The authors question whether elementary students will have access to effective science and mathematics instruction within the current structure of elementary schools, in which each classroom teachers is expected to possess the expertise to teach all subjects well. They review research showing that good teachers are the key to student achievement…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an electronic support tool that can be used by teacher educators and novice teachers to foster habits of reflective, systematic instructional planning. Design/methodology/approach: The authors provide a rationale for their work, present a theoretical framework, propose a unique instructional design…

This essay responds to the question of what it might mean to educate "world teachers" for cosmopolitan classrooms and schools through an examination of an ethnographic play entitled "Satellite Kids". The author begins with the idea that teachers need to develop or build up "intercultural capital", that is, knowledge…

In this article, the author echoes his co-author's and colleague's pleasure (Hill, this issue) at the thoughtfulness and far-ranging nature of the comments to their initial attempts at test validation for the mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) measures using the validity argument approach. Because of the large number of commentaries they…

Teacher quality is widely recognized as influencing student achievement and success in school. In this article, we consider various approaches to the assessment of teacher quality, including process-product observational measures, evaluation checklists, professional standards, large-scale surveys, and commercially available observation systems. We…

This article discusses data arising from a longitudinal study of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of preservice teachers regarding the use of popular culture in the primary literacy curriculum in England. Eighteen students took part in a series of interviews throughout their three-year initial teacher education course. Data were inductively…

Despite the current legislation requiring sex education as part of the school curriculum in Portugal, great obstacles to its implementation remain. Furthermore, sex education is far from being systematically administered. Thus, the main interest in our project was to validate a scale that measures teachers' attitudes towards sex education. There…

How can one increase the awareness of teachers to the existence and importance of knowledge gained through physics education research (PER) and provide them with capabilities to use it? How can one enrich teachers' physics knowledge and the related pedagogical content knowledge of topics singled out by PER? In this paper we describe a professional…

One of the most hotly contested issues in mathematics education today is the use of calculators in elementary schools. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has gone on record recommending the use of calculators in the earliest grades. NCTM's recommendation that calculators be introduced under the guidance of skilled teachers is…

The English government has focused upon a pattern of professional development that involves demonstration and modelling as a key element in the improvement of the teaching of 11-14 year olds (Key Stage 3 strategy). From 1997 the Nuffield Primary History Project (NPHP) has implemented a programme for the professional development of teachers built…

Primary teacher preparation courses to need support students in developing not only science content knowledge, but also pedagogical knowledge appropriate to the effective translation and representation of subject matter for learners in classrooms. In the case of the generalist primary trainee, this constitutes a considerable challenge. This study…

A job analysis was conducted to determine the knowledge important for newly certified or licensed teachers of art. The results of this job analysis will be used to develop test specifications for the art assessment of The Praxis Series of Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers and to support the content validity of the assessment. Three…

Partnering for Elementary Environmental Science, a professional development program developed to enhance teachers' skills and content knowledge in science education, pairs classroom teachers with resource professionals for one year of collaborative instruction. This paper reports part of the evaluation and research related to the program.…

This paper recognizes current interest in "the practical," particularly in research on teaching, and it explores similarities or distinctions between underlying conceptions of the practical across several programs, research projects, and scholarly reflections on teaching. Following an introduction, the paper reviews three research…

This book is a collection of works by mathematics educators from Spain with an emphasis on preservice primary teacher education. This book aims to promote reflection upon and discussion of research issues as well as put out a call to action. Articles include: (1) "Contexts and Learning to Teach Mathematics. The Case of Prospective Elementary…