The limited mathematical knowledge of pre-service primary teachers is an international concern. The areas of mathematical difficulties have been well documented, which has led to many universities instituting testing regimes to ensure that their pre-service teachers have appropriate knowledge of primary school mathematics. In this study, the…

The main objective of this study was to investigate primary teachers' subject matter knowledge in the domain of decimals and more elaborately to investigate their performance and difficulties in reading scale, ordering numbers, finding the nearest decimal and doing operations, such as addition and subtraction. The difficulties in these particular…

Although teachers' knowledge is thought to contribute to the selection and implementation of mathematical tasks, empirical evidence supporting this claim is scarce. To investigate this relationship and understand its nature, this exploratory study examines the unfolding of tasks in a series of lessons led by 2 elementary school teachers who…

In this article we examine the activities of 2 public lessons prepared and conducted by a group of elementary school teachers in China. We employ the conceptual lens of deliberate practice to understand how the public lesson activities possibly contributed to improvement of the teachers' knowledge and instructional performance. We found that…

Wenger's community of practice theory is used to illustrate how, through careful curriculum design, teacher identity can be developed by participation in a re-skilling programme. In the context of learning, a community of practice involves the complex intersection of various components of learning, namely, meaning (learning as experience),…

Middle school teachers teach energetic, curious adolescents rigorous content at a time in their lives when many changes are occurring. Those entering the teaching profession as middle school teachers must be prepared for this unique environment. This study examines 16 pre-service middle school teachers' developments as they participate in a…

The limited mathematical knowledge of preservice primary teachers is an international concern. The areas of mathematical difficulties have been well documented, which has led to many universities instituting testing regimes to ensure that preservice teachers have appropriate knowledge of primary school mathematics. In our study, the preservice…

To add to the evidence base on effective strategies for teaching English language learner students, the 2006-2011 REL West at WestEd conducted a rigorous study, using an intent-to-treat model, of the impact on middle grades student achievement of offering teachers the opportunity to participate in a teacher professional development program. The…

In an era of specialization and standardization, what might the liberal arts offer to preservice teachers as they prepare for their participation in a demanding profession? The authors posit that teacher education programs housed in liberal arts institutions can provide rich mentoring opportunities for teacher candidates. While faculty in teacher…

Many institutions of higher education (IHEs) that prepare teachers encounter the challenge of increasing requirements of general education preservice teachers so they are properly prepared to teach all students, including those with disabilities. This study examined the impact of a Web-based resource on preservice general education teachers'…

This paper reports on a national study, involving a mixed-method research design comprising a randomised controlled trial (RCT), text analysis, student and teacher interviews and lesson observations. It set out to investigate whether contextualised teaching of grammar, linked to the teaching of writing, would improve student outcomes in writing…

In teacher education programs, preservice teachers learn about strategies to appropriately integrate computer-related and Internet-capable technologies into instructional settings to improve student learning. Many presume that preservice teachers have the knowledge to competently model and teach issues of safety when working with these devices as…

In this article the authors report on research into how an ePortfolio (eP) process can address the critique that teacher education programs offer fragmented course experiences and too often focus on narrow instrumentalist approaches emphasising the "how to" and the "what works"--implying that learning how to teach is about stitching together…

Background and purpose: This study examines the views of farmers and extension agents participating in extension education courses in Dezful, Iran, with regard to problems with these courses. It relies upon a descriptive methodology, using a survey as its instrument. Sample: The statistical population consisted of 5060 farmers and 50 extension…

This article describes how a teacher preparation program can positively impact professional dispositions. Pre and post essays from a sample of sixty candidates were qualitatively analyzed to determine the value-added growth of their professional dispositions.