The process of effective teaching--teaching that directly leads to student learning of standards-based content--is tenuous at best and easily disrupted by contextual and behavioral factors. In this commentary, I discuss the role of student support and mediation in teacher effectiveness and curricular reform. The most vocal students in physical…

Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

To be a great teacher, more than content knowledge, teacher also needs practical and technical knowledge that contribute to teacher effectiveness. A teacher with high tacit knowledge is usually considered an expert teacher. The purpose of this study is to find out whether teachers with high tacit knowledge give equal preference to the various…

In this article, the authors explore the ideas that revolve around improving the quality of the teacher workforce through the pursuit of two related goals: (1) teachers who are hired by school districts will have as beginning professionals the acquired knowledge, habits of mind, and skills necessary to meet the needs of the students within the…

This book reviews the literature on effective science teaching, examining research from the United Kingdom and other countries. The studies included were those that made comparisons between two or more groups differing in science education experiences; those that involved upper elementary or lower secondary students; those that made comparisons in…

Explores some widely held assumptions concerning the role of child development knowledge in teaching young children. Issues explored include What does the term "development" mean? What child development knowledge should be learned? Can we agree on a body of child development knowledge and principles? Why has the role of child development knowledge…

Examines issues pertaining to the development of a formal knowledge base to guide the thinking and practice of early childhood teachers. Discusses the authors' views on formal knowledge, practice and reflection, and the process of teacher education, and how these views are operationalized in the master's level program at Erikson Institute in…

Examines how the terms "child development knowledge" and "teacher preparation" have come to be understood in ways that place limits on how we think about children and the preparation of teachers. Illustrates some of the differences between modernism and postmodernism, then considers why a universal practice premised on a universal theory of…

Introduces the articles presented in this special collection and provides the appropriate context for discussing the relationship between changes in the child development knowledge base and their implications for early childhood teacher preparation and practice. Presents an overview of recent developments in both the preparation and practice…

Elementary school teacher candidates typically enter their professional training with deficiencies in their conceptual understanding of the topics of elementary school mathematics and with a reliance upon procedural (algorithmic) approaches to the solutions of mathematical problems. If elementary school teacher candidates are expected to teach…