In this commentary, the authors aim to connect the provocative topic of this special issue--"'The Village and the World': Research with, for, and by Teachers in an Age of Data" to several key ideas about practitioner inquiry that they have developed and explored over the years. They begin by highlighting three dimensions of their concept…

The relocation of teacher preparation to "new graduate schools of education" (nGSEs) is a highly controversial "innovation" within the rapidly expanding field of teacher education. This introductory article to a guest-edited issue of "The New Educator" focused on nGSEs defines teacher preparation at nGSEs and analyzes…

Based on a review of GPA and SAT/ACT requirements at 221 institutions in 25 states, a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recommends that states, institutions of higher education, and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) maintain or establish a higher bar for entry into teacher preparation…

This essay considers the absence, presence, and shifting treatment of the topic of research on teaching and teacher education in AERA presidential addresses. To capture the arc of this topic, the essay is structured chronologically according to three time periods beginning with AERA's birth in 1916 and continuing to the current years. At a general…

Bellwether Education Partners' report, "A New Agenda," calls for a "rational" and "rigorous" research agenda for teacher education. Although the report's rationale is not fully explicated, it asserts that programs are "blindly swinging from one popular reform to the next" and that decades of input- and…

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in many countries are grappling with ways to address the persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This paper reports the results of a unique cross-country, cross-cultural analysis undertaken to provide insights into teaching practices that…

Background/Context: In many countries, there are multiple studies intended to improve initial teacher education. These have generally focused on pieces of teacher education rather than wholes, and have used an underlying linear logic. It may be, however, that what is needed are new research questions and theoretical frameworks that account for…

Despite an increasing number of English-language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools and a trend toward placing them in mainstream classrooms, relatively little attention has been paid to synthesizing and appraising the extant research on how future mainstream teachers are prepared to teach this student population. To shed light on this topic, the…

This is the second of a two-part article intended to offer teacher educators a cohesive overview of the sprawling and uneven field of research on teacher preparation by identifying, analyzing, and critiquing its major programs. The article discusses research on teacher preparation for the knowledge society and research on teacher preparation for…

Many scholars have concluded that teacher education research needs to take a complex view, resist simplification, and account more fully for teacher education's contexts and processes as well as its impact on teacher candidates' and school students' learning (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Grossman & McDonald, 2008; Opfer & Pedder,…

This article argues that research on teacher preparation over the last 100 years can be understood in terms of the major questions that researchers examined. The analysis is guided by the framework of "research as historically situated social practice," which emphasizes that researchers' interests, commitments, and social experiences…

This is the first of a two-part article that aims to chart the contemporary landscape of research on teacher preparation and certification. It is based on a review of more than 1,500 studies published between 2000 and 2012. Part 1 provides information about how the review was conducted and describes the theoretical/analytic framework the authors…

Although the turnover rate among beginning teachers has been a major concern for some time, most studies do not link teacher retention with teaching practice. In contrast, this study looks specifically at career decisions coupled with practice. Guided by a view of teaching as social and cultural practice, the study used multiple qualitative data…

In an effort to make decisions about teacher education policy and practice that were informed by research and evidence, participants in Boston College's "Teachers for a New Era" Evidence Team (http://www.teachersforanewera.org) designed a portfolio of assessments and studies. This article describes one project in the portfolio--a series…

There is now unprecedented emphasis on teacher quality in the USA and in many nations around the world with extremely high expectations for teacher performance. Based on the assumption that education and the economy are inextricably linked, it is now assumed that teachers can--and should--teach all students to world-class standards, serve as the…