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An Evaluation of Contextual-Fit and Value of Clinical Placements in a Dual Licensure Program
Get PDFGiven continuing criticisms of teacher education, many higher education programs are turning to innovative ways to redesign their preparation of teachers for meeting the needs of students in inclusive environments. Among promising approaches are efforts to align and integrate the content and pedagogy of general and special education with participation in high quality clinical field experiences. In this research, we documented the extent to which standards and research-based practices aligned with experiences in schools as well as the measured and perceived value of participating in these high-quality clinical experiences for candidates in a dual certification teacher education program. Our findings suggest that schools vary in levels of use of inclusive practices and the field placements positively influence the development of preservice teachers’ knowledge and use of these skills
Teacher Stress in Urban Classrooms: A Growing Epidemic
Get PDFAbout half of educators in the field have reported experiencing excessive amounts of stress several days a week, but this issue is even greater for teachers in urban schools. Urban teacher stress is due to a number of unique variables such as lack of resources, student behavior and disrespect, unattainable goals while teaching students below grade level, and lack of support both financially and emotionally. As a result, teacher stress not only affects the teachers themselves but also their students in urban settings. This research paper reveals the cause and effects of 121 urban teachers’ stress, including student academic performance and behavior, and explores solutions to help reduce the amount of stress urban teachers endure. In a review of this correlational study, levels of teacher stress and burnout were identified using Likert-type scales and their students’ academic achievement in reading and math were measured with the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement to determine the impact of stress. This critical issue in urban education must be brought into the spotlight soon or students will greatly suffer as our country continues to lose qualified, motivated novice teachers to stress.
Keywords: urban schools, Title I, stress, teacher, burnou
Black Teachers Matter: Examining the Depths of Seven HBCU Teacher Preparation Programs
Get PDFThere is an immediate need for Black teachers who have been properly trained to meet the diverse needs of students in urban schools. However, the lack of appropriate representation of Black teachers has caused issues among Black students that include lowered academic performance and missing cultural experiences (Egalite, Kisida, & Winters, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 2000; Madkins, 2011). Thus, this study examines the teacher preparation programs of seven historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) using Ladson-Billings’ (2000) conceptual framework for effective programs. The results reveal that, though each of the programs vary in their program components, the majority of the HBCUs intentionally incorporated situated pedagogy, academic achievement, and cultural competence within their teacher preparation programs. The components that were not underscored in most of the HBCUs were autobiography and sociopolitical critiques. Therefore, since the HBCUs studied in this paper contribute significantly to the number of Black teachers in America, it is recommended that they and other schools preparing Black teachers consider incorporating these components into their programs, while also intentionality ensuring the cultural competence of future Black educators being prepared to serve in diverse urban schools
Current Practices for Teaching Letter and Letter Sound Knowledge in Preschool Including Strategies for Improving Instruction in these Areas
Get PDFHead Start teachers (N= 48) were interviewed about their beliefs and practices for supporting letter knowledge in their classrooms. Results highlighted that teachers believed letter knowledge to be important skill for preschoolers to develop and articulated a variety of approaches to supporting this skill within their classrooms. Promoting letter knowledge through play and children’s name letters were popular approaches; however, teachers missed many opportunities to promote letter and letter-sound knowledge with their children. Thus, in addition to presenting findings from semi-structured interviews, this article provides a range of research-based practices available to promote letter and letter-sound knowledge during preschool
Closing the Revolving Door: Year-Long Residency Prepares Preservice Teachers for Urban Schools
Get PDFThe Urban Student Teacher Advanced Residency (USTAR) Program is a partnership between Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Spring Independent School District. Four EC-6 Education students were selected to participate in the pilot year of the USTAR program. Rather than participating in their traditional senior year at TAMU, these four Education students relocated to Houston, Texas to experience a full year of multicultural teaching in an urban environment during the 2016-2017 academic school year. A survey and follow up interviews near the end of the 2017-2018 school year determined ways in which the USTAR program prepared these teachers for their first year of employment at a Title I school
"Let\u27s Read this Book Again": Using Repeated Reading to Support Literal and Inferential Language Skills in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms
No full textIn their development as readers, children begin to acquire critical precursory skills long before they enter school. Young children’s language development is particularly enhanced by their opportunities to actively engage in meaningful language interactions with those around them. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that early childhood classrooms provide all children with quality, accessible experiences that promote language development. This paper provides early childhood practitioners with a repeated book reading model which teachers can use to promote essential language skills. In particular, the repeated book reading model presented includes strategies to develop children’s inferential language skills which may be critical to support reading comprehension. An opening and closing vignette is provided to illustrate the use of this framework in an inclusive early childhood classroom
Exploring the Associations Between Demographic Characteristics and Teachers’ Occupational Stress and Coping
Get PDFThe purpose of the study was to investigate demographic factors influencing sources of stress and coping strategies in pre-primary, primary and secondary school teachers. A total of 1447 school teachers participated in this study. They completed the following scales: “Ways of Coping Questionnaireâ€, “Teachers’ Professional Stress Questionnaire†and demographic data. Teachers in the present sample reported moderate to high levels of occupational stress. Teachers’ gender, years of teaching/working experience and school level effects were examined using multivariate analysis of variance. Results demonstrate that gender, school level and years of teaching experience appear to have an impact on teachers’ sources of stress. Findings of the study also revealed gender differences in the coping strategies utilized by teachers as well as differences across school level and years of teaching experience. The results are discussed
Black Girls and Womyn Matter: Using Black Feminist Thought to Examine Violence and Erasure in Education
Get PDFAs students, Black girls and womyn share a collective history of marginalization and discrimination within the P-20 education system. They disproportionately experience violence in educational settings; however, they continue to be understudied. This theoretical essay presents support for using Black Feminist Thought as an analytical framework for examining legal and policy discourses that shape and inform institutional responses to campus violence towards Black undergraduate womyn at Historically White Institutions and disproportionality in disciplinary measures for Black girls. We use this framework to explore how disciplinary and legal practices disregard intersectional identities, which results in the privileging of whiteness while rendering Black girls and womyn invisible. Implications are shared based on theoretical strategies, which promote the advancement and success of girls and collegiate Black womyn