This is the first in an occasional series on the dramatic national push to revamp how reading is being taught in the earliest grades. This EdSource special report examines the state of early reading in California, the needs of special learners, teacher preparation and training and curricula and textbooks that are driving instruction. This ongoing…

United States history classrooms have the potential to simultaneously foster an understanding of students' cultures and experiences today in relation to the nation's history and develop critical thinking and technology literacy. Yet classroom materials and instructors tend to avoid, ignore, or misrepresent controversial topics such as race and…

In this collaborative sense-making of mentorship and interconnected guidance for education research, two Black women academics in special education offer lessons learned from their sustained dialogues with each other, other Black women, and with Black and endarkened feminists' texts. The authors reflect on how traditional approaches to academic…

This brief summarizes a 2019 study of educator supply, demand, and quality in North Carolina conducted by the Learning Policy Institute in collaboration with the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina and WestEd. That study supported the state's ongoing efforts to meet the standard set in the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision in…

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive view of special education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The chapter starts with the origins and attitudes of the Saudi citizens regarding persons with special needs. Next the chapter examines trends in legislation and litigation pertaining to persons who are disabled which led to the…

Professional educators are called upon to provide effective instruction to student populations that increasingly consist of multiple cultures, languages, and ethnic backgrounds. Based on current special education law, schools are working toward establishing more collaborative cultures by stressing partnerships between general and special education…

Preservice student teachers engaged in a collaborative research initiative to examine the memory of the 1954 "Brown v. Topeka Board of Education" decision that culminated in a public performance. Ethnographic data were translated into performance texts through students' performances that confronted issues of privilege, race, and institutional…

Despite the growing teacher shortage, teacher educators must maintain program quality. A teacher education program in Washington explains program expectations to applicants and identifies potentially problematic students during a screening session. A student manual explains student rights and responsibilities, and student progress is tracked so…

Describes (1) the rapid growth in the number of states requiring teacher competency testing prior to certification and (2) variations in teacher testing for other purposes. Discusses the perceived need for teacher testing and outlines some consequences of the testing movement. Widespread testing of school administrators may be next. (IW)

This paper examines the evolving Canadian jurisprudence at the appellate court level to outline the emerging definition--what is termed the "judicial construction"--of the role of the teacher. "Judicial construction" is a phrase intended to capture the attribution by judges of the social and educational significance of…

Many teachers in public schools find themselves increasingly unsure of what the law expects of them in the classroom. The general public and government regulators are holding them to higher and stricter standards of conduct, but their educational preparation has not kept up with the changing environment. This book is an ideal guide for teacher…

Professional preparation institutions are attempting to legislate greater control over the credentialing process. The credentialing system functions most efficiently under a partnership structure in which input is provided by the professional preparation institutions, the organized profession representatives of the market, and the government. (JN)

In the past, the absence of performance standards for which teachers and teacher education institutions could be held accountable has helped protect teacher colleges from malpractice charges. As research identifies correlates between teacher behavior and student achievement, however, institutions which fail to teach minimum competencies may become…

This study was undertaken in an attempt to document the perceptions of the legal literacy of educators and to discuss the implications for teacher preparation programs. The research further attempted to study the impact and fear of legal issues on the educational practices of teachers, principals, and university professors and to determine the…

A study of test results of would-be teachers in 19 states documented the failure of nearly 38,000 members of minority groups. Critics say testing requirements are limiting the racial and cultural makeup of the nation's teaching force at a time of growing ethnic and racial diversity in public schools. (MLW)