Field-based experiences are vital components of many undergraduate programs. However, assessing student performance in these settings can be challenging. Video-based observation is an approach to providing performance feedback that addresses these challenges and may also provide benefits not inherent in live observations. Using examples from our…

Special education teacher collaboration with families is essential to supporting students with disabilities, yet such partnerships often fall short in practice, and teachers report they are not adequately prepared to work with families. In order to prepare competent teachers for working with families, a Family Collaboration Project was…

Family literacy involves factors beyond what is done at home between parents and children. To help preservice teachers develop their understanding of the multiple dimensions of family literacy, this study uses the five pillars of family and community engagement (FACE)--early literacy, family involvement, access to books, expanded learning, and…

Two groups of teacher candidates completed a survey based on the Parent Teacher Association's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships at the start and end of the semester of a general methods course and corresponding fieldwork (practicum) experience. One group of participants (N[subscript "S"] = 60) completed their clinical…

For their 61st annual conference, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) met in St. Petersburg, Florida. This year's conference theme was "Engaging All Readers through Explorations of Literacy, Language, and Culture," which was also used as the title for this year's "Yearbook." This "Yearbook"…

The benefits of family involvement in the education of children with disabilities are well documented. Few teacher education programs, however, implement specific strategies for encouraging interactions between families and those preparing to be teachers. The University of South Florida St. Petersburg and the local membership of a professional…

The theme for the 60th annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) was Literacy: The Critical Role of Teacher Knowledge. This Yearbook provides a snapshot of the highlights of the meeting and sampling of some of the proceedings. The focus is on three questions surrounding the conference theme: (1) What do…

Preservice teachers from a Hispanic-serving university and Latino families reflected on their interactions during an after-school children's tutoring program conducted at an elementary school. This paper focuses on issues that both preservice teachers and families found important to communication and relationship building. These issues were…