Teachers enter increasingly linguistically diverse classrooms, and report being ill-prepared to support the learning of multilingual learners of English (MLEs) in the early grades. This study explored the potential of a dual-pathway approach where paired in-service mentors and pre-service mentees are provided with aligned and synchronized professional development (PD) content on effective practice for MLEs. The efficacy of this approach was explored with 14 pre-service teachers and 14 matched in-service mentor teachers at four schools and contrasted with eight in-service teachers at four demographically matched schools not receiving PD and their 680 students. Results showed statistically significant growth and differences on evidence-based language and literacy strategies for teachers receiving the PD compared to teachers not receiving the PD as well as statistically significant growth in student performance for classrooms with PD receiving teachers. The current study provides promise for the potential of this approach and promotes porousness in university–school partnerships.

We link student teaching placement and K-12 administrative data from North Carolina to better understand the contexts in which educator preparation programs (EPPs) and K-12 districts make placements and the factors that predict whether EPPs and districts make placements with a highly effective teacher. Our work builds on two key findings from prior literature—cooperating teachers (CTs) are critically important to the development of preservice teachers (PSTs) and information asymmetries between EPPs and districts complicate the placement process. We find that there is significant variation across EPPs in their access to highly effective teachers and that there are opportunities to place many more PSTs with a highly effective teacher. Multiple measures of prior relationships, such as the EPP having recently placed with the CT and the CT being an alumnus of the EPP, predict the likelihood of EPPs and districts placing with a highly effective teacher.

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of 27 U.S. preservice teachers who participated in a 2-week study abroad program in Italy designed to immerse participants in diverse educational settings. Study abroad experiences are valuable as they increase pedagogical understanding and cultural competence which further supports the development of a culturally responsive pedagogy. Specific aims were to build upon existing research by capturing participants’ perceptions of differing pedagogical approaches, exploring how participants’ experiences abroad shaped their pedagogical understanding, and learning how these experiences molded participants’ perceptions for working with students from differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Data indicated that participants experienced personal change in three key areas: pedagogical, social interactions, and philosophy related to U.S. schooling. Implications suggest that study abroad may increase understanding of instructional methods and school structures, enhance cultural sensitivity, and therefore, should be included in teacher preparation programs.

This study examines the potential of peer mentoring conversations through the use of a video-based learning design in Norwegian teacher education. Student-teachers used classroom videos of their own teaching as a basis for reasoning about the core practice of classroom discourse. The study adapts an existing framework to measure the quality of student-teacher reasoning in six peer mentoring groups, and the same framework is utilized as an analytical stance in the micro-analyses of selected excerpts. The findings show that student-teachers are able to conduct high-quality conversations during peer mentoring and point to the important role of structural and conceptual support.

Students with disabilities (SWDs) receive most of mathematics instruction in general education classrooms, and yet most general education teachers receive little instruction on methods for supporting these students in engaging with mathematical content. Teacher education could be a vital site for addressing this need, but we know little about how well candidates are being prepared for this task. In this study, we examined 267 elementary mathematics methods syllabi from 204 universities to understand how many and what types of references to SWDs appeared in the syllabi. We found that although 38% of syllabi included references to SWDs, these references were most commonly part of broader statements on supporting all learners. Comparatively few syllabi focused on specific instructional approaches for supporting SWDs, with only a small number of syllabi referencing students with disabilities in their course outlines, assignments, and readings. We conclude with implications for teacher educators and policymakers.

We implemented two reforms to student teaching in randomized controlled trials designed to test improvements to preservice preparation. Although neither reform affected overall teacher employment, we find significant effects on other labor market outcomes. The first-placed student teachers are planned with more effective mentors and in more effective schools for their clinical experiences. We find that treated candidates tended to find employment in higher-income and less diverse schools, an effect that appears to operate primarily among teachers not hired into their placement sites. The second intervention provided detailed reports to teacher candidates, their field instructors, and their school-based mentor teachers about performance on clinical evaluations during the clinical experience. Treated candidates in this experiment were more likely to obtain teaching positions in the schools in which they completed their student teaching. Overall, the results suggest that student teaching reforms may have important and unexpected effects on the teacher labor market.