Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / The clinical experience of future urban teachers is increasingly regarded as one of the most important aspects of teacher preparation (NCATE, 2010; NRC, 2010). However, there is widespread agreement that further knowledge must be acquired on what constitutes rich clinical experience, and on the influence of such learning opportunities especially in urban, high-needs contexts (Anderson & Stillman, 2013; Levine, 2006; Picus, Monk, & Knight, 2012). This dissertation aims to increase our understanding of clinical experience. Based on sociocultural and socio-constructivist perspectives, and drawing on Lave and Wenger’s (1991) theories of learning within communities of practice, this dissertation employed qualitative research methods to examine the phenomenon of content coaching during an urban teacher residency program. This dissertation argues that residency content coaching provided a context within which residents could integrate what they were learning about “ambitious teaching” (Lampert & Graziani, 2009; Newmann & Wehlage, 1993) into their own practice through ongoing negotiations with their coaches. Coaching interactions were by and large responsive to individual resident’s learning needs, and guided residents to begin to place their students’ learning at the center of decision-making when planning, teaching, and assessing. The dissertation further investigates the actual and aspirational characteristics of coaching in this context. Overall findings suggest that content coaching addresses several persistent problems of traditional pre-service fieldwork supervision (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Featherstone, 2007), and offers a more coherent approach. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to our collective understanding of clinical experience in preparing teachers to teach ambitiously in urban classrooms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

<div>The purpose of this study was to examine the factors attributed to teacher candidates’ perceptions of self-efficacy throughout their student teaching semesters. This study used a narrative inquiry methodology to enhance the researcher’s understanding of variables attributed to teacher self-efficacy among a group of secondary content area teacher candidates. In this study, the purpose of using a narrative inquiry methodology was to share the stories of content area teacher candidates’ student teaching experiences and inform teacher educators about the extent to which teacher education preparation affects the self-efficacy of beginning content area teachers, as well as which recurrent elements of teacher education affect the self-efficacy of beginning teachers, regardless of their respective content areas. The findings of this study suggest that teacher education preparation affects the self-efficacy of secondary teacher candidates across the content areas; accordingly, the findings of this study provide insight for teacher educators to consider the areas where teacher education programs are failing to provide adequate preparation. The 10 teacher candidates who participated in this study emphasized the value of adequate preparation throughout their teacher education programs to help inform their student teaching experiences. In order to feel prepared for student teaching and effective as teacher candidates, the 10 participants referenced the following areas as requiring further implementation within teacher education curricula: increased opportunities to apply the practical application of their teaching skills prior to the student teaching experience, the incorporation of classroom management strategy coursework into their curriculum, and opportunities to explore the extensive demands of the teaching profession ranging from time management to dealing with difficult parents, to name a few.</div>

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abstract: This mixed methods study explores the work of five small writing communities formed within a university-based preservice English language arts writing methods course. Fifteen preservice English language arts teachers took part in the study and participated across five peer writing groups. The study shares the instructional design of the course as well as the writing activities and practices that took place within the groups over the course of one 15-week semester. The study draws on Wenger’s (1998, 2009) theory of communities of practice as well as activity theory (Engeström,1999, 2001; Russell, 1997) to understand the social supports, practices, and learning activities that assisted these preservice teachers as writers and as teachers of writing. The qualitative data included writing surveys, writing samples, and participant interviews as well as pre and post writing self-efficacy surveys as quantitative data. This study documents the affordances and constraints of peer writing groups in methods courses for preservice English language arts teachers and how these groups may influence their identities and practices as writers and as teachers of writing. These findings provide insight into ways we might strengthen the preparation of English language arts preservice teachers as teachers of writing and build communities of practice within preservice training courses and programs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2019

This study examined existing K-12 online teacher preparation programs in the United States to ascertain the degree to which teachers are prepared to function in online/blended classroom learning environments. This study used a content analysis approach. Research specifically targeted online teacher preparation programs implemented in institutions of higher education. The researcher collected data from state offices of education and institution deans through email surveys inquiring about the existence and capacity of K-12 online teaching endorsements, course descriptions and other course documents.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the observations of elementary school music teachers regarding the level of preparation of their most recent student teachers at the beginning of their student teaching experience. Twenty-seven elementary music teachers participated in a survey rating the preparedness of their student teacher in the areas of personal, teaching, and musical skills, and provided free-response feedback concerning the skills and abilities they observed as strong and weak. These responses were compared to the 1997 research completed by David Teachout, where preservice teachers and experienced teachers were asked to list what they felt were the forty most important skills necessary for success in regard to new music teachers. The results of the survey found a shift in emphasis in personal skills toward skills related to relationship quality with the students. Teaching skills surrounding Classroom Management were considered important but were the weaker of the demonstrated abilities. Musical skills showed the closest alignment between what was considered essential and demonstrated strength. Additional skills, both strong and weak were noted, and implications for the music teacher curriculum was discussed.

Owing to the influx of students with autism to the general education classroom, the role of the educator has drastically changed. Limited training and negative perceptions among teachers of students with autism are concerning. A qualitative case study, based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy as a conceptual framework, was used to gather information based on the preservice training and personal classroom experiences from 7 general education teachers who were purposefully selected based on their licensure in the state of Ohio and experience in teaching students with autism. Research questions for this study examined the types of training teachers received, perceptions and attitudes regarding the inclusion of students with autism, and classroom strategies used by teachers. Semistructured interviews with open-ended questions were used to guide the interview process. Data were analyzed through reflection, coding, and identifying prevalent themes. Findings indicated that none of the participants initially felt adequately prepared to teach students with autism but attempted to convey positive attitudes and individualize teaching strategies for each child. Based on these findings, an online course regarding students with autism was developed for preservice teachers. Successful project implementation may increase the knowledge base among teacher candidates in research-based teaching strategies that could potentially improve general teacher perceptions and encourage successful inclusion of students with autism

Before they enter the classroom, teacher candidates must acquire the knowledge, dispositions, and instructional strategies necessary to succeed in educating students with a variety of learning abilities before they enter the classroom. The educational roles and responsibilities required of teacher candidates have changed from a general education classroom without students with disabilities to an inclusive setting for all learners. Now students with disabilities spend more time in the general education classroom to be educated at least 80% of their time with their same-aged peers. Therefore, this qualitative study, through the use of one-on-one interviews, sought to expand the existing research by identifying and analyzing the experiences of nine teacher candidates who were enrolled in a teacher preparation program for dual certification in general and mild/moderate disabilities. Candidates responded to interview questions about their preparation programs regarding coursework, practicum, and student teaching/internship requirements. While virtually all teacher candidates described their experiences as positive, candidates were prepared to collaborate (work together toward a common goal) with university faculty, special and general education mentors, principals, other educators in the schools. The pairing of teacher candidates with their peers, practicum mentors, and mentors during student teaching/internships, has been shown to provide a more supportive and collaborative environment than the traditional model of teachers who typically worked in silos or autonomously. In these instances, it appeared that not all mentors promoted collaboration, were familiar with co-teaching models or were not able to spend a sufficient amount of time to implement these models, and co-teaching models were lacking and limited time was the contributing factor. Concerns were voiced by candidates who experienced challenges that pertained to the act or perceived value of collaboration in practice when they were mentored particularly by the assigned general education mentor teachers.

The roles and responsibilities of teacher leaders change as schools, districts, and states adopt new policies, procedures, and initiatives. However, little qualitative research has been conducted about how teachers develop leadership skills, particularly during preservice preparation programs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore how a community of practice prepared college graduates to be teacher leaders. The conceptual framework was based on the concepts of situated learning, communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation. Four graduates from a state teaching program were purposefully selected as participants. Data were collected from multiple sources, including initial and follow-up interviews with program graduates, observations of their leadership activities in public schools, archival data, and program documents. Analysis consisted of multilevel coding, category construction, and determination of emergent themes and discrepant data to inform key findings. Findings suggested that the Southern State Teaching Program prepared its graduates to serve as teacher leaders through situated learning opportunities and the development, practice, and refinement of skills necessary for leading others. The program also offered peripheral participation in the program and the teaching profession. Implications for positive social change include the potential for including teacher leader development programs at the preservice level, which may ultimately improve teacher retention and student achievement.

Collaboration among higher education professors who are responsible for the education of preservice teachers is one potential solution to the problem of poor teacher preparation. Specifically, collaboration among mathematics educators and mathematicians can enhance preservice teacher preparation because it provides opportunities for preservice teachers to develop pedagogical content knowledge. However, collaborative efforts are challenging, and collaborators often face obstacles and tensions arise among the collaborative group members. Learning about ways the collaborators approach their collaborative efforts, the issues and tensions that arise, the hindering and supporting factors that affect the collaboration, and the potential outcomes of collaborative efforts provides information beneficial to higher education instructors looking to collaborate in teacher education programs. An exploratory descriptive case study was employed to answer the following research questions: 1. What approaches do a team comprised of a mathematics educator and two mathematicians use to facilitate their collaborative co-planning efforts as they prepare for and teach concurrent mathematics methods and mathematics courses for preservice middle grades mathematics teachers? 2. What factors support or hinder the collaboration? 3. In what ways does the collaboration affect the mathematics educator’s and mathematicians’ course planning and teaching? A mathematics educator and two mathematicians co-planned, and concurrently taught, courses for preservice middle grades mathematics teachers enrolled in a middle school mathematics teacher education program. Data collected from observations of planning meetings, observations of classes taught by the participants, and from interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. At the onset of the collaboration, the collaborators assumed roles that initiated the collaboration, with the mathematics educator emerging as the leader and setting the schedule and meeting agendas. However, the hierarchical roles they established ultimately led to a power imbalance, the major hindering factor of the collaboration. Other hindering factors include administrative business, lack of authority, and undefined goals. The instructors in the collaborative group formed relationships and bonded over similar challenges with the preservice teachers. The connections among the collaborators facilitated the collaboration. As a result of the collaboration, each of the instructors made planning and teaching changes in their courses. The mathematicians employed instructional strategies consistent with best practices in education, such as group work, which they had not utilized in other courses. The mathematics educator made direct connections with content the preservice teachers in her course were learning in their mathematics courses taught by her collaborators.