The paper is based upon a case-study of mentoring in teacher education in Norway. It describes the practice of the cooperating teacher and how mentoring in the practice-field contributes to student teachers learning. The main focus is how student teachers develop pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics through reflections with the mentor…

National Board Certification is a voluntary process established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to measure what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Certification is achieved through a rigorous performance-based assessment that takes between one and three years to complete. As of November 2004,…

This document offers a guide to enhance the quality of Michigan social studies teaching. The document draws on two sources, "A Vision of Powerful Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies" (National Council for the Social Studies) and "A Guide to Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Vision, Standards and Scoring" (Newmann,…

The goal of this study was to understand how preservice biology teachers progress in an open-inquiry research program on the ecological physiology of a tree frog. The project involved students (N=10) in a spring semester and summer workshop. Multiple data sources were established including classroom discussion, group meetings, weekly reflection…

This paper is a narrative account of a critical classroom episode in the life of a beginning secondary science teacher. Emphasis is placed on a beginning science teacher's prior knowledge of effective science instruction and is used to guide on-going classroom practices to facilitate student learning. The story is created from classroom…

This policy brief focuses on teacher competence in using technologies in the Pacific region, identifying key policy issues that must be addressed if teachers are to be prepared to capitalize on the investments being made in technology at the local and entity level. Section 1 focuses on what teachers must know and do in order to effectively use…

Teacher inservice training is critical to the continual development of effective classroom instruction. Professionals who consistently improve their instruction positively impact student performance. Many inservice training sessions use formats that are not conducive to effective adult learning. Good training uses flexible formats, job-applicable…

This research project examined the training of foreign language teachers in Europe. Data were collected from 32 European countries from February to June 2002. Information was also gathered from published documents, ministries of education, higher education institutions, cultural organizations, UNESCO, and teacher associations. Data were fed into a…

Since the inception of "GOALS 2000: Educate America Act" (1994), the nation at large has been implementing standards for systematic reform. Teachers and teacher candidates must become "techno-savvy" overnight in order to comply with these reform initiatives as their level of expertise in educational technology will ostensibly affect their lesson…

This action research project was designed to improve faculty knowledge of hearing loss and its effects on education at two Illinois elementary schools. Sixty-nine faculty members participated in the project. Methods of assessment of faculty knowledge included a survey, questionnaire, document analysis, and anecdotal records of informal…

In coming to better value teachers' knowledge and practice, there is a need to be able to articulate and document what teachers know and are able to do. This is central in coming to understand pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This paper presents a working understanding of PCK as it has emerged through a research project and describes the…

The professional development of teachers is a crucial element of the nation's efforts to improve education. In recent years, these efforts have sought to foster high standards for teaching and learning for all of the nation's children, and almost all states have met federal requirements for developing challenging statewide content standards. Such…

The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) is implementing a professional development program for science teachers to enact science curricula in a systemic reform initiative. This paper proposes a design approach for professional development in science education as a valuable way to re-conceptualize the process of fostering…

In science education, it is well understood that teachers' scientific conceptions can influence students' learning, but the extent to which students' knowledge influences teachers' ideas is not known. This paper describes a study of the mutual interaction of ideas between two second grade teachers, one teacher intern, and their classrooms during…

This study investigated the changes that occurred in the knowledge and attitudes of a group of science and mathematics teachers (n=38) who took a museum education course. The course contained lectures and discussions on the rationales and strategies of museum education. The students also learned about the history of museum development in Taiwan…