This qualitative inquiry evaluated the Student Support Team Project and its effects on preservice teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of prereferral intervention and student support teams. This investigation is important because prereferral intervention and student support teams have been used increasingly to provide assistance to teachers and to students who need assistance with academic, social and emotional problems. This has created a need to provide preservice education that helps to prepare teachers to use these resources to help their students. This investigation demonstrated a specific approach to such instruction for preservice teachers (i.e., the Student Support Team Project), including an evaluation to determine changes in perceptions and knowledge that resulted during and after participation in this project. Participants were preservice teachers enrolled in an alternative teacher certification program. The research design was qualitative. Data collection included semi-structured interviews, written reflections from the preservice teachers, input from key informants, field notes and research team reflective journals. The collection and analysis of data were done recursively and used constant comparative methods. Analysis of the data revealed three main categories: Knowledge, Knowledge Needed, and Project Feedback. Knowledge reflected the participants’ understanding of student support teams and their implementation and included the following themes: Knowledge about Data Collection, Knowledge about Intervention, Knowledge about Student Support Teams, and Generalization of Knowledge. Knowledge Needed reflected the knowledge participants needed to understand and work effectively with these teams, including the following themes: Knowledge Needed about Data Collection, Knowledge Needed about Intervention, Knowledge Needed about Student Support Teams, and Other Knowledge Needed. Project Feedback included perceived strengths and weaknesses of the Student Support Team Project, including the following themes: Project Helpful, Project Struggles, and Project Suggestions. One key finding was how preservice teachers’ understanding of student support teams evolved from vague ideas about teams, to increasingly specific case-focused ideas, and finally, to generalized understandings. Findings are discussed in relationship to the literature on prereferral intervention and teacher development. Implications for preservice teacher education are discussed. Future research is also suggested.

The intent of this study was to explore the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers as they relate to teaching and learning in high poverty urban schools. Participants included 11 senior early childhood education preservice teachers at a historically Black college in the southeast region of the United States. The study was conducted using qualitative inquiry. Background questionnaires, individual interviews, and a group interview served as the data sources. While there is an extensive body of knowledge focused on the increasing number of White preservice teachers who lack experience with students in diverse communities, there are limited studies pertaining to the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers who may lack experience with students in high poverty urban schools. In the Black community, color and social class have been inexorably linked for generations. Social class is conceivably one of the most significant sources of inequality in schools and was one of the first factors, after intelligence, researched by scholars as a source of difference in achievement. The study answered the following questions: (1) What are the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers regarding teaching and learning in high poverty urban schools? (2) To what extent do Black middle and upper class preservice teachers believe they can be successful teachers in high poverty urban schools? The data demonstrated that Black middle and upper class preservice teachers (a) prefer to teach in communities similar to their own school experiences; (b) believe students from high poverty urban schools can achieve at the same level as students in middle and upper class schools, but are uncertain of the value their informal knowledge brings to the classroom; (c) recognize effective teaching strategies and best practices in classroom instruction; and (d) have mixed feelings regarding their ability to connect with students and parents in high poverty urban schools. Implications from the study include expanding the scope of field experiences for Black middle and upper class preservice teachers in high poverty urban schools and recognizing Black middle and upper class preservice teachers in teacher education research.

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the perceptions of preservice teachers toward native and nonnative English speaking (NES and NNES) graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in English as a second language (ESL) methodology and/or ESL assessment courses at a Southwestern U.S. university. This study also investigated the perceptions of NES and NNES GTAs toward preservice teachers. This study explored the issue of whether preservice teachers are prepared to accept and validate diversity among their instructors which in turn should make them sensitive to diverse learners they will encounter in their future teaching. In the first part of the study, a total of 262 preservice teachers were surveyed. The survey data were collected in spring 2007 and fall 2008. Of the 262 preservice teachers, 20 participated in focus group discussions to provide further insight on their views of NES and NNES GTAs. In the second part of the study, four GTAs participated in a longitudinal study by writing online blog entries after any encounters (positive or negative) they had with their students inside and outside the classroom. The blogs reflected the GTAs? immediate reactions after their classes. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the GTAs. Findings of the first study revealed that preservice teacher perceived NES and NNES GTAs differently. Preservice teachers put a lot of emphasis on the intelligibility of the NNES GTAs. The preservice teachers were ?tolerant? if their NNES spoke English ?clearly?. However, there were some preservice teachers who were dissatisfied with their NNES GTAs due to their possessing a non-mainstream language. Findings of the second study revealed that NNES GTAs faced major challenges in their effort to be recognized as legitimate and competent instructors. Although the GTAs had vastly different personal backgrounds, perceptions, and identities as instructors, common themes or issues emerged from the data: (1) teaching is complex (linguistic, cultural, and racial issues are involved); (2) beliefs about teaching can change; (3) challenges are faced as an ?outsider? instructor; and (4) teaching provides experiences of joy. The study has implications for teacher education programs and training programs offered for international graduate students by universities.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers&rsquo / spatial visualization ability, geometry self-efficacy, and spatial anxiety regarding undergraduate program and gender. The other purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship among preservice teachers&rsquo / spatial visualization ability, geometry self-efficacy, and spatial anxiety. The data were collected from 1007 third and fourth grade preservice teachers who were enrolled in Elementary Mathematics Education (EME), Elementary Science Education (ESE), and Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs of four universities in Ankara. The measuring instruments were Spatial Visualization Test (SVT), Geometry Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale, and Spatial Anxiety (ANX) Scale. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between undergraduate programs regarding spatial visualization ability levels. The EME students had significantly higher SVT scores than the ESE and the ECE students. Moreover, it was concluded that males had significantly higher spatial visualization scores than females. In addition, ECE students&rsquo / geometry self-efficacy was significantly lower than that of both EME and ESE students. The geometry self-efficacy scores of female preservice teachers were found significantly lower than of male preservice teachers. Furthermore, the significant difference in spatial anxiety levels was found only between EME and ESE students where EME students&rsquo / spatial anxiety levels were higher than ESE students. Moreover, ECE students had the lowest spatial anxiety among other programs. The spatial anxiety levels of males were less than females in all three undergraduate programs. Finally, Pearson product-moment correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between GSE and SVT scores. Moreover, the negative correlation was found between ANX and SVT scores, and between ANX and GSE scores.

The purpose of this study was to explore what the word "play" means and implies for Korean preservice kindergarten teachers in an early childhood teacher education program. The research questions under investigation were: (1) How do Korean preservice teachers with an early childhood emphasis view play? (2) How do factors such as culture and education influence the constructing of these views? The participants were ten Korean preservice kindergarten teachers enrolled in the Department of Early Childhood Education in one teacher education college in Korea. The data for this study was collected through in-depth qualitative interviews both individual and group and other qualitative methods. The findings of this study showed that Korean preservice kindergarten teachers had a conceptual conflict in the perception of general play and educational play. General play was considered as a fun, enjoyable, and spontaneous activity that is engaged in without concern for a specific outcome. General play was also thought as the opposite concept to work or study. Educational play was regarded as an ironical concept, since Korean preservice kindergarten teachers thought that learning occurs through working, not playing. Korean preservice kindergarten teachers theoretically advocated for the pedagogy of learning through play, just as they were taught in the teacher education program. However, Korean preservice kindergarten teachers did not agree with the practical effect of play on children's learning. Korean preservice kindergarten teachers were more supportive of a structured and pre-planned program for young children, believing that it resulted in better learning opportunities for children than a play-oriented program. The findings of the study revealed that personal experiences with play, the kind of education of the preservice teachers themselves received in their teacher training program, and Korean culture had significant roles in influencing the participant preservice teachers' ideas on play. This study implies that interpretations of play as an educational tool vary from culture to culture. Further research is needed to more deeply understand how views and attitudes on play are created and enacted.

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers' beliefs and experiences in learning about teaching mathematics for social justice during a one-semester mathematics methods course at a large university in the Southwest. The study examined their beliefs on three levels: a) their beliefs about issues of equity, diversity, and social justice in general; b) their beliefs about how issues of equity, diversity, and social justice relate to teaching (i.e., if and how the preservice teachers perceive themselves as critical educators); and c) their beliefs about teaching mathematics for social justice. This study also analyzed the preservice teachers' experiences as they learned about and then discussed lessons and projects that could be used for teaching mathematics for social justice. The purpose of analyzing their experiences was to document what the pre-service teachers identified as positive and negative influences on their learning to teach mathematics for social justice.

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This research proposes that the explicit incorporation of spatial thinking into teacher preparation programs is an effective and efficient way to foster and develop a spatially literate populace. The major objective of this study was to examine the effect of explicit instruction in spatial thinking on the development of preservice teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward teaching it. A one-day workshop - Teaching Spatial Thinking with Geography - for preservice geography teachers was developed as the intervention of this study. The primary focus of the workshop was to provide an explicit opportunity to learn about spatial thinking and to practice skills required to incorporate spatial thinking into participants' classrooms. Three assessments were used to examine changes in participants' knowledge, skills, and dispositions, before and after the workshop: the spatial concepts test, the teaching spatial thinking disposition survey, and participant-produced lesson plans. Individual interviews were conducted to obtain a deeper understanding of participants' learning experiences during the workshop. A mixed-method research design was adopted in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to offset the weaknesses inherent within one method with the strengths of the other. The major findings of this study include: 1) explicit instruction about spatial concepts is necessary to the development of preservice teachers' knowledge required for teaching spatial thinking through geography; 2) the skills development required to teach spatial thinking should be approached as the development of pedagogical content knowledge; 3) dispositions toward teaching spatial thinking should be differentiated from dispositions toward teaching general thinking skills; 4) although explicit instruction about teaching spatial thinking contributed substantially to the preservice teachers' acquisition of knowledge and skills and the development of positive dispositions toward teaching spatial, each of these components develops at a different rate but affect each other; and 5) a promising approach to the development of preservice teachers' pedagogical content knowledge would be to offer geography education courses, not general geography or methods courses, in which the focus is explicitly on teaching geography with an emphasis on spatial thinking.

This qualitative multiple case study explored the identity development of three preservice teachers of literacy. The study focused on the prior knowledge of the preservice teachers of literacy and how their knowledge related to their identity development while in field experiences. The primary question that guided this study was: What is the nature of the construction of identity during field experiences for preservice teachers of literacy? Sub questions explored identity in field experiences and the role of prior pedagogical content knowledge to identity development. Findings indicated that an evolving habitus central to their identity as literacy teachers could be deduced that guided the preservice teachers as they interacted in the figured worlds of their field experiences related to literacy teaching. Also, prior knowledge as a component of identity served to help the preservice teachers author themselves in regard to their interactions with their cooperating teachers, students, and with the classroom and school environment. Findings further indicated that the preservice teachers of literacy relied on their prior knowledge to notice, critique, and anticipate. Noticing, critiquing, and anticipating led to further development of their identity as teachers of literacy in a circular manner. A recommendation for practice includes the use of the NCA/WR Identity Guide to help preservice teachers of literacy become aware of their identity during field experiences. Further, providing an opportunity for reflection when standardized tests are administered could lead to metacognition, which is helpful for the identity development of preservice teachers. Recommendations for future research include examining different populations of preservice teachers and further exploring standardized testing related to identity. This study showed that preservice teachers of literacy navigate a path of diverse experiences as they learn to author themselves in the figured worlds of the field experiences. These experiences serve to shape them as future teachers and continued exploration of the specifics of their identity development will assist in creating strong teachers who are equipped to face the challenges of providing quality literacy instruction.