Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

When Assessment And Accountability Intersect, Good Things Can Happen, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

A process implemented in a large teacher preparation program simultaneously addressed demands related to improving pre-service teacher assessment practices and program accountability. The process, called Assessment Presentations, led to (a) more systematic incorporation of assessment instruction into the program's curriculum, and (b) the refinement of a program accountability measure. As part of the Assessment Presentations, pre-service teachers gave oral presentations during which they demonstrated assessment practices and offered evidence for program accountability by including data related to P-12 student learning. The Assessment Presentations also provided program-specific data that led to individual program revisions and a stronger overall teacher education program. …

Implementing Common Core State Standards For Mathematics Through Lesson Study, John Thomas Hall

Honors Program Projects

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) represent the beginning of a new era in American education. For the first time, a majority of states are sharing expectations for student knowledge in mathematics. While standards cannot change education, the means by which these standards are implemented contribute to the mathematical achievement of students. For instance, the CCSSM incorporate separate content and practice standards for students. Content standards are familiar to most educators, but the expectation of developing mathematical skills highlighted in the practice standards will require changes to lesson preparation and teaching.

In an effort to provide pre-service and …

Urban Immersion: Changing Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions Of Urban Schools, Connie Schaffer, Deborah Gleich-Bope, Cindy B. Copich

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

This research investigated the impact of an Urban Immersion (UI) program which partnered urban schools with a university’s teacher preparation program. The UI program provided experiences for pre-service teachers by completely immersing them, along with their university instructors, in urban schools where they worked and learned alongside K-12 teachers and students. Data collected from pre- and post-experience surveys provide statistically significant evidence that the UI program reshaped the perceptions of pre-service teachers regarding urban schools and also increased their confidence and interest in teaching in an urban setting. The success of traditional field experiences is indecisive (Mason, 1999; Sleeter, 2001); …

An Eportfolio Environment To Enhance Reflection In Pre-Service Teachers: What Worked, What Didn't And Why?, Pauline K. Roberts

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This research paper details some results of a doctoral study that was designed to enhance reflection in pre-service teachers by scaffolding an action research project within the eportfolio-based learning environment. It reports on a unit level implementation of the PebblePad eportfolio platform in a Western Australian university, and focuses specifically on the levels of student engagement when guided by prompts placed within PebblePad as part of a scaffolded learning environment. The paper also examines the barriers to engagement that were identified through the data collection. The key findings indicate that the students were most engaged with the prompts that had …

The Importance Of Positive Arts Experiences And Self-Efficacy In Pre-Service Primary Teacher Education, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Julia Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

With the impending introduction of the Australian Curriculum in the arts, there is cause to reflect on primary pre-service teacher education courses, and how effectively they prepare graduates to facilitate the curriculum. Reflecting on pre-service teachers’ experiences in the arts, at both entry and graduation of their degree, may afford insight into improving arts instruction in Bachelor of Education. A two-year mixed methods study (2013-2014) was conducted with first and fourth-year Bachelor of Education primary students at a Western Australian university, to determine students’ arts experiences and their self-efficacy to teach the arts at graduation. This paper reports specifically on …