Large teacher education programs face unique challenges in designing and implementing curricular reform and assessment of teacher candidate readiness. This chapter shares lessons from the implementation of edTPA in a large rurally situated elementary education program. A three phase implementation approach will be explored. Additionally, key areas for consideration during implementation will be highlighted as practical suggestions and tips for programs implementing edTPA are provided.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a method to incorporate teaching about religion into K–12 social studies classes. A central tenet of social studies education is preparing students to be engaged citizens, and religious literacy is essential to this. Yet, teachers often feel uncomfortable teaching about religion. One way to approach this is by centering discussion about religion around understanding who our neighbors are. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs the Inquiry Design Model to outline lessons for early, middle and upper grades, each centered around the compelling question, “Who are my Muslim neighbors?” Beginning with a picturebook depicting a Muslim American child, the lessons explore supporting questions with academically appropriate sources, culminate with an evidence-based response to the compelling question and suggest an opportunity for students to take informed action. Findings While religion does not appear in many social studies standards, teaching about religion has strong connections to civics standards. In an increasingly diverse USA, students need to understand the beliefs and religious behaviors of their neighbors and how those traditions provide a sense of belonging within the faith community. This paper provides the necessary tools for teachers to teach this content. In addition to teaching these as outlined here, teachers can also select resources from across the three units in order to customize an inquiry for a particular group of students. Originality/value Teachers are often hesitant to teach about religion. This paper offers a concrete method for doing so. Incorporating religion into social studies classes is necessary for preparing students for civic engagement.

As more educator preparation programs (EPPs) adopt edTPA as a teacher candidate performance assessment in their programs, a new set of robust and informational data emerges. As an educative assessment, performance assessment data can be used by EPPs in multiple ways. This chapter identifies five constellations of edTPA data use: teacher candidate readiness, curriculum revision, program assessment and accreditation, predictive validity, and continuous program improvement. Each constellation is rooted in both practice and research and provides strategies for how EPPs may leverage edTPA for multiple purposes within their programs.

In this chapter, the authors share the history of a video capture and annotation technology (VCAT) implementation and provide summaries of research findings to support its continued use and refinement. They also detail the multiple uses and particular objectives they aimed to meet with the technology across different content areas and even across multiple educator preparation programs, including a collaboration between a teacher education program and principal preparation program that was enabled by the technology.

Large teacher education programs face unique challenges in designing and implementing curricular reform and assessment of teacher candidate readiness. This chapter shares lessons from the implementation of edTPA in a large rurally situated elementary education program. A three phase implementation approach will be explored. Additionally, key areas for consideration during implementation will be highlighted as practical suggestions and tips for programs implementing edTPA are provided.

This chapter describes how faculty in a large, rural teacher preparation program adopted a model for change built upon the tenets of improvement science and the PDSA cycle. Using PDSA in teacher preparation allows programs to pilot the innovations and test refinements quickly. Data are collected and analyzed as the innovations are implemented so changes can be made on an ongoing basis and the innovations can become increasingly effective. A case study surrounding critical reform areas for teacher preparation will be described to show how elementary education faculty moved through multiple PDSA cycles while reforming teacher candidate support in the year-long student teaching experience. The considerations, challenges, and opportunities for using the PDSA cycle in teacher preparation programs will also be presented. This case study can serve as a model for other teacher preparation programs looking to use disciplined inquiry to drive program improvement.

This article explores the impact of a video observation model developed for teacher candidates in an early experiences course. Video Grand Rounds (VGR) combines a structured observation protocol, videos, and directed debriefing to enhance teacher candidates’ observations skills within nonstructured and field-based observations. A comparative research design was employed for this VGR study, and both quantitative and qualitative data inform the results. Findings indicate that VGR teacher candidates demonstrated significantly greater growth than non-VGR teacher candidates in their abilities to focus on salient features of classroom interactions to identify the complexity of classroom interactions and to readily transfer observation skills from a video platform to an in-school platform.

This article describes the non-linear journey of an elementary education teacher preparation program in a large southeastern university during an eight-year process of program improvement. In that time period, the program developed and implemented innovative programs; collected data from various sources; and adopted a robust, valid, and reliable performance assessment instrument in order to enact program improvement. The authors provide details and lessons learned that highlight the relationship of practices for improving teacher candidate programs and performance assessment data. They conclude by sharing suggestions for continual improvement by utilizing actionable data.

As new technological tools emerge almost daily, students in public school and university settings are becoming increasingly technologically savvy. Faculty members in both settings have the opportunity to explore tools that have the potential to be valuable resources in a variety of educational environments. The Tablet PC is an example of one such tool. This computer combines the capabilities of a traditional laptop with the added feature of pen-based digital inking for handwritten notes and symbols, resulting in a very versatile tool. This manuscript provides examples of practical uses of Tablet PCs in teacher education programs and in K-12 classrooms based on faculty member exploration with this technology.

ABSTRACT Spurred by preservice teachers' perceptions that diversity issues such as poverty would not affect their teaching, professors in 1 southeastern U.S. elementary teacher–preparation program took action, which resulted in this examination of the culture of poverty and the identification of strategies to best serve children living in poverty. The authors explored the effect of poverty in the role of schools, families, and teachers. In this article, they identify key strategies that focus on providing a strong support system for children living in poverty. The authors make recommendations on how teacher-preparation programs could infuse the teaching of these strategies into programs.