The effectiveness of “InvestEd” on socioemotional and sociocultural competencies: a feasibility randomized controlled trial with preservice teachers

In This Issue

The Elementary School Journal Volume 83, Number 2 ? 1982 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 001 3-5984183/8302-0009$01o.00 Teachers approach their instructional tasks with a variety of perspectives and strategies that emphasize certain aspects of teaching and deemphasize others. For example, some teachers teach language skills using organized games, while other teachers teach the same skills by direct instruction. Teachers adopt different approaches to the same subject matter partly because their teaching situations differ. Their students may have different learning problems or their classrooms may have varied resources and facilities. Even in the

Teachers' Sense of Efficacy: An Important Factor in School Improvement

This dissertation presents three research articles in the area of preparing preservice teachers for Virtual Schooling (VS). The context of the dissertation is embedded in a Teacher Education Goes Into Virtual Schooling (TEGIVS) project under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. The first article presented TEGIVS curricula and its preliminary evaluation, the second article discussed the study on preservice teachers’ perspectives and preconceptions about VS, and the third article described the development, validation, and implementation of a rubric to assess the preservice teachers' competence as VS facilitators. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from preservice teachers and three practitioners in the area of VS. The main findings of the articles indicate that preservice teachers are ready to learn about VS, but hold preconceptions about VS. The most commonly stated preconception was technology is becomes teacher’s surrogate in VS. The TEGIVS curriculum was found helpful in preparing preservice teachers see the complexity of teaching and learning online. Lastly, the competence assessment instrument developed and implemented to assess preservice teachers’ competence to facilitate in VS was found to be reliable and valid. Thus, this dissertation provides evidence for the need to integrate VS into teacher education, and further suggests that teacher education should identify and correct preservice teachers’ preconceptions about VS. The competence assessment instrument that included a scenario and rubric was developed as part of this dissertation and has not been implemented outside the TEGIVS project. Teacher education programs can also use this very first competence assessment instrument to assess VS facilitator competence of preservice teachers in the three aspects of technology, mentoring, and collaboration.

Background: This study explores teacher educators’ experiences facilitating small-group practice and reflection sessions alongside cyclic lesson design in a final-year methods course.Aim: The study examines how teacher educators implement and experience these sessions to support pre-service teachers’ lesson design skills.Setting: The study was conducted within a fourth-year methodology course designed to deepen pre-service teachers’ understanding of lesson design, emphasising learning and the purposeful development of learners’ competencies for a fast-changing world. The small group practice and reflection sessions, combined with cyclic lesson design, are crucial components of the course.Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six teacher educators during the 2023 academic year. A focus group interview was conducted towards the end of the course. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method, identifying key themes in teacher educators’ experiences.Results: Teacher educators adapted practice and reflection sessions to address student engagement challenges and to enhance pre-service teachers’ understanding of the lesson design approach. While constructive feedback on cyclic lesson design was vital, it was also time-intensive. The approach allowed teacher educators to observe gradual improvements in students’ lessons, though some students struggled to apply insights.Conclusion: Cyclic lesson design, combined with meaningful feedback and deliberate practice, promotes deeper, transferable learning. This approach supports pre-service teachers in developing the beginnings of adaptive expertise.Contribution: This study contributes to research on pre-service teacher preparation, emphasising cyclic lesson design and deliberate practice as essential for fostering adaptive expertise. It recommends adopting similar strategies in teacher education programmes.

Introduction: Although there is ambiguity about the elements of teacher knowledge, all researchers accept that being able to anticipate what errors can be made, the reasons for and the strategies to overcome these errors, in short, the knowledge of students is important for student achievement. In this study, knowledge of students refers to being aware of students’ possible errors and underlying reasons for these errors and knowing how to overcome these errors. Based on this consideration, the purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students on the subtraction topic. Methods: Considering the purpose, the data were collected from 118 pre-service elementary teachers who were enrolled in a four-year Elementary Teacher Education program via a task-based questionnaire related to the topic of subtraction and semi-structured interviews following the questionnaire. The task-based questionnaire included three completed incorrect subtraction tasks and was prepared considering the related literature and the elementary school mathematics curriculum of Turkey. Each task in the questionnaire contained a different type of error. The pre-service elementary teachers’ answers to the task-based questionnaire were categorized as correct, partially correct, wrong, or no answer by means of categorical analysis. The pre-service elementary teachers who gave correct and partially correct answers to the tasks were asked to participate in the second part of the study to learn their possible strategies to overcome the errors made in the tasks. Results: As a result of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pre-service elementary teachers’ responses, it was found that their knowledge of students for subtraction is limited. Specifically, although the pre-service elementary teachers were partially able to identify the errors in the first and second task, they were not able to identify the error in the third task. Furthermore, they were better able to determine a more commonly occurring subtraction error compared to the uncommon ones. The pre-service elementary teachers could not identify the underlying reasons that led the students to the errors. They could not explain what conceptual knowledge related to the topic of subtraction the student lacked that resulted in the errors. As the pre-service teachers did not attain these reasons, they were not able to provide strategies to overcome these errors different than restating the rules or procedures to overcome students’ errors. Discussion: Only being able to identify the errors is not enough to make the instruction effective. Teachers also need to know and provide a rationale for why the errors happen and how to overcome them (Even & Tirosh, 1995). Contrary to this statement, the pre-service elementary teachers in this study could not attempt to understand the students’ thinking or could not explain the reasons behind students’ errors with the notion of subtraction. Son (2013) emphasizes that pre-service teachers tend to explain the reasons for students’ errors as procedural. Similar to this emphasis, the pre-service teachers identified the errors as resulting from not applying procedures carefully or not enough knowing algorithms to find correct solutions. However, without addressing the reasons or focusing on procedures does not promote students’ understanding of the related topic (An, Kulm, & Wu, 2004). The pre-service teachers’ difficulties in identifying the possible conceptual reasons may result from deficits in knowledge of students (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Ball et al., 2008). Limitations: The findings were limited with the responses of the pre-service elementary teachers participating in this study. Moreover, the pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students was investigated within the scope of subtraction. Conclusions: Although the pre-service elementary teachers could identify students’ errors on subtraction, they had difficulty in identifying the reasons and suggesting strategies to overcome the errors. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pre-service teachers’ knowledge of students for the topic of subtraction is limited. An implication of this is that teacher educators need to include error-analysis tasks to help pre-service teachers be aware of the importance of their knowledge of students.

Research focuses on the need to prepare teachers effectively to serve the diverse population of students in public schools and particularly schools serving economically disenfranchised communities and communities of color (Cochran-Smith, 2003; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Milner, 2003; Oakes, Franke, Quartz, & Rogers, 2002). The articles in this special issue discuss myriad perspectives regarding the politics of preparing teachers to fill this great need in our society today. In this article, we extend the discussion to the classroom door; that is, we ask this of ourselves and our colleagues: Regardless of the politics of how, where, and under what conditions--those we choose and those that are imposed on us--are we effectively training teachers to in today's schools, particularly those located in the most difficult of social, political, and economic realities of urban life? During the past 10 years, a number of issues pertaining to teacher educators' reflections on their pedagogies and practices have appeared in teacher education literature. This article discusses some of the dilemmas teacher educators face pertaining to addressing racial, socioeconomic, and cultural differences between teachers and students in our preparation of preservice teachers. These issues have enormous implications for our endeavors to effectively prepare teachers to in urban schools where unquestionably, the need is greatest for teachers who are well trained and confident in their ability to effectively nurture the academic well-being of their students. Given the diverse population of students in today's public schools and the population of students entering teacher education programs, how are we, as teacher educators, addressing in our university classrooms this impact of compounded differences in the K-12 classroom? For the new teacher, these differences are usually manifested in their struggle with classroom management. Their struggle begs a related question for us: How do we, as teacher educators, address the issue of classroom management, particularly as the issue enters our classrooms through the mouths of teachers describing the behaviors of students who are from different races and class backgrounds than themselves? Lastly, how do we, as teacher educators, convince our preservice teachers that the academic excellence of these students is possible if the preservice teachers have neither witnessed nor been provided with any evidence of such an occurrence within the populations of students they serve in the urban school context? In other words, as we establish the harsh reality of disproportionate failure in urban schools, how do we simultaneously convey the possibility of improving academic achievement in these contexts? Can we, as teacher educators, convince our students of this possibility if we have never witnessed it ourselves? How do we cultivate a pedagogy of achievement pertaining to low-income and minority students in ourselves and then teach it to our students in the process of preparing them to be effective teachers for these students? These issues will be discussed in broad strokes to provoke further dialogue in light of the politics of teacher education highlighted throughout this special issue. We begin by laying out the social, political, economic and cultural contexts of urban inner-city living and schooling--terrains that are often unfamiliar to the majority of teachers admitted into our teacher education programs and yet teachers whom we are required to prepare to in these settings. More important, yet often not addressed, is the fact that these terrains are often unfamiliar to many teacher educators as well. Ultimately, we conclude with the question, What does it mean to effectively prepare teachers to in schools and contexts with which we as teacher educators are also unfamiliar? We conclude with suggestions of ways to interrogate our own pedagogies and practices so that we may commence on the journey of knowing, learning, and teaching alongside our students. …

The authors of National Science Education Standards consider equitable science education prerequisite to a scientifically literate society (National Research Council, 1996). Issues of equity and teaching, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are inherent in discussions about science education reform (National Research Council, 1996; Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990). Refocusing the goals of K-12 science education increases the need for science teachers to acquire more equitable teaching strategies. Gender studies in science education have focused on the sociocultural variables affecting students' subject choices (Eccles, 1989), intervention programs (Kahle & Meece, 1994), exemplary science teachers (Tobin & Fraser, 1987, 1990), teachers' public gender role (Tobin, Kahle, & Fraser, 1990), and students' views about science (Kahle & Meece, 1994). Recent reports on gender indicate that the Sputnik-era analysis of teaching may be inadequate for problems undermining adolescent girls' education (Eder, Evans, & Parker, 1995; Greenberg-Lake, 1994; Harris & Associates, 1993; Orenstein, 1994; Pipher, 1994; Schultz, 1991; Wellesley Center for Research on Women, 1992). For over two decades, researchers have studied the masculine image of science and its effect on recruitment and retention of women and girls into science, engineering, and technology fields. Keller (1992) argues that the image of science cannot change without challenging traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity. An explanation for science teaching's failure to reach girls is that many preservice science teacher education programs do not address the interwoven concepts of gender and science and how students' and teachers' different understandings of gender and science may affect their attitudes, beliefs, classroom behaviors, and expectations. Teachers' unconscious acceptance of gender-role stereotypes in science may influence their behaviors and teaching practices. Girls may receive fewer opportunities than boys to answer questions, use science equipment, and participate in science activities. Teachers may perceive boys' work to be more important than girls' work (Kahle & Meece, 1994). Teacher behaviors and practices reinforce the concept that science is a subject in which boys participate successfully more often than girls do. Kennedy (1990) suggests that successful inservice programs addressing changes in teachers' classroom practices should force them to question their experiences and to question the beliefs that are based on those experiences. Teacher education faculty may teach equity in education, but when one considers who takes and teaches science at tertiary-level institutions, universities are poor examples of equity in educational settings (Crozier & Menter, 1993; Scantlebury, 1994). Gender blindness does not begin when teachers enter their own classrooms. Martin (1991) challenges science educators to take responsibility for incorporating discussions about gender equity into science education. Many teachers are gender blind, believing that the equity issues in science teaching are resolved. Prospective teachers must consider how subtle and pervasive attitudes toward gender blindness may affect their classroom practices. Teacher education students have strong ideas about teachers and teaching from years of observation (Dunkin, Precians, & Nettle, 1994; Feiman-Nemser & Buchmann, 1987). Although Dunkin et al. (1994) imply that formal teacher education programs can influence preservice teachers' concepts about teaching, Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann (1987) argue that it is difficult for student teachers to critique what occurs in classrooms when they teach or in the classrooms of the teachers they observe. Preservice teachers often hold strong traditional attitudes toward gender-role stereotypes (Scantlebury, 1990). Field experiences in schools and conservative entities replicating and reinforcing traditional gender-role stereotypes may reinforce prospective teachers' stereotypic attitudes. …

Many English teachers today are non-native speakers of English graduating from Pre-service English Teacher Education (PETE) programs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. They undertake their teaching career in a strategic but challenging linguistic and educational situation. This paper reports findings from such a situation based on a qualitative case study of a PETE program at an Indonesian university that aimed to explore the nature of curriculum provision in preparation to develop pre-service teachers’ English proficiency and pedagogy. Data were collected from pre-service teachers, teacher educators, and program administrator using interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations. Results of data analyses revealed a nature of curriculum provision that is inadequately supportive in preparing pre-service teachers’ English proficiency and pedagogy. It is represented in three emerging themes: inadequacy of English proficiency in learning to teach English, lack of balance between theory and practice, and inadequate facilitation for contextual and integrated learning experience.

A teacher’s educational philosophy reflects their understanding of education and their value system. Pre-service teachers' educational philosophies constitute an essential component of the education system, shaping the future of education. This study aims to determine pre-service teachers' educational philosophy tendencies (perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, and reconstructionism) and to examine these tendencies in terms of the personal variables they possess. The study, conducted in a survey model, included 383 pre-service teachers from eleven different teacher education programs at a faculty of education in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, covering second, third, and fourth-year students. Data were collected using the "Educational Philosophy Tendencies Scale" developed by Aytaç and Uyangör (2020) and a personal variables questionnaire prepared by the researchers. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software. It was determined that pre-service teachers had the highest tendency toward reconstructionism, followed by perennialism, then progressivism, and the lowest tendency toward essentialism. Their tendencies showed significant differences based on gender, department, and year of study. Male pre-service teachers exhibited higher tendencies toward progressivism and essentialism than female pre-service teachers. Significant differences were found among departments, particularly in the case of pre-service elementary school teachers, who exhibited significantly lower essentialist tendencies than six other departments. The tendencies of reconstructionism, essentialism, and perennialism significantly varied among fourth-year students compared to other levels. As pre-service teachers' overall grade point averages increased, their tendencies toward reconstructionism and perennialism increased slightly, whereas their tendencies toward essentialism decreased slightly. However, no significant differences were found based on age or type of high school graduation.

Jonathan Arries (William and Mary) and Gresilda Tilley-Lubbs (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) facilitated a workshop at the AATSP Annual Meeting in Chicago in July 2003. The objectives were fourfold: to enable teachers involved in Foreign-Language Teacher-Education Programs to (1) gain an understanding of service-learning in teacher-education programs; (2) explore the implications of service-learning as an assessment tool for the ACTFL/NCATE review for accreditation of teacher-education programs; (3) investigate the possibilities of incorporating service-learning as a means of meeting the National Standards in Foreign Language programs K-12, and (4) examine various service-learning models in existing programs. In July 2003,39 million Hispanics became the largest minority in the United States (Census 2000), increasing the likelihood that pre-service teachers will encounter classrooms in which Hispanic children will be included. Therefore, service-learning projects situated in the Hispanic community not only provide an opportunity to link foreign-language education programs to com munity needs; they also provide a means of giving pre-service teachers a firsthand understanding of the community and its culture. The facilitators presented the rationale for and history of service-learning, integrated with sharing about the programs they have established in their respective schools. Both programs are based on critical theory and issues of social justice, creating a transformative experience for the students. The workshop then divided into small groups in which participants discussed their own experiences in teaching. They shared with each other their early years as teachers, focusing on their reactions to diverse populations in the classroom. After sharing with each other, they described their partners' experiences to the larger group, leading to a discussion of the power of authentic community service integrated with academic outcomes (Erickson and Anderson) in the preparation of pre-service teachers. The discussion that followed was framed in the precept that service-learning instills a commitment to social responsibility, social change, and social justice (Cochran-Smith). Partici pating in a service-learning program situated in the Latino community nurtures the valuing of the knowledge and interests, cultural and linguistic resources children bring to school (cf. Cochran Smith; Freir?; Greenberg and Moll). It helps pre-service teachers understand the influences that shape students, such as language, culture, ability, family, and community (cf. Smylie, Bay, and Tozer). Tilley-Lubbs shared research that suggests that teacher education programs consider a new paradigm incorporating service-learning to foster an understanding of diversity, attention to service, concern for social justice, knowledge of the subject area, and development of critical thinking skills (Tilley-Lubbs). To provide models of existing service-learning programs, Arries and Tilley-Lubbs described their own programs (Arries; Tilley-Lubbs). Arries presented the program in which he accompanies a group of students to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a month. During that time, the students interpret for the migrant workers at the Health Department, providing services for a

This article investigates the function of Metalinguistic Awareness (MLA) in preparing preservice teachers (PSTs) to instruct students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. It examines the level of MLA among PSTs, their opportunities for learning and educating learners from diverse backgrounds, and their acquisition of MLA knowledge and teaching skills. The literature review highlights the positive effects of MLA on language instruction and learning, including its advantages in analyzing language properties, enhancing proficiency, facilitating language acquisition, and enhancing cognitive development and comprehension skills in bilingual students. However, the review reveals a dearth of MLA in PSTs and highlights the need to improve teacher education programs to better support students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. The study proposes the incorporation of service-learning and multicultural education programs in order to enhance the preparation of PSTs, emphasizing the significance of intercultural reflection and accommodating English language learners. It highlights the significance of MLA in the teaching and learning process as well as the consequences of inadequate training for PSTs. Future research should concentrate on a comprehensive examination of MLA and its implementation in preservice teacher education. In conclusion, this study highlights the significance of MLA in multilingual learning and the need to improve PSTs' understanding of linguistic diversity. By investigating MLA among PSTs at a private university in Pakistan, this study aims to contribute to the improvement of teacher education programs and ensure that PSTs possess the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively support diverse learners.

The decades-long and contentious debate over how students are taught to read centers around the role that phonics and alphabetic code-related skills have in reading instruction. Some claim that these skills are not prioritized in most elementary classrooms because teacher education programs do not adequately prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach children how to read. Although scholars do not yet agree on the knowledge and skills needed to effectively teach children to read, the current body of research around teacher education of phonics instruction is minimal and overrepresents PSTs’ acquisition of technical knowledge. As such, in this study we drew on theories of practice-based teaching practices to employ a series of three instructor-created assessments to better understand the connection between the technical and pedagogical knowledge required to teach phonics and code-related skills. Findings indicate that assessments of technical knowledge alone did not accurately illuminate PSTs’ misunderstandings. Further, results show that PSTs who were successful on technical measurements of phonics instruction were not always successful on the pedagogical assessments.

Background Research shows that students who are overrepresented when it comes to failure are underrepresented when it comes to being taught by highly qualified teachers who are well prepared to teach students from diverse backgrounds. Teacher education, as one aspect of the educational system, plays a critical role in preparing teachers with the necessary principles and practices for improving the academic, social, and intellectual opportunities available to students of color, low-income students, and English language learners. Acknowledging this responsibility, teacher education programs continue to search for structural, curricular, and pedagogical approaches to prepare teachers to teach in increasingly diverse contexts. One response has been to connect preservice teachers with community experiences, an uncommon strategy that has been asserted at various times over the past century. This study examines one teacher education program's innovation of placing preservice teachers in community-based organizations (CBOs) to better prepare candidates to teach children whose backgrounds are different from their own—and particularly children who attend high-needs schools. Purpose of Study This study addresses questions of both implementation and impact, specifically examining the participation of preservice teachers in CBOs and the outcomes of this innovation on their opportunities to learn. Through this research, the authors aim to advance the field of teacher education's understanding of community experiences, and in particular to highlight the ways in which partnerships with community organizations advance the preparation of teachers. Setting The University of Washington's Elementary Teacher Education Program (ELTEP), a five-quarter postbaccalaureate master's in teaching program. Participants Participants in this study include case study preservice teachers from two cohorts: faculty who teach in the teacher education program, and staff who work in the community-based organizations in which the preservice teachers are placed. Intervention During the first quarter in the program, preservice teachers spend 60 hours each in CBOs that serve diverse youth. The intention behind the community-based placements is to (1) build connections between prospective teachers, community organizations, and local schools, (2) give prospective teachers opportunities to develop a holistic and assets-based view of children and youth, (3) acknowledge education and learning as a process that occurs in multiple contexts, and (4) place students, families, neighborhoods, and communities at the center of teaching and education. Research Design We designed a 3-year longitudinal study in which we follow two cohorts of preservice teachers from their teacher preparation through their first year of teaching. We employ qualitative methods of interviews, focus groups, observations, document review, and survey methods. Data analysis occurred as an iterative process. For this article, we systematically coded individual and focus group interviews for concepts that reflected participants’ participation and outcomes in regard to the program innovation. Findings Findings highlight specific dimensions of teachers’ participation in CBOs and indicate ways in which the community experiences added to the resources for learning provided by the teacher education program. The authors also classify outcomes of this innovation and explicate the kinds of opportunities such experiences provide preservice teachers. Specifically, the authors identify instances of how placements in CBOs afforded preservice teachers new ways of seeing and understanding children beyond school and across difference. These findings are preliminary and are based on data and analysis from the first year of our 3-year study. Conclusions Through the in-depth case study of the University of Washington Elementary Teacher Education Program's community-based partnership innovation, we contribute to an overall understanding of such efforts in teacher education. By building on a strong conceptual foundation based in sociocultural and activity theories, this study provides preliminary evidence that field placements in community-based organizations are a promising approach to supporting preservice teachers’ opportunities to learn to work with children from diverse backgrounds. In particular, partnerships with community organizations may move teacher education efforts closer to the overall goal of preparing teachers with knowledge of children that allows them to incorporate the complexity of children's lives into the classroom in ways that ultimately improve children's opportunities to learn.

In this research, the researcher designed a community of inquiry on social media (facebook) for pre-service teachers and launched a course on educational equity and social justice. The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of community of inquiry (COI) on pre-service teachers’ perception of social justice and equity in education. It also aimed to assess the social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence of pre-service teachers in COI. The participants of this study were the pre-service teachers who are enrolled in the education departments of the Karakorum International University Gilgit Baltistan. Ten participants who showed high participation during the course were selected for an interview through purposive sampling. Teacher education institutions, teacher education, and policymakers can utilize this research to develop COI for different training programs. Future research can be conducted to develop a community of inquiry for the inclusive education curriculum of pre-service teacher education. Keywords: Community of inquiry, Educational Equity, Pre-service teachers.