Critical teacher shortages in the U. S. drove the development of the Teacher Residency model to improve recruitment, preparation, and retention of highly qualified educators within public schools. Faculty and staff involved in the Teacher Quality Partnership project, a U. S. Department of Education funded teacher preparation program at the University of Central Florida, identified parallels between the National Center for Teacher Residenci c c c ac residency programs a d c clinical internship experience. This manuscript details these parallels and discusses the potential to expand the project to meet all residency competencies as a pre-baccalaureate teacher residency program.
With the increasing demand for improved student achievement in mathematics, few studies have been conducted examining teacher efficacy when continuously supported through a collaborative professional learning community (PLC) structure. This study examined teacher efficacy within PLC activities in a middle school. Both the belief that mathematics instruction would result in student learning and the belief to effectively teach mathematics statistically significantly increased after one year of participation with large effects (1.15 and 1.30, respectively). The correlations between belief that mathematics instruction would result in improved student learning and in their ability to effectively teach mathematics were very strong and positive.
Poverty can substantially limit access to books. Access to books is a significant predictor of academic success, and lack of access jeopardizes literacy development and expands academic achievement gaps. We examined an evolving collaborative effort to increase book access in a region in the southern United States. The collaborations involve a number of community and regionally based institutions working with a wide range of constituents. We also examined the relationship between poverty level and book access. We found a trend in increased book access for all in the region, including high poverty counties.
There is an increasing demand for pre-service teachers to acquire the skills necessary to be proficient with the execution of teaching with technology as part of their educator preparation programs (GaPSC, 2018). This need for learning and applying technological proficiencies to enhance student performance in online classes can lead to divergent educator perceptions of selfefficacy in using technology. This study examined elementary, special education, and secondary pre-service educators' technology integration self-efficacy (TISE) before and after the completion of a comprehensive technology integration project and two semester of education courses.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) requires teachers to address students (cid:182) diverse learning needs to master increasingly rigorous state standards within a Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS). To actualize equitable learning opportunities, it is critical teachers be equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide individualized, specially designed, and responsive instruction within a decision-making framework. In response, teacher preparation programs must include professional competencies that ensure teacher candidates are prepared with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to effectively teach students with diverse learning needs. To accomplish this goal, teacher preparation programs can be enhanced to include resources, tools, and protocols from nationally vetted and federally funded centers (e.g., IRIS, CEEDAR, NCII) to address teachers(cid:182) knowledge and skills for differentiation through universal design for learning (UDL), individualization, and data-driven decision-making.
Developing preservice special educators’ understandings of curricular content knowledge in inclusive and self-contained settings is essential. The purpose of the present study was to better understand specific preparation practices teacher educators use to equip preservice special educators with curricular content knowledge. Using a survey research design, qualitative data were collected among 36 experienced teacher educators in Texas and analyzed through three levels of coding. Three themes emerged and provided a snapshot of current preparation practices. Implications for teacher educators were described, along with descriptions of innovative, evidencebased preparation practices presented in current literature that may improve preservice special educator learning.
