University-based teacher education programs and all of their components, including the content disciplines such as mathematics and science, are undergoing an unprecedented degree of scrutiny and challenge. Today, the entire concept of university-based teacher preparation is being questioned, mostly by critics outside the academy, and it is no…

Schilling et al. (this issue) have done a commendable job in illustrating a comprehensive process of validating assessments of teacher knowledge (and, more broadly, other types of tests as well). On one hand, the concrete illustration of a process that often remains murky and incomplete is profoundly heartening, as it provides a rigorous model for…

This study reports on an analysis of preservice teachers' dialogue journal entries for evidence of ways in which teachers develop conceptual understanding for writing instruction. Teachers' propositional statements were identified and coded at a specific level for three themes: (1) level of instructional scaffolding, (2) focus of proposed…

This article brings together an overview of ideas about teacher learning from both teacher education and workplace learning literature, and examines what and how newly qualified secondary school teachers learn in the early years of their career. We discuss the types of knowledge new teachers encounter and present a typology of teacher learning.…

This paper reports on an international experience designed, within a sociocultural frame, for teacher education students to examine theoretical knowledge and make visible local knowledge on diversity issues, and the interrelatedness and complexity of language, literacy and culture and its impact on educational practices. It examines the context of…

This article explores middle school teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching and the relationship between such knowledge and teachers' subject matter preparation, certification type, teaching experience, and their students' poverty status. The author administered multiple-choice measures to a nationally representative sample of teachers and…

The information needs of regular elementary teachers concerning the special needs of students who have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) were assessed. A literature review covers means of identification of these disorders, intervention, effective instructional strategies, and issues involved with FAS and FAE.…

This study, part of a larger study focusing on studying a human tutor to design a computer simulation of expert tutoring (i.e., a self-improving intelligent tutoring system), conducted a detailed analysis of one expert tutor's (Nancy Mack) tutorial actions as she attempted to help students learn fractions with understanding. As Mack tutored…

Constructivism is a perspective on learning that is initiated from the learner's perspective rather than by that of the teacher; understanding is constructed by the learner rather than placed upon the learner. If constructivism is fostered in teacher education, practical reasoning can encourage teacher development to its fullest. (The concept of…

This study took an in-depth look at the collaborative work of teachers engaged in curriculum restructuring, and explored how individual teachers' perceptions inform and are informed by such collaboration. The objective of the study was to explore how teachers' individual knowledge, experiences, and curriculum orientations affected their…

The primary objective of the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS) is to bring high quality staff development in mathematics and science to teachers of all levels. This report describes the progress PIMMS has made over the past 12 years in fostering an appreciation of mathematics and science by teachers in the state of…

This publication is one of the tangible responses of the African Social and Environmental Studies Programme (ASESP) to the challenges of sustainable development which were presented to the world by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). It seeks to increase the chances of attaining sustainable development by building…

A qualitative ethnographic study examined three early childhood teachers' awareness, acceptance, and implementation of emergent literacy theory. The three teachers, from three different schools in two neighboring mid-Atlantic states, were chosen for their contrasting teaching styles. Each classroom was observed by a non-participant observer for…

During the 1996 Teacher Enhancement Institute (TEI) on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a very diverse group of teachers actively pursued instructional improvement through workshops in thinking skills, content area, and group seminars for a period of 4 weeks. This report contains evidence of improved teaching skills in…

Students are currently exposed to world environmental problems--including global warming and the greenhouse effect--in science classes at various points during their K-12 and college experience. However, the amount and depth of explosure to these issues can be quite variable. Students are also exposed to sources of misinformation leading to…