The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing, resulting in an increasingly diverse student population. Public school personnel must contend with the fact that a large number of students have limited English proficiency. These students deserve a quality education, yet often face impediments within the school system that hinder their academic progress. One means of helping English language learners is to offer bilingual or English as Second Language (ESL) instruction. Indeed, the demand for bilingual/ESL teachers is greater than the current supply. Teacher preparation programs have recognized this fact and have taken actions to increase the number of students attaining bilingual/ESL degrees and/or certifications. This study examines what strategies institutions of higher education in Texas are utilizing to recruit and retain bilingual/ESL teacher candidates. It also considers to what extent these institutions are effectively preparing their students to face linguistic issues in their future classrooms. Finally, the study describes the institutions of higher education in Texas that attract the highest number of bilingual/ESL teacher candidates and identifies the key factors in their successful efforts. The researcher used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to address the research questions. Data was generated via an electronically mailed questionnaire, sent to forty Deans or administrators of teacher preparation programs in Texas that offer bilingual and/or ESL education; thirty five of them responded. Descriptive statistic methods, including frequency counts, percentages, crosstabulation, and logistic regression, were used to analyzed the data. Information obtained from openended questions was checked for the recurrence of common themes. Five administrators at high enrollment institutions participated in follow-up interviews in order to provide more in-depth information. Findings from the study indicated that institutional commitment and funding levels were associated with high enrollments and with higher student scores on state-mandated bilingual and ESL certification exams. Recommendations include: making the programs a priority, expanding recruitment efforts, expanded advertising of programs and establishing university/public school liaisons. Bilingual/ESL student organizations, offering scholarships and financial advising, and establishing student/faculty mentoring programs should be used to assist teacher candidates during their academic careers so that they will be effective teachers when they graduate.

Focusing on increasing student diversity, special education teacher preparation programs must work towards developing preservice special education teachers’ ability to address culture, language, and disability in meeting the educational needs of students from socio-culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds with disabilities during the field-based experiences (Cloud, 1993, 2002; Garcia & Malkin, 1993; Kushner, 2008). Field-based experiences provide preservice special education teachers an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned at the university while receiving guidance from teacher educators. Expanding on what has been reported in the literature, this study focused on what the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education (HECSE) member institutions are reporting about the preparation of preservice special education teachers to use culturally responsive teaching (CRT) with students from CLD backgrounds with disabilities during the field-based experience. The purpose of this non-experimental, mixed-methods study was to explore what coordinators of special education teacher preparation programs with specific knowledge of the field-based experience component are currently reporting about the preparation of preservice special education teachers to be culturally responsive in their work with students from CLD backgrounds with disabilities during the field-based experience. The following were addressed as a part of the survey: (a) demographic information (b) program preparation for addressing diversity, (c) incorporation of diversity standards, (d) conceptualization of how teachers learn to teach, (e) selection of field-based experiences, (f) supervision of preservice special education teachers, (g) facilitated reflection, and (h) outcomes. The survey yielded a response rate of 50%. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. The findings provided a more thorough understanding of the practices currently being reported by the HECSE member institutions to prepare preservice special education teachers to meet the educational needs of students from CLD backgrounds with disabilities during the field-based experience including: (a) incorporation of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) skills standards for multicultural competence (b) implementation of the components of CRT, and (c) facilitated reflection opportunities. Implications for the preparation of preservice special education teachers and future research are discussed. / text

This study aimed to understand the relationship between (a) student teachers' conceptions of classroom technology use and digital equity and (b) the teacher education programs in which they study. This mixed method study occurred during the spring semester of 2012. Forty-one student teachers enrolled in two different university teacher certification programs completed an online survey in regards to their technology attitude and beliefs, technology knowledge and skills, technology support and infrastructure, and digital equity perceptions near their graduation date. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 of the participants to allow for student teachers to expand upon their conceptions of classroom technology use and their understanding of digital equity. The study found that student teachers in both programs were inclined to integrate technology in their future classrooms, but were lacking in experiences of student-centric, faculty modeling of technology integration within their subject, content areas. In regard to digital equity, student teachers that completed a formal educational technology course had a more complex and conscious conception of digital equity and its impact on the classroom than student teachers lacking a formal educational technology course. Discussion focuses on (a) persistent traditionalist power and pedagogy, (b) lack of content-based modeling, (c) dodging digital equity, (d) varying digital equity conceptions, and (e) persistent societal inequalities within these two teacher education programs. I then introduce 'critical transformative technology integration' (CTTI), which needs to be established in teacher education. CTTI provides students with opportunities for contextually and culturally relevant integration of technology into subject-content areas. Additionally, CTTI considers existing power relations, and aims to empower action and change. Student teachers possessing an understanding of technology integration and an awareness of digital equity will be better equipped to offer CTTI in their future classrooms. By providing all PK-12 students with opportunities for CTTI, teachers can reduce classroom digital inequities. To empower future teachers with the knowledge, skills, and conceptions necessary for CTTI, teacher education programs must consider their approach to technology integration and the development of digital equity. / text

In this study, 114 kindergarten through third grade teachers were surveyed using The Survey of Preparedness and Knowledge of Language Structure Related to Teaching Reading to Struggling Students to investigate how teachers perceived their preparedness to teach emergent and struggling readers, their knowledge level in the areas of phonemic awareness and phonics, their certainty of their knowledge level, and the extent they were able to define and apply this knowledge. Two groups of schools were compared. In one group, 60 teachers were using a school-wide, code-based reading program (CBRP), and in the other group 54 teachers were not (NCBRP). Both groups averaged 63% on the survey, and no significant differences existed between the two groups on levels of preparation or knowledge base. CBRP teachers believed they possessed more knowledge than the NCBRP teachers, although, they did not. The majority of teachers did not possess the necessary code-based reading knowledge, concepts, or skills to teach beginning and struggling readers. Thus, teacher preparation programs continue to fall short in providing teachers with adequate training on English language structure.

The aim of this study is to investigate and understand the types, prevalence, and potential impact of teacher candidates’ struggles, as well as factors and contexts that may relate to the occurrence of struggles. The mixed methods study was carried out in three stages – qualitative, quantitative, qualitative – with teacher candidates and teacher educators from a large Canadian teacher education program as participants. Based on participants’ descriptions and experiences of struggles, I developed a taxonomy of 19 struggles, 10 of which were identified by both teacher candidates and their educators. The struggles included a wide range of behaviours, emotions, skills, and conditions. Teacher candidates also discussed which support systems they use in times of struggles, while instructors explained how they help teacher candidates who struggle. The study positions struggles in a broader and multilayered context that involves teacher candidates, their educators, the preparation program, its structure and elements, policies, social dynamics, and professional norms and expectations. The causes, triggers, consequences, and remediation of struggles are considered in relation to a combination of individual, institutional, and structural factors. The study has implications for teacher education programs, policymakers, and the teaching profession.

abstract: The purpose of this practitioner inquiry was to explore the use of Guided Critical Reflection (GCR) in preparing preservice teachers for English learners (ELs). As a teacher researcher, I documented, analyzed, and discussed the ways in which students in my course used the process of GCR to transform their passively held understandings about ELs. Specifically, the research questions were: 1) What are preservice teachers' common sense about teaching and learning related to ELs? 2) How does GCR transform preservice teachers' common sense about ELs? 3) What is my role as an educator in creating opportunities for GCR? I utilized methods for data collection that fit my teaching practices. Data sources included three types of observations (self-reflective field notes, audio recordings of each class, and notes documented by an outside observer), student-work artifacts, and my audio reflection journal. I analyzed data inductively and deductively using a modified analytic induction approach. Building on previous research concerning the use of reflection in teacher preparation, I define GCR as the process in which I guided preservice teachers to acknowledge and examine their common sense about ELs, reframe what they know in light of course learning, and transform their understandings. Five major findings emerged from this study. First, preservice teachers entered the course with common sense notions about ELs rooted in their educational and life experiences. Students felt comfortable sharing what they knew about ELs, but needed to be scaffolded to examine how their life experiences shaped their common sense. Within the course, preservice teachers framed and reframed their common sense in different ways. Through the process of GCR, students evidenced a renewed sense about ELs. Finally, my role as a teacher involved establishing a comfortable learning environment, valuing my students' common sense as the catalyst for course learning, and guiding students through their reflective work. Ultimately, I was able to create opportunities for GCR because I too was reflecting on my practices, just as I was asking my students to reflect on their common sense about ELs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

abstract: The purpose of this action research study was to examine the impact of cogenerative dialogues on instructor and student perceptions of rigor in a master's and certification program for alternatively certified teachers. Additionally, the study was designed to determine if these open dialogues would impact instructional decisions of college instructors in the program. The investigator used a mixed methods research model that included surveys, interviews, and video of the dialogues to measure the impact. The results of the study indicated that both sets of participants remained consistent in their identification and definition of the term rigor. The cogenerative dialogues did have an impact on instructor understanding of student definitions of rigor. Instructors began to change some instructional decisions as a result of the dialogues in small groups. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

This study followed two teacher candidates from the Communities as Resources in Early Childhood Teacher Education (CREATE) project into their first year classrooms to determine whether they were able to translate the theoretical principles from their teacher preparation program into practice during their first year of teaching. It also examined the supporting and limiting contextual factors that affected translation both during their teacher preparation and in their first year of teaching. Multiple case study methodology was used to look closely at each case independently providing consistency through replication, while also allowing the ability to look across both cases to develop more powerful findings (Stake, 2006; Baxter & Jack, 2008; Yin, 2014). A conceptual frame was developed around translation, revisiting how it has been used in other fields of research in the past (Catford, 1974; Bassnett, 2013; Major & Cordey-Hayes, 2000; Holden & Von Kortzfleisch, 2004; Jacobson, Butterill & Goering, 2003; Davison, 2009; Straus, Tetroe, & Graham, 2009) and how it is currently being used as a metaphor in the field of education (Cook-Sather, 2001, 2006) to provide a lens into the intricacies and flexibility of the process of translation. Literature was reviewed to provide background into research that has looked closely at the impact teacher preparation programs have on the first year of teaching, and to provide background information into the conceptualization of the work undergirding the principles of CREATE. It is crucial for teacher preparation programs to follow their own graduates into their classrooms to gain a deeper understanding of what concepts, theories, and principles translated from university classrooms and field experiences to practice in first year teacher's classrooms, in order to make changes to their teacher education curriculum to prevent a breakdown of translation. This study offers insight into what supports and limits translation and offers suggestions for future research in the area of translation.

In order to design an educational system that reflects Pakistani culture and ideology, teacher education programs must be developed which reflect the overall expectations by the country's various social, economic, and educational institutions. Such a program should take the lead in not only developing the educational system but also in establishing priorities in social, economic, and educational changes.

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