Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons^™

Toward A Renewal Of Supervisory Scholarship And Practice In Teacher Education: A Collaborative Self-Study, Brandon M. Butler, Rebecca West Burns, Craig Willey

Journal of Educational Supervision

University supervision of teacher candidates is a well-recognized component of teacher preparation. However, teacher education has long devalued supervision, largely relying upon retired teachers, administrators, and graduate students to serve as supervisors, often with little training or support. Although clinical practice has received increased focus among accrediting bodies, supervision as a field of scholarship and practice continues to receive little support within institutions or attention in teacher education. As supervision practitioners and scholars, the three authors engaged in collaborative self-study, sharing and interrogating professional autobiographies and narratives related to supervision, to make sense of institutional and professional contexts and to …

Preparing Middle Grades Candidates For Edtpa In Uncertain Times, Holly H. Pinter, David C. Virtue

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Teacher candidates in North Carolina must earn a passing score on the edTPA assessment to get certified. The middle grades education program at Western Carolina University integrates aspects of the edTPA assessment throughout pre-student teaching coursework and field experiences to prepare candidates for this high-stakes assessment. Some of the edTPA practice assignments serve as key assessments that help the middle grades program faculty evaluate the program and make decisions about curriculum. The pivot to remote and blended learning formats on campus and in partner middle level schools affected the implementation of the edTPA-related assignments. The authors share some of the …

Review Of Teaching In Rural Places: Thriving In Rural Classrooms, Schools, And Communities, Rachelle Kuehl

Virginia English Journal

This is a book review of Teaching in Rural Places: Thriving in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities, a first-of-its-kind textbook geared for preservice teachers interested in teaching successfully in rural schools.

“A Brave Group Of People”: Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions Of Teaching In Middle School, Bettie Perry, Jori S. Beck, Kaavonia Hinton

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

We set out to create a middle grades program and to inform the field about the perceptions of our teacher candidates on teaching middle school. To accomplish these twin goals, we sought to better understand our teacher candidates’ perceptions of teaching middle school and how these perceptions might be changed if necessary. Our review of research included three themes to frame this work: (a) middle school philosophy, (b) motivations to teach, and (c) middle school teacher preparation. We chose an emergent, qualitative research design to cull rich data from diverse stakeholders including open-ended survey data. We found an overarching deficit …

Educators' Perceptions Of Middle Level Education In A State Without A Middle Level Teacher Credential, Rong-Ji Chen, Erika Daniels, Roxanne Greitz Miller, Moses Ochanji, Ben Seipel, Acacia M. Warren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Over forty U.S. states offer teacher licensing specifically in preparation for teaching middle grades students. California is not included in this number, nor do California teacher licenses (i.e., multiple subjects, single subject, and special education) require teacher preparation coursework specific to meeting the needs of early adolescents. This descriptive study presents results of an exploratory survey of California educators with middle grades experience (n=48) regarding their ability to identify essential attributes and characteristics of successful middle schools in California, their perceptions of young adolescents’ needs and responsive teaching practices, and their current opinions of middle level education in California. Findings …

Principals’ Perceptions Of The Importance Of Teacher Certification In Rural Christian Schools, Ronda L. Dry

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The literature associated with principals' perceptions of certified/uncertified teachers within private Christian schools is limited, specifically in rural communities. Therefore, little is known about principals’ perceptions of the importance of teacher certification in rural Christian schools. The purpose of the study was to evaluate principals’ perceptions concerning the pedagogical practices of certified teachers as compared to the pedagogical practices of teachers who are not certified. Specific to this study, teacher certification was defined as certification earned through the state or certification through a school-accrediting organization. A total of 82 principals were surveyed and asked to identify their perceptions of the …

Voices Of Teacher Graduates: Preparation For Black Mattering In Schools, Loyce E. Caruthers, Jennifer Waddell, Bradley Poos, Ashley N. Smith

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

The Institute for Urban Education (IUE) began in 2005, following unitary status of Kanas City Public Schools in 2003, as a four-year undergraduate urban teacher preparation program to prepare students to interrupt school-centered practices of Eurocentric identity and antiblackness. A program feature entails recruitment of high school students from urban communities and scholarships to support fulltime preparation without employment distractions. Graduates commit to teach for a minimum of four-years in an urban school. Our investigation incorporated BlackCrit with in-depth interviews to capture the experiences of nine graduates in the schools where they teach or engage in school leadership. While testimonials …

Student Teachers With Mental Health Conditions Share Barriers To Success: A Case Study, Michael Houdyshell, Diane Kratt, Jackie Greene

The Qualitative Report

Universities are trying to address student mental health needs through counseling centers and other outreach initiatives. However, do individual colleges know how to address the mental health concerns of their own students? Three faculty members in the College of Education at a university located in the southern United States posed two questions to find out what it is like for student teachers to live with a mental health condition, and what would support academic performance in the College. Seventeen undergraduate students who self-reported as having a mental health condition and were completing their senior year as student teachers volunteered to …

We Are All In This Together: Teacher Preparation, Lesson Planning, And Aiding Classroom Teachers During An Emergency School Shutdown, Aaron Rife

The Advocate

This essay documents the attempt by a small group of student teachers in a secondary History/Government Education program to do something meaningful with their skills when buildings closed in early 2020 in a state of emergency and instruction was shifted to homes. Our solution was to create a digital classroom to share lessons and teaching materials for teachers to use as they grappled with distance learning.

Shaping The Supervision Narrative: Innovating Teaching And Leading To Improve Stem Instruction, Bill Sterrett, Ginger Rhodes, Dennis Kubasko, Angelia Reid-Griffin, Kerry Kathleen Robinson, Steven D. Hooker, Andrew J. Ryder

Journal of Educational Supervision

This paper offers a model of supervisory collaboration that brings teacher and administrator programs together through a lens of formative evaluation. The roles of teacher and principal must be collaborative to sustain student success, yet the preparation models for those respective positions are often isolated from each other, as varying university departments and focus areas exist in silos. Preparation programs must maximize the clinical experiences of teacher education and administrator preparation programs, with a focus on practical teaching strategies and authentic feedback to pre-service educators and their instructors for reflection and change. This paper overviews a collaborative supervision model and …

We Don't Teach To The Edtpa: Maintaining Authenticity And Attaining High Edtpa Scores, Holly J. Thornton

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Concerns have been raised about the high stakes nature of edTPA potentially leading to reductionist, test-driven approaches to teacher preparation. This has come to fruition in practice within many teacher preparation classrooms. EdTPA can devalue anything that is not formally assessed and limit opportunities for faculty and teacher candidates to imagine new possibilities for education (Madeloni & Gorlewski, 2013). In middle level teacher preparation, we can build upon the connections found between AMLE standards (AMLE, 2012) and edTPA. This includes the goal of improving pedagogy through reflection, inquiry, and intentional design to positively impact student learning. As middle …

Covid-19, Middle Level Teacher Candidates, And Colloquialisms: Navigating Emergency Remote Field Experiences, Brooke B. Eisenbach, Paula Greathouse, Caroline Acquaviva

Middle Grades Review

COVID-19 challenged teacher educators and teacher candidates in ways we could have never imagined. Colloquialisms regarding the move from educator preparation to practice shifted from common truths to dynamic considerations in light of the pandemic and transition to emergency remote teaching and learning. In this essay, we share our experiences working with middle level teacher candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identify the ways in which our teacher candidates rose to the challenge and demonstrated critical thinking, creativity and compassion beyond our prior expectations of rising middle level educators amidst a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.

Creating A Meaningful Experience: On Service Learning And Teacher Preparedness, Nhat-Dzu T. Bui, Telia M. Krown

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone project is on the effectiveness of service learning and its role in teacher preparedness. This is an important issue for Liberal Studies students, professors, and the community because in the Integrated Teacher Education Program, service learning is treated as preparation for teaching, and it can be seen that way for Traditional Pathway students as well. It is argued that while service learning works towards an admirable goal, there are obstacles and design decisions that keep it from being fully effective in preparing Liberal Studies students in becoming teachers. The three primary stakeholder perspectives chosen were …

Investigating The Development Of Possible Selves In Teacher Education: Candidate Perceptions Of Hopes, Fears, And Strategies, Jill E. Gonzalez-Bravo

The Advocate

The theory of possible selves, as proposed by Marcus and Nurius (1986), framed a two-staged instrumental case study designed to give voice to an often-neglected source of insight: teacher candidates. The collection and analysis of hopes, fears, and process strategies gathered from a cross-section of thirteen candidates and alumni from a private Midwestern institution informed teacher educator practice and increased understanding in regards to influences that shaped teacher identity development. The applied theoretical framework allowed for the assessment of participants’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions, aided in the identification of perceived preparation needs, and enabled an appraisal of program effectiveness. Findings …

Measuring And Modelling How And When Effective Science Teaching Occurs, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy N. Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Brandon A. Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Posters and Presentations

With new national science education standards, we must understand how to prepare science teachers capable of advancing reform initiatives. In a 3-year longitudinal study we adopted a multi-method approach to investigate beginning science teachers’ instructional practices. We analyzed transcripts, administered a teaching self-efficacy survey, observed science lessons, and documented weeks of lessons. Using this large dataset, we posed research questions about the use of NGSS scientific practices in teachers’ science lessons (Paper #1) and teacher- and student-level characteristics as it relates to teachers’ use of inquiry in the classroom (Paper #2). In order to expand our coding capability of science …

Shattered Ground: Mental Health Disorders In Children – A Hidden Crisis, Yvonne Hefner

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This session will offer teachers an in-depth understanding of mental health disorders, including basic information about these disorders, background information to assist in identifying early warning signs, and strategies for supporting students that may suffer from a mental health disorder. Teachers will learn classroom strategies that will foster a positive learning environment which will help to support these students

Karen Symms Gallagher: Caep Chair Shares Insight Into Teacher Preparation, Accreditation, Lori Goodson

Educational Considerations

At the heart of teacher preparation, changes are taking place—a push for continued high standards and an effort to determine the impact various programs are having on P-12 student learning. Leading the way is the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), which emerged in 2010 from education leaders’ desire for a next generation of accreditation model to improve the preparation of teachers for America’s schools.

In this challenging environment, Karen Symms Gallagher, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Education shares her insight as the recently selected …

Why “Correcting” African American Language Speakers Is Counterproductive, Alice Lee

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article, I address the topic of AAL usage in the classroom, particularly the line of thinking that assumes “correcting” the language is what will “set students up for success” in the future. By providing some abbreviated information on how children acquire language, I explain how AAL “correction” is actually counterproductive for student “success”—in both language acquisition and learning. Additionally, I will offer practical suggestions for how AAL can be incorporated in curriculum and instruction.

Taking It To The Streets: Teaching Methods And Curriculum Courses On-Site With Partner Schools, Amanda Wall, Christine Draper

Middle Grades Review

Our introductory middle grades course meets on-site in a partner school. This context for the course derives from an overall emphasis on partnerships in our College of Education. Meeting on-site affords teacher candidates more continuity in a middle level classroom so that they can observe young adolescents and middle level teaching. At the early stage of our program, this course meeting on-site helps prepare teacher candidates to contribute positively to schooling for young adolescents.

Teaching And Modeling Social Justice In University Teacher Education Programs And The Communities They Serve, Bryan P. Gillis

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

The presentation will engage participants in discussion describing how a university teacher education program and the schools it serves collaborates through community partnerships to teach and model action for social justice. Research, instructional strategies, and practical examples will demonstrate ways to advocate for the inclusion of social justice in classrooms.

Getting Off The Fast Track For The Long Haul: Becoming A Teacher, Ariel Sacks

Occasional Paper Series

Explores the author's path into the teaching profession.

Reconceptualizing Pedagogical And Curricular Knowledge Development Through Making, Steven Greenstein, Justin Olmanson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

While making is typically tethered to narratives of entrepreneurship and business, it can provide a gateway to meaningful interaction and deepened understanding of both content and pedagogy. In this article we provide descriptions of two courses—one each at the pre-service and in-service levels—that engage teachers in making and design practices that we hypothesized would inform their pedagogical and curricular thinking. With a focus on the design of new tools to support teaching and learning through the use of human-centered design practices and digital fabrication technologies, these courses have teachers exploring at the intersection of content, pedagogy, and making. Specifically, they …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions About The Effectiveness Of The Toon Comic Books In Their Guided Reading Instruction, Ewa Mcgrail, Alicja Rieger, Gina M. Doepker

Middle and Secondary Education Faculty Publications

Recently, education and literacy researchers have acknowledged educational merit in guided reading that incorporates interactive and authentic reading texts, such as graphic novels, which meet the needs of today’s predominantly multimodal learners (Jennings, Rule, & Zanden, 2014; Kist & Pytash, 2015). This qualitative study explores through interviews and a questionnaire the perceptions of pre-service teachers about the effectiveness of the comic book series known as TOON comics in guided reading with struggling readers and writers, from kindergarten through fifth grade. Pre-service teachers have expressed positive views concerning the use of these comic books in guided reading instruction with their struggling …

A Different Kind Of Kid, A Different Kind Of Teacher Education: Middle Grades Teachers Reflect On Their Preparation To Teach Young Adolescents, Moses K. Ochanji, Rong-Ji Chen, Erika Daniels, Marlene L. Deringer, Janet Mcdaniel, Laurie Stowell, Christina Cambra-Adamson

Middle Grades Review

Good teaching at the middle grades comes out of a deep understanding of the unique cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and moral needs of young adolescents. Therefore specialized preparation is necessary to help teacher candidates understand how to operationalize the intersection of young adolescent development and the effective pedagogy that addresses their needs. This paper focuses on a qualitative study of experienced middle school teachers who graduated from a middle level preparation program or an elementary or secondary preparation program in terms of how well prepared they felt and feel to meet the widely varied needs of young adolescents. Confidence in …

How Do Selected Novice Middle School Teachers From Various Certification Pathways Perceive The Effectiveness Of Their Teacher Preparation?, Nicole Hesson

Middle Grades Review

This study compared the three most common pathways of traditional preparation for novice middle level teachers (elementary, middle level, and secondary) and attempted to answer the central question of which group felt best prepared for middle level teaching. Selected novice teachers from each of the three pathways were interviewed and asked to reflect on their preparation program. All participants were graduates of the same large, urban, public university. The state has recently redesigned its certification structure and teacher education institutions have redesigned their programs to reflect these changes. This study sought to discover if the restructuring resulted in greater feelings …

Specialized Middle Level Teacher Preparation: Moving From Advocacy To Actualization, Chris M. Cook, Penny B. Howell, Shawn A. Faulkner

Middle Grades Review

Is specialized middle level teacher preparation necessary? This essay offers the authors thoughts regarding middle level teaching and the necessity of specialized middle level teacher preparation. The reader is encouraged to further the discussion of middle level teacher preparation from advocacy to actualization.

Economic Literacy: Measuring The Economic Human Capital Of Arkansas K-12 Teachers, June Marie Freund

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Economic literacy is recognized as a deficit quality in the United States, no more prevalent than during the last great recession. It is paramount the K-12 educational system lead the movement to educate the public on economic content and issues, as it is the one institution that has direct contact with all citizens. The question then must be asked, how economic literate are teachers entrusted with the responsibility of imparting economic knowledge to his/her K-12 grade level student. A sample of Arkansas teachers at each grade level K – 12 were tested using national normed economic literacy tests designed to …

The Impact Of Troops To Teachers Participants On Student Achievement: A Causal-Comparative Study, Kurt Osuch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to examine the impact of Troops to Teachers (TTT) participants on student achievement by comparing the mean scores of Texas students in the eighth grade during the 2011-2012 academic year taught by TTT participants with the mean scores of all other Texas eighth grade students on each of four mandatory standardized examinations. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provided the archival data used in the evaluation, which consisted of limited teacher demographic information, as well as individual student scores on the vertically equated 2011-2012 version of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness …

Increasing Disability Awareness Through Comics Literature, Ewa Mcgrail, Alicja Rieger

Middle and Secondary Education Faculty Publications

When faced with negative attitudes and experiences in communication and interaction in general education classrooms, students with disabilities can exhibit high levels of stress and frustration or even depression, low self-esteem and impaired self-acceptance. These undesirable and destructive feelings, in turn, may affect these students’ social and cognitive development skills and well-being, as well as their academic performance in such environments. The recent scholarship on empathy supports the effectiveness of comics for identifying and fighting negative and stereotypical attitudes towards those with disabilities. This article discusses strategies for educating students about disability and disability issues with the help of comics …

The Impact Of Mentoring On Retention, Quality, Commitment Of Graduates From One School-University Partnership, Brenda Kraber

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of mentoring on retention, quality and commitment of graduates from one school-university partnership. This project explored this issue through a review of relevant literature on effective teaching, components of quality teacher preparation programs, beginning teachers, mentoring and Professional Development Schools. How to best prepare teachers for the multi-faceted, challenging job that needs to be done has been a question that has faced universities and school districts for many years. With the growing numbers of veteran teachers now ready to retire and the increasing need for more teachers, the proportion between experienced and inexperienced teachers is …