Defining and Measuring Excellence in the Changing World of Higher Education: Case Stories from Five Colleges of Education

This paper presents a collection of case stories from five Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) within colleges of education, four from institutions in Texas and one from California, to present a micro cross-sectional narrative interpretation of what constitutes excellence in educator preparation. The broad framework utilized in this interpretation focuses on the individual approaches used by each institution for creating and sustaining positive cultures of data-informed decision-making, with the ultimate objective of continuous program improvement, while also meeting the accreditation expectations of each institution

Pre-service Possibilities: Reconsidering \u27\u27Art for the Elementary Educator

Art for the Elementary Educator courses are sites of possibility in the field of art education, particularly art education oriented toward curriculum integration and meaningful art experiences. Drawing on literature about Art for the Elementary Educator courses and our own teaching experiences we make recommendations for reconsidering possible futures for this course as related to the future of art education. We believe that this course, its students, instructors, and course materials are worthy of sustained attention by the art education community. Ultimately, we argue that art education appreciation and advocacy, concepts we define in our concluding remarks, should be primary objectives for such classes. Reconsidering Art for the Elementary Educator in light of these ideas requires renewed examination of course content, student dispositions, instructor preparation, and teaching and learning resources

Educating Deaf Learners: A Book Review

Deaf education educator preparation programs are charged with serving their pre-service educators by providing current and relevant curricula in order to prepare them for the certification process and for the classroom environment. This book review was conducted in anticipation of possible adoption of a new text in the curriculum of a current Deaf and Hard of Hearing educator preparation program

Proving Montessori: Identity and Dilemmas in a Montessori Teacher’s Lived Experience

This phenomenological case study was conducted to better understand the experience of a Montessori teacher in a leadership role. A veteran Montessori teacher, newly hired by an established Montessori preschool, was interviewed over the course of her first year in the position. A critical discourse analysis revealed multiple social identities that contributed to her desire, and ability, to be what she felt was an authentic Montessori educator. While some of these discourses and social identities aligned, some did not, creating ideational dilemmas that affected her work, relationships, and personal identity. The findings suggest that current Montessori discourse excludes important characteristics of the teacher-lived experience. Acknowledging and discussing the social challenges Montessori teachers face is a necessary addition to teacher preparation, teacher support systems, and Montessori leadership decisions

PREPARATION OF BECOMING TEACHERS OF AGRICULTURE FOR FILLING THE PART OF AN ADULT EDUCATOR

All becoming teachers would need knowledge on adult education in order to better understand his own lifelong learning. If adult education were integrated into university education of BSc or MSc level, extension courses for practicing teachers would not loose their importance, but on the contrary, those would be arranged at an upper level. Adult education should be changed to competence based education, as the competent andragogical knowledge can hide the possibility of some extra profit. Teachers and trainers in vocational education, who are engineers and economists etc. at the same time, would mean potentially the best qualified adult educators, whose teaching competences should only be completed with andragogical competences. They are appropriate and can be let in one the task, but they are not used up.adult education, andragogy, adult educator, teacher training, vocational trainer, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Crossing MGLS with the Middle Grades Research Agenda: A Guide for Researchers

For the past several years, leaders in middle grades education research have strengthened their call for more methodologically robust quantitative research to address important questions in the field. Recently, two important routes towards addressing this call have emerged: the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study from the National Center for Education Statistics, and a new research agenda from the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. In this paper, we conduct a content analysis of the items in the forthcoming longitudinal study in light of the extant research agenda. Results indicate that research questions in eight sections of the agenda are moderately to well-addressed by the data, and that the longitudinal study will provide rich contextual data related to many others. The concurrent emergence of the research agenda and this data offers an opportunity for the research community to engage in high-level quantitative research with a middle grades lens to inform future policy. The item-by-item crosswalk available for download (scroll down for link below) provides guidance for researchers using the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study data to address questions from the research agenda