Ann E. Larson

Technologies in Contexts: Implications for Teacher Education.

This paper discusses the interaction among school and university contexts, instruction, and individual practice that occurs as telecommunications technology is integrated into teacher education programs. Data from a series of studies of such integration within one university are presented and discussed. A model to guide future research is proposed. ( 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Introduction to Clinical Partnerships in Teacher Education: Perspectives, Practices, and Outcomes

In this issue of the Peabody Journal of Education, we address the critical topic of clinical partnerships as transformative in preparing teachers for todays and tomorrows classrooms. This issue i...

The Purpose of a Professional Development School is to Make a Difference: 10 Years of a High School-University Partnership.

While John was conferencing with Beth after a successful student teaching observation, a freshman came into the classroom. The conference took place during Teacher Guided Assistance (TGA), when students can, with permission, visit a teachers classroom for make-up work, homework assistance, or other academic reasons. Beth was in the University of Louisvilles (ULs) Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program class at Fairdale High School during the previous semester and worked with the student as part of a collaboratively planned project matching UL graduate teacher education students with Fairdale special education students for tutoring, remediation, and general assistance. At their last meeting in December,

More than Good Intentioned Help: Volunteer Tutoring and Elementary Readers

In this study, researchers examined whether tutoring implemented by volunteer tutors impacted struggling elementary readers’ reading skills, their attitudes toward reading, and their self-confidence. The study involved two elementary schools and 30 students who were participating in the community based tutoring program and who were randomly assigned to reading-only or reading/writing tutoring conditions. Findings suggested that students could improve their reading fluencies if they had the support of trained adult tutors, even just once each week for 30 to 40 minutes for a semester. Female students improved in their reading fluency measure more so than did male students, but such improvement was not notable in other areas, including attitudes toward reading or self-confidence. Based upon the findings, implications and methodological issues for future study are addressed.

Clinical Preparation of Teachers in the Context of a University-Wide Community Engagement Emphasis

In this article, we describe development of a clinical model of teacher education connected to a community engagement commitment of the university known as the Signature Partnership Initiative. The current clinical model builds upon previously established collaborations of the College of Education and Human Development with district and school partners to offer a more authentic, comprehensive, and systemic approach to preparing new teachers and supporting the continued learning of experienced teachers. The development and implementation of the clinical model in two elementary schools and one middle school have provided evidence of both benefits and challenges. The article provides three descriptive narratives that elaborate on these and offers insights about essential components and research possibilities needed for improving the quality and outcomes of university–school clinical partnerships for teacher education.

This Just Makes Sense: Yearlong Experiences in a High School Professional Development School.

Professional Development Schools (PDSs) are sprouting around the country, and in this article we share the benefits to student teachers, teachers, kids, and teacher educators of a yearlong teacher education program that is part of a larger partnership between Fairdale High School and the University of Louisville (UL). Every school-university partnership has its own version of PDS and its own model. Ours attempts to link the functions of a PDS in ways that benefit all of those involved.

Research-Based Teacher Candidate Dispositions Assessment System: Moving Forward.

To achieve educational success and advance high-quality teacher preparation programmes, teacher educators, administrators, policy-makers, and novice and advanced teacher candidates must identify and cultivate positive dispositions for professional competence, commitment, and success in teaching children and adolescents. Therefore, a reliable and refined teacher candidate disposition assessment system should be created with a clear sense of critical underlying issues, including an acknowledgement that these issues related to candidate dispositions are not singularly about empirical data (Wilson and Young 2005). The present research project (Jung and Rhodes in press; Jung, Rhodes, and Vogt 2006) at an urban American university focuses on extending earlier researchers’ work in establishing a research-based disposition assessment system for teacher education programmes. The project is currently in progress, with quantitative and qualitative analyses of existing measures and disposition constructs, reviews of research on dispositions, and the modification, development, and validation of disposition measures across teacher education programmes being conducted. The research project consists of:

Advancing knowledge of the teaching profession through web‐based assignments

Abstract An Introduction to Teaching course was strategically developed to allow university students of many backgrounds to access, synthesize, and evaluate the teaching profession as a possible career. The authors planned a multi‐layered course that included Web‐based assignments, required and suggested readings, targeted writing assignments, and field experiences. In this study, student perceptions of the usefulness and effectiveness of the Web‐based assignments were investigated. A survey was administered to 92 students across three course sections. Most students (85%) were positive about Web‐based research, despite some difficulty with completing the assignments. Reasons for their difficulty included lack of knowledge, incompatible software, and outdated address information. Students reported that the Web‐based assignments were one effective way to learn about the teaching profession but that more contextual projects, such as field work and writing ethnographies, were more powerful learning took. The authors examined the construction of the course for possible reasons for this perception and suggested ways to enliven the Web assignments to make them more interactive.