋势

新中国成立以来,教师教育政策经历了四个发展阶段：探索新中国师范教育体系建设的发轫阶段(1949—1977)、提升师范教育重要战略位置的调整阶段(1978—1997)、构建开放的现代化教师教育范式的转型阶段(1998—2008)以及全面推进教师队伍高质量均衡发展的强化阶段(2009—2019)。其演进逻辑表现为政策主体由管理走向治理,政策目标由效率走向公平,政策理念由规约走向服务。目前,中国教师教育政策呈现出以师德师风养成为价值先导,创新教师教育培养路径,保障教师队伍均衡发展,健全教师教育制度体系,推进教师教育法制建设的发展趋势。     

What Do We Really Know About the edTPA? Research,PACT, and Packaging a Local Teacher Performance Assessment for National Use

This article calls attention to the overreliance on research about the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)—often labeled edTPA's predecessor—as justification for the edTPA. The article argues that the distinctions between the assessments are too vast to rely on PACT data to support the edTPA, given the localized nature of PACT and the way in which it is scored.     

Faculty Members' Perceptions of Teacher Preparation Programs

This research study examined faculty members' reaction to criticisms about the quality and design of teacher preparation programs at schools and colleges of education. The researchers found that there is confusion among teacher preparation professionals about their programs and research. The study also showed that, in general, teacher educators are resistant to change.     

Assessing Learning in the Outdoors with the Field Trip in Natural Environments (FiNE) Framework

The development and application of a framework that captures main characteristics of learning in nature—the Field Trip in Natural Environments (FiNE) framework—is the main outcome of this study that followed up 22 daily field trips of 4–6th grade students to nature parks. The theoretical and practical framework, which was developed based on the research literature and the data collected, allows systematic analysis of various phases of the field trip: preparation, pedagogy, activity and outcomes. The FiNE framework incorporates multiple views of the researchers and participants and examines the pedagogy employed and the outcomes as reported by the participating students. The employment of the framework indicates limited preparation and the use of traditional pedagogies and highlights the importance of social interactions and physical and learning activity. The FiNE framework provides researchers with a plausible scheme to assess various components of field trips to nature and to elucidate possible outcomes of such experiences.     

Quantitative Literacy Across the Curriculum: Integrating Skills From English Composition,Mathematics, and the Substantive Disciplines

Quantitative literacy is an important proficiency that pertains to “word problems” from science, history, and other fields. Unfortunately, teaching how to solve such problems often is relegated to math courses alone. This article examines how quantitative literacy also involves concepts and skills from English composition and the substantive disciplines. The author outlines a systematic approach to writing the answers to word problems—a fundamental skill that applies to ongoing education, everyday life, and the workplace.     

Reflections on Equipping Candidates to Teach Literacy in Culturally Diverse Schools

Abstract

This essay reflects on ways to equip teacher candidates so they are not only prepared to answer tough questions, but are educated for the linguistic and literacy challenges of today’s classrooms. We recognize that with an ever-growing majority minority population, it is time to change the teacher preparation system, and to support current teachers and the preparation of future teachers for the field; these changes need to be soon and are imperative.     

The development of elementary teacher identities as teachers of science

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the contributions of pre-service teachers’ memories of science and science education, combined with their experiences in a STEM-focused teacher preparation programme, to their developing identities as elementary school teachers of science. Data collected over three years include a series of interviews and observations of science teaching during elementary teacher preparation and the first year of teaching. Grounded within a theoretical framework of identity and using a case-study research design, we examined experiences that contributed to the participants’ identity development, focusing on key themes from teacher interviews: memories of science and science instruction, STEM-focused teacher preparation programme, field experiences, first year of teaching, and views of effective science instruction. Findings indicate the importance of exposure to reform strategies during teacher preparation and are summarised in main assertions and discussed along with implications for teacher preparation and research.     

Linking technology,learning, and stories: Implications from research on hypermedia video-cases

Teacher educators have been turning to video-based hypermedia cases as a strategy to confront the challenges of preparing teachers. Even though technology has been shown to have a transformative effect on teaching and learning, innovated uses in classrooms have been the exception rather than the norm. This paper describes how a teacher candidate responded to video and hypermedia cases in ways that assisted her in transforming knowledge and beliefs about literacy instruction. The author describes this transformative process, explores the relationship between narrative ways of knowing and learning from technology, and discusses implications for teacher preparation.     

Potentials,dissonances and reform initiatives in field-based learning and mentoring practices in the early childhood sector in Germany

In Germany, the field-based element in the education/training of early childhood educators is given high priority in the development of professional competencies. Nevertheless, Germany lacks a firmly anchored regulatory and curricular framework for early childhood education and care settings as ‘workplace learning sites’ (Lernort Praxis) and the current approaches towards practical placements have been strongly criticised. Debates have focused on the (inadequate) interface between theory and practice and the overriding influence of the vocational colleges as sites of professional preparation. The examination of existing regulations regarding practical placements shows that the practice sites and the mentors who work there receive too little attention. Beyond this, the education/training of (early) childhood educators is dominated by the vocational colleges – not least because the two places of learning (i.e. the college and the workplace) are assigned to different authorities and ministries. The quality of workplace-based learning can therefore only be enhanced by relevant policy decisions and by integrating the interface between theory and practice on a curricular basis.     

美国的特殊教育与作为学校管理者的教师

学校的管理者是一个特殊的教师群体。要成为优秀的教育管理者,教师必须接受适当的培训以遵守特殊教育领域的法律和法规。教育管理培训方案必须包括特殊管理教育方面的要求。对教育管理者自我效能感的调查结果表明,教育管理者的自我评价与实际能力之间存在差异。研究结果显示,培训方案需要改进以便更严格地培养教师成为教育管理者,最终他们才能做到“不让一个孩子掉队”。     

Using Institutional Selection Factors to Develop Recruiting Profiles: Marketing Small,Private Colleges and Universities to Prospective Student Athletes

This paper discusses two important concepts—internationalization and the international marketing of higher education—and how they influence international students' choice of Canadian universities. The paper is based on two studies: one on 140 East Asian international graduate students who enrolled at two large Ontario universities in the academic year 2003–2004, and the other on 95 international undergraduate students who enrolled at an Ontario university in academic year 2005–2006. The research findings show that market segmentation determines the applicability of internationalization and/or marketing of higher education. Activities related to the internationalization of education play a critical role in influencing the research-oriented students' choice of a Canadian graduate school. Marketing activities have a direct impact on graduate students' choice in professional programs. “Twinning” or “incountry” programs—a blend of internationalization and international marketing approach—have a strong influence on undergraduate students' choice to come to Canada.