Schools of graduate and undergraduate education can be of great help to each other. To be an effective interviewer or interviewee, a person must have experience. The perceived self-efficacy of interviewing skills may help in actual interviews. A mock interview strategy is proposed to help administrator and teacher candidates become proficient in…

This article describes a design for a teacher preparation program that is successfully preparing teacher candidates to teach in the complex, diverse classrooms in urban schools. The program provides intensive, authentic, field-based experiences and effective mentoring support for teacher candidates as they gain the knowledge, skills, and…

This study describes and analyzes a four-year effort to provide curriculum-based, technology-enhanced field experiences for prospective teachers. These field experiences and this associated study espouse the notion that experiences and reflective activity must coalesce to yield professional growth for prospective teachers. The study suggests that…

In working with preparatory teachers, we have tried to "place diversity front and center" to help students "see culture" as a prerequisite for culturally responsive teaching. The language arts methods-course students who, like the authors, are White women from middle-or upper-income families, participated in learning opportunities that included…

Becoming a teacher is hard work. A sizable body of research indicates that student teaching internships or other field-based practica are a particularly difficult part of this process. Many preservice teachers have misconceptions about the work of teachers and teaching; when they begin their field placements they often feel disillusioned by the…

In this discussion of one university's teacher education program, steps taken to mentor pre-service teachers learning to support families and children in urban settings are aligned with advocacy strategies. Using a service-learning model, teachers explore issues of social justice by completing a full year of field experiences in an urban…

This article explains the benefits and challenges of requiring undergraduate political science students to act outside the classroom to mobilize voters. Although several published articles describe student engagement with social service agencies, policy research, community outreach, and classroom simulations, this article fills a gap in the…

Since 1994, urban-absentee landowners have dominated rural landownership in Texas. This landownership change has created potential environmental problems associated with natural resource management. Few of the new landowners have any formal training in the basics of the soil-plant-animal interface. The solution may be to develop a vehicle that…

Purpose: The purpose of this action research presentation is to invite discourse on the intersection of race, gender and instructional decisions in the classrooms of student teachers. The purpose of this study is to also examine the thoughts of a university supervisor during clinical observation with respect to her positionality as a woman of…

This paper examines the reality of teaching math in the rural southeast. Rural districts have low student expenditures and high transportation costs, due in part to the limited tax-base available. This leaves limited funds for technology. Universities prepare preservice teachers to teach math using the latest technology, however, many of these…

The objective of this research was to explore how authentic technology use and teacher inquiry may coalesce during curriculum-based, technology-enhanced field experiences for prospective teachers. Thirteen inquiries were analyzed using qualitative analytic procedures (Rossman, 1998). Results suggest that teacher inquiry may serve a variety of…

This paper presents a proposal for an alternative principal-certification program, which is to be operated by Tarleton State University (Texas) in collaboration with 10 independent Texas school districts, 4 regional educational service centers, 2 professional associations, and 1 foundation. The New Century Educational Leadership Program (NCELP) is…

This study examines the effect and effectiveness of the "bug-in-the-ear" (BIE) intervention strategy used with early field placement teacher education students to see whether meaningful feedback early in training would significantly help with developing teaching competencies. The BIE strategy involves a one-way communication device to…

This study determined the effects of three levels of clinical experiences on teacher education students' perceptions of the importance and performance of various teacher attributes. Measures of importance and performance were obtained from a sample of 216 (37 male, 179 female) teacher education students from Jacksonville State University (Alabama)…

Current efforts to reform special education have focused on the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings. The success of inclusion is contingent upon preparing general education teachers at the preservice level for inclusive classroom settings. This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an…