Preparing Preservice Teachers to Become Teachers of Writing: A 20-Year Review of the Research Literature

The purpose of this study was to compare conceptions of teaching of different groups of individuals associated with a university physical education teacher education (PETE) program. These individuals were 6 prospective PETE students, 4 PETE student teachers, and 4 cooperating teachers in the physical education department’s Clinical Model Program. The intent was to assess subjects’ conceptions, values, and beliefs about teaching relative to the seven categories of the knowledge base identified by Shulman (1987). Data were collected through use of a structured interview with frequent probes. Results revealed that teaching conceptions of prospective PETE students differed considerably from those of the other two groups. In addition, conceptions of student teachers and clinical model teachers more closely resembled those aspects emphasized in the teacher education program. Results of this exploratory study suggest questions for future research.

This study assessed the efficacy of diversity training in teacher education programs at two Indiana universities from the viewpoints of teacher educators and teacher education majors. Three research questions guided the study: (a) To what extent did teacher educators exhibit classroom attitudes and behaviors consistent with practicing diversity education? (b) To what extent did teacher education majors perceive that teacher educators exhibited attitudes and behaviors consistent with practicing diversity education? (c) Did teacher education students and teacher educators agree about the extent to which their institutions supported diversity initiatives? The research questions were examined across the domains most frequently explored by diversity education researchers: race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. The study included both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. There were four major findings for Midstates University: (a) only the race/ethnicity and social class domains were included in their classes by teacher educators; (b) students noted some instances of gender bias among faculty; (c) some students assessed their diversity training as lacking in substance; and (d) both teacher educators and students defined institutional support for diversity only in terms of race/ethnicity and social class. There were five major findings for the University of the Central Midwest: (a) the inclusion of the four diversity domains varied by teacher educator; (b) students perceived faculty attitudes and behaviors to be favorable toward race/ethnicity and social class; (c) student perceptions of faculty attitudes and behaviors toward sexual orientation were mixed; (d) students perceived a lack of practicality in their diversity training; (e) faculty and students defined institutional support differently. Major findings in the cross-case analysis in this study were (a) race/ethnicity was the diversity domain most frequently included in regular teacher education courses; (b) student and educator perceptions do not agree about the domains included; (c) studnets and teacher educators disagree about the relevance of diversity content; (d) teacher educators and education students agreed that there was little institutional support for domains other than race/ethnicity; (e) teacher educators and students define institutional support differently; and (e) teacher educators perceive that a dearth of diverse field-placement sites hamper diversity education efforts.

The primary responsibility for training pre-service teachers previously fell solely on the shoulders of university teacher-preparation programs, with a short field experience component in partner P-12 districts. As research continues to support the value of increased clinical practice in P-12 schools when training pre-service teachers, the responsibility is becoming shared equally between university teacher education programs and P-12 school districts. This chapter describes three innovative programs implemented by P-12 schools through strong partnerships with Monmouth University's teacher education and Provisional Teacher Preparation program. These strong partnerships afford students the opportunity to receive direct instruction in P-12 settings with the support of curriculum, mentors and professional development. The partnership with Lafayette Mills School (the last of three initiatives discussed) was also awarded, along with the university's other PDSs, the National Association of Professional Development Schools Distinguished Partnership award in 2017.

Recent challenges concerning the quality of teachers and the programs that prepare them have resulted in responses from professional organizations that have been more widespread and intense than in the past (Robinson, 2011; Wiseman, 2012). The Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation (BRP) formed by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the merger of NCATE and Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) into Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) to improve teacher education (Cibulka, 2011), and the Teacher Performance Assessment Initiative which emerged from collaboration between the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) member institutions (Robinson, 2011) are examples of ways that professional organizations have responded to the challenges. In general, calls for performance assessments of teaching to provide both formative and summative information about the quality of teachers, teacher candidates, and teacher preparation programs pervade the current discourse on education at every level, including schools and districts, institutions of higher education, state and national policymaking entities, and professional organizations. As a result, a number of performance assessments have emerged that can provide feedback to teacher education programs about the strengths and weaknesses of their candidates as well as evidence for licensure and certification of teachers. For example, Education Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) was designed to provide information for program improvement through the use of a common set of performance assessments for preservice teachers and has also been adopted by states and districts for summative evaluation purposes (http://edtpa.aacte.org/). The multiple performance measures in systems like edTPA improve upon value added models (VAM) by providing information on teaching quality, not just teacher quality or teacher effectiveness, and provide information sooner than might be accomplished by use of VAM alone (Newton, 2010). For this theme issue, we invited research and conceptual articles related to teacher performance assessments specifically as they affect teacher education, including validation studies of measures used in the assessments. We posed a series of questions that we considered important for researchers to address related to performance assessments, including the following: What are the relationships between current performance assessments and teacher education, either conceptually or in terms of outcomes? What do we know about the use of performance assessments in the context of teacher education, and what do we need to know? How do performance assessments of teachers in schools map onto assessment of teacher education programs, or how don't they? What differences may exist across novice teachers and expert teachers with respect to performance assessment, and how does that impact their professional learning? What are the implications of the relationships between for-profit companies, university teacher education programs, researchers, states, and professional organizations with respect to performance assessments of teachers? What is the relationship between assessment criteria and the research on teaching and learning, and what are its implications for teacher education? How do states make decisions to move to statewide teacher assessment systems? What potential conflicts of interest may exist among various stakeholders in performance assessment efforts? How do policies related to performance assessment of teachers affect opportunities for teacher learning? What can we learn from the history of past efforts to evaluate beginning teachers? What is different this time? What do we know about the validity and reliability of performance assessments and why does this matter? …

This research examined the role of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a partnership that was formed between an educational psychology course for preservice teachers, eight professors from the university's teacher education program, and eight practicing teachers from diverse public schools from across two states. Participants communicated via chat rooms and threaded discussion lists. The use of computer-mediated communication as a viable means of supporting collaboration and reflection in teacher education is described. Results from qualitative and quantitative analyses support the notion that CMC enhanced learning outcomes as measured by reflective capacity. Using the Developmental Model of Reflection as a Cognitive Outcome Scale (Crotty, 2001), results from an ANOVA indicate significant growth in the preservice teachers' reflective comments across the semester.

Now is the time, the authors argue, for schools of education, in conjunction with school and community partners, to get serious about creating good examples of professional practice and preparation. Failure to do so will put the whole enterprise of teacher education in jeopardy. TEACHER educators live in a new world. This is a world of accountability, competition, alternatives, and serious questioning of the need for university-based teacher education. Even five years ago, it was unthinkable that university teacher education programs would be facing serious challenges to their legitimacy and importance. Many teacher education faculty members still deny that such a threat exists, but they are wrong. Those of us who have been working seriously on teacher education reform for the past 15 or so years have until recently viewed this work as an internal university agenda -- how to improve our campus-based programs. The game has changed radically. In Texas, where we work, school districts, regional educational service centers, community colleges, and for-profit companies now provide almost one-third of the teacher education programs. In the last legislative session, a bill was narrowly defeated that would have allowed Texas school districts to hire anyone they thought could do the job, regardless of credentials, and then decide what teacher education these teachers needed. We have lost our exclusive franchise, and most states are in similar situations or not far behind. Teaching as a Profession Politicians, the media, and scholars are currently polarized over the issue of teacher education reform. Either they advocate the professionalization of teaching or they push for the deregulation of teacher preparation and an end to the monopoly that institutions of higher education have held in this area.1 This debate grows out of public concern and agreement that 1) there is a teacher shortage and 2) a teacher shortage would be detrimental to the education of the youths of the United States. Institutions of higher education have been primarily responsible for the training and supply of effective, qualified teachers but are having increasing difficulty meeting the demand in many states. The drive to professionalize teaching and teacher education has been spearheaded by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and forwarded through the joint efforts of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium.2 These projects reflect a broad-based effort to develop a consistent nationwide approach to teacher education based on high standards for the initial preparation, licensing, and certification of teachers. Proponents of teacher education advocate standards-based teacher preparation and professional development as well as teacher assessments based on performance across the professional life span. On the other side of the argument, those who advocate the deregulation of teacher preparation maintain that the requirements of state licensing agencies and schools of education are unnecessary hurdles that prevent qualified, bright people from entering the field of teaching. They promote alternative programs as viable routes into teaching and want to establish local control for determining the qualifications of teachers. Under this approach, districts would have the freedom to determine the hiring criteria for their teachers, and anyone with content knowledge and a bachelor's degree could be quickly placed in the classroom without having any formal pedagogical training. The issue at hand is whether or not the profession of teaching is indeed a profession and whether or not becoming a teacher requires learning a specialized body of pedagogical knowledge and a specialized set of skills. Teacher educators maintain that teaching is a profession as legitimate as the medical profession or the legal profession. …

This study focuses on the systematic collective reflections of four teacher educators as they interrogate their own practice engaging in community-based settings, specifically considering how these settings can serve as an additional teacher. It is informed by a theory that centers educational experiences within the community and is guided by Gutiérrez’s use of the concept of third space. Connected to third spaces, the results of this study reveal that traditional PK-12 settings serve as the first spaces, the university teacher education programs as the second spaces, and the community-based settings as third spaces. Results showcase how these third spaces can be transformative for teacher educators as they consider preservice teachers’ learning. Findings are drawn from a 2-year collective self-study of four teacher educators facilitating community-based field experiences in the United States and Canada. Analysis of the teacher educator reflections of their observations revealed the transformative ways in which these community-based places, as separate and unique constructs, acted as a teacher for preservice teachers when working in community-based settings. This study presents arguments for integrating community-based field experiences within teacher education, particularly as such places can support and facilitate preservice teachers’ learning.

Change Processes and Strategies at the Local Level

Against a backdrop of critical discussion over the fundamental relevance of university teacher educator programs in general, this study surveyed 102 second-language K–12 teachers in New Jersey on their perceptions of the relative priority of conceptual teacher knowledge (i.e., theory/research) and procedural teacher knowledge (i.e., practical instructional techniques) in university Second Language Teacher Education program coursework. Likert-type scale and open-ended response survey data communicate a higher priority for procedural knowledge over conceptual knowledge. As is demonstrated in related studies, in-service teacher perspectives are nuanced on this issue. By reporting on in-service perceptions in a particular geographic and discipline area, this study enriches our general knowledge of in-service teacher perceptions seen more broadly.

High School Family and Consumer Science classrooms hold the potential for university and high school partnerships for teacher education pipelines. This study uses a comparative policy analysis to provide a regional resource for laws, policies, and programs within the Midwest regarding FCS classrooms and courses that are offered. Utilizing a comparative policy analysis approach, the aim is to create an opportunity for guiding current high school students toward becoming future candidates in teacher education programs by doing intentional outreach. This analysis will provide an outline of how university Teacher Education programs can partner intentionally to recruit and mentor incoming first-year college students while they are learning educational pedagogy in their high school FCS classrooms. This analysis provides a foundation for how high school FCS classrooms and university teacher education classrooms can foster cohesive and supportive mutually beneficial partnerships in the states surrounding Illinois and Indiana. Data were gathered by accessing regional education department websites and illustrating the potential opportunities for high school coursework to connect with established teacher education university programs and align pedagogically. Key findings include multiple opportunities in the Midwest for partnerships that are mutually beneficial and are easily accessible if intentional connections are made between faculty.

Learning to teach is rife with challenges. Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy can potentially mitigate the stress of these challenges, and teacher education programs are fundamental in helping them build this important resource. As such, understanding the foundations of self-efficacy is important for researchers and teacher educators alike. Grounding our study in social network theory, we explored the relationship between sense of belonging to a teacher education program, network centrality, and self-efficacy. Our sample included 245 preservice teachers in three university teacher education programs. We found that sense of belonging to the program and network centrality (in-degree and out-degree) were significantly and positively related to preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. This study builds on a growing literature that explores the relationships between preservice teachers’ social networks and their beliefs and practices.

The Next Generation Science Standards articulate a new vision for K-12 science learning that engages students in disciplinary practices to encourage deeper participation in and understandings of science and engineering. Teacher educators have a major responsibility in helping pre-service teachers (PSTs) develop knowledge of these practices and ways to engage students in the practices. The words comprising the NGSS practices convey specialized disciplinary meanings. Yet, most PSTs have common sense interpretations of these words, which influence their understanding of the practices from a disciplinary perspective and further influence the way they implement these practices in classrooms. This study reports on conceptions of the NGSS practices that elementary PSTs exhibit during a Curriculum Critique and Revision (CCR) task in a methods course at two different university teacher education programs. Using the CCR, PSTs analyzed the presence or absence of NGSS practices within a lesson from a science curriculum guide. Qualitative thematic analysis of the PSTs’ responses revealed a wide range of interpretations of the practices. We share these PST conceptions and present findings that may enable teacher educators to better understand PSTs’ views of the practices. We provide conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses in PST’s understandings for each of the NGSS practices and suggest possible implications for the community of teacher educators.

Over the past decades, multicultural education advocates have proposed various educational strategies and teaching approaches for K-12 that have enjoyed limited application. In-service and preservice educators are still not well prepared for implementing multicultural education. In order to advance K-12 multicultural education, effective teaching and learning must start at the teacher education level. A curriculum/program reform model is needed that will move multicultural teacher education beyond the common isolated-course approach. The author proposes that Banks' (1991, 2001) Multicultural Model and Ethnonational Model, originally designed for K-12 curriculum reform, be adapted in university teacher education programs. The proposed trans-course approach allows for long-term exposure that reinforces multicultural concepts and issues, and provides continuous development of intercultural-action skills throughout a teacher education program. When school teachers have experienced the multicultural curriculum suggested by Banks and have achieved the multicultural competence that Banks (2001) and Koehn and Rosenau (2002) advocate, they will be capable of helping all K-12 students develop the kind of knowledge, dispositions, and skills required for effective and meaningful participation in the globalizing world.

College and university teacher education programs are increasingly required to integrate technology into teacher preparation in response to the requirements of national accreditation groups like the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Delivery of teacher education programs through pure distance education methodologies still has critics. A Web‐enhanced approach, with on‐campus courses and Web‐based information and/or testing as a supplement, is suggested as a compromise. An alternative teacher licensure program in career and technical education at Ohio State University uses this approach extensively, with positive results. This case study explores the use of an alternative teacher licensure program, defines the components of a Web‐based curriculum, and illustrates the benefits and challenges of a Web‐enhanced teacher education program. Student and faculty issues and reactions are outlined, along with strategies for integrating Web‐based activities into courses. Suggested future plans for continuing to infuse technology into teacher education are also discussed.

Many educators regard the practice of pedagogical reflection as a prime motivator in the professional growth of teachers. This idea has spurred the realization of the practice of reflection since the early stages of the university's teacher education program. Several scholars have developed their ideas regarding excellent practices in reflection throughout the years. They presented methodologies, concepts, and ways to construct the course of reflection from non-reflective to critical reflective by identifying the reflective thought process and underpinning the degrees of reflection. These ideas would also allow educators to create evaluations for reflective practice. However, this sound theoretical framework is frequently riddled with flaws that linger to the present time, particularly about the extent to which such activity will provide noteworthy growth for teachers, as well as the legitimacy of its reflexivity itself. This paper tries to revisit the origin of the concept, the development, and pinpoint the persistent issues. This, hopefully, would enable us to seek the deeper insight into the dynamics of reflective practice in teacher education program.