Faculty in the School of Education have collaborated to re-envision teacher education at our university. A complex, dynamic, time-consuming and sometimes painstaking process, redesigning a teacher education program from a traditional approach (i.e. where courses focus primarily on theoretical principles of practice through textbooks and…

In order to meet the South Dakota Board of Regents requirements for an upper level writing course with global perspective for all graduates, the administration at the University of South Dakota established an interdisciplinary course to be taken by all majors. Two faculty members from different disciplines were assigned to teach each section with…

This narrative case study describes the collaborative processes employed by a midwestern university as it designed and implemented a clinically based, postbaccalaureate teacher preparation program for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates committed to teaching in high need secondary schools. The program development…

With the proliferation of alternative route (AR) special education teacher preparation programs, many teacher educators are likely to be involved in AR program design and implementation. Unfortunately, few resources have focused on best practices for program developers to prepare the nontraditional participants who typically populate their…

This study explores the impact of an alternative teacher preparation program development from the "inside out" or through the voices of second career teachers, known as "Career Switchers," at a mid-size state university. The major objective of this study was to probe into their perceptions to inform program development with reporting framed in…

Discusses mentoring as a professional development strategy to meet the needs of experienced and novice practitioners. Defines mentoring and differentiates it from supervision. Discusses the following aspects of early childhood mentoring programs: (1) goals and assumptions; (2) design and structure, including mentor qualifications and training; (3)…