Section archive - Programs & Practicum

In this article, the authors are interested to articulate what preservice teacher's account suggests about the struggles of teacher educators to provide sufficient and sufficiently strategic support for PSTs’ field-based learning. The authors conclude that conceiving of student teaching as an activity system requires that they think of student teaching in contextually sensitive ways, set clearer learning goals, and remediate in relation to them so that preservice teachers will be able to do the same for the students they serve.

The present study sought to add to the knowledge base of the extent and severity of the chronic special education (SE) faculty shortage. The most important finding from this study indicates that although demand markers have improved in the last 10 years, retirements across all SE programs are predicted to increase by 21% per year between 2011 and 2017.

This article describes the results of a survey completed in fall of 2009 by special education and teacher education coordinators. The survey requested information about past, present, and future concentrations or programmatic offerings. It also asked questions about projected need for new faculty resulting from attrition, program expansion, and expanded faculty roles. In addition, the survey gathered information about current staffing patterns at these college and university preparation programs. Results indicate that the roles of special education faculty and the programs they offer will expand greatly in the upcoming 5 years.

The present study examines performance of students who took a basic skills test (Praxis I) between 1999 and 2005 and one of the four large-volume licensure tests (Praxis II) between 2002 and 2005. The findings of this study reveal that individuals who pass basic skills tests at borderline levels are far less likely to pass licensure tests than are candidates who meet the median state-level basic skills test requirements. Thus, the authors claim that students who have difficulty writing would very likely have difficulty in writing-intensive curricula like English and social studies, which would then be reflected on their licensure exams.