Drawing on the Layers of a Partnership to Prepare Middle Level Teachers

The University of Midwest (UM) and the University of Metro Midwest (UMM) are located approximately 90 miles from each other in a central Midwestern state. They are the only two research-intensive institutions in the state, and both have middle level teacher education programs preparing candidates in school-embedded clinical sites. Both teacher preparation programs are guided by the requirements from accrediting bodies, AMLE Teacher Preparation Standards, (AMLE, 2012) and the missions of our institutions. In this essay, we will describe our collaborative partnership and how two teacher educators from two institutions utilize school-embedded clinical sites to connect and prepare middle level teacher candidates with the end goal of improved educational experiences for young adolescents through teachers prepared to teach them

Enacting a Mission for Change: A University Partnership for Young Adolescents

Abstract As practicing teachers, school personnel, and teacher educators engaged in a school-university partnership, we have worked to co-create a mutually beneficial relationship centered around the learning needs of young adolescents. In this article, we will describe our diverse perspectives on and perceptions of how the partnership enhances the learning experiences of the young adolescents with whom we learn and work. We come to this work with two interrelated goals of preparing a cadre of effective middle grades teachers while improving the educational experiences for 10-14-year-old students at Westport Middle School (WMS)--whether it is through classroom instruction, teacher education, or providing supports within the school

Teacher Candidates\u27 Perspectives on Self-Care: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

How are teacher candidates conceptualizing self-care during the COVID 19 pandemic? We initiated focused attention on educator self-care for teacher candidates after identifying this content as a missing yet necessary component of trauma-informed teaching (Authors, 2019). In the fall of 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting every element of candidates’ lives including our now remotely-delivered course, we reconsidered how that content needed to fit into the realities of learning to teach during a pandemic. Following these revisions, we explored the research question, how are candidates conceptualizing self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic? We describe findings and provide recommendations and resources for educator preparation programs (EPP) to include self-care content during COVID -19 and afterward

Specialized Middle Level Teacher Preparation: Moving From Advocacy to Actualization

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

Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities of Learning to Teach

In the United States during March and April of 2020, more than 50 million K-12 students were impacted by school closures with many forced to engage in online learning for continuity in their 2019-2020 school year. This disruption to K-12 public and private schools reverberated in programs of teacher education around the country. As school-university partners, we wanted to provide opportunities for new teacher candidates to be able to engage in some form of interaction with students and veteran teachers. We drew on the structures and strength of our school-university partnership to build our plan to engage in pandemic-induced, alternative field experiences. In this article we describe how one middle level school-university partnership leaned into virtual learning spaces and provided opportunities to help teacher candidates who were beginning their teacher education program conceptualize teaching and learning in new ways. Additionally, we provide classroom teachers’ perspectives of hosting teacher candidates in a virtual learning format offering insights on best practices and challenges to consider

Middle Level Teacher Preparation: Principals’ Perceptions of New Teacher Preparedness--RESEARCH

Drawing on the Framework for Effective Middle Level Teaching(Faulkner, Howell, &Cook, 2012; Howell, Cook, Faulkner, 2013), this interpretive, exploratory study utilized survey methodology to analyze 38 middle level principals’ perceptions of effective teaching practices and the preparedness of newly hired middle level teachers. The findings suggest there is difference in perceptions of new teacher preparedness between principals with middle level teacher certification and principals that were prepared to teach at other grade levels. While both groups acknowledged the need for better teacher preparation, principals with middle level teacher certification reported that newly hired teachers were less prepared for effective middle level teaching. The researchers identified two primary conclusions that impact the field of middle grades teacher preparation: (a) beginning middle grades teachers need to be better prepared for effective teaching and (b) principals perceive the preparation of new teachers differently depending upon their own teaching certification, with principals holding middle grades teaching certification being more critical of the level of preparation. While both strengths and weaknesses of preparation were identified in each of the six constructs, the most relevant and important conclusion is that middle level principals perceive beginning middle grades teachers as not being adequately prepared to address the demands of effective middle grades teaching in several constructs from the Framework for Effective Middle Level Teaching

Teaching through Collective Trauma in the Era of COVID-19: Trauma-informed Practices for Middle Level Learners

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on education and the ways in which teachers engage their students. Given the individual and collective traumatic nature and impact of this global health crisis, we provide specific strategies for addressing the needs of young adolescents while teaching remotely. Specifically, we posit that middle level educators should embed trauma-informed practices, focused on restoring safety and modeling adaptive behaviors, into their remote instructional practices. Recognizing that the COVID-19 crisis has a collective traumatic impact, affecting the lives and wellbeing of students and teachers alike, we also discuss the importance of self-care, providing strategies and resources for teaching professionals. Finally, we provide some guiding thoughts on how teachers might approach moving forward upon returning to face-to-face learning in the physical classroom

Teacher Candidates’ Emerging Perspectives on Trauma Informed Teaching

A transdisciplinary team of candidates with teacher and social work educators describe their perspectives of trauma-informed teaching and intentions to use evidence-based practices in classrooms. We studied classroom management from a trauma-informed perspective in the first course in the program, then reflected back on these through a professional learning community created to intentionally focus on trauma informed teaching. We highlight findings around candidates’ perspectives and specific actions they attended to in order to incorporate those practices

Classroom Management through Teacher Candidates’ Lenses: Transforming Learning Communities Through a Community of Practice

To better prepare teacher candidates for classroom management through attention to learning communities that affirm and support diverse students, including those effected by trauma, four instructors redesigned a required, undergraduate course. This study describes findings from three teacher candidate co-authors who were enrolled in that course. One semester after completing a course on classroom management and building community, candidates were asked to review their course products and other artifacts to consider what they learned and build upon their prior knowledge. Candidates used stimulated recall to respond to prompts on community building and relationships, gender and racial inclusivity, trauma sensitive practices, and the school to prison pipeline. Their perspectives contribute to understandings about how candidates engage in sense-making regarding classroom communities and classroom management

Comparing families of dynamic causal models

Mathematical models of scientific data can be formally compared using Bayesian model evidence. Previous applications in the biological sciences have mainly focussed on model selection in which one first selects the model with the highest evidence and then makes inferences based on the parameters of that model. This “best model” approach is very useful but can become brittle if there are a large number of models to compare, and if different subjects use different models. To overcome this shortcoming we propose the combination of two further approaches: (i) family level inference and (ii) Bayesian model averaging within families. Family level inference removes uncertainty about aspects of model structure other than the characteristic of interest. For example: What are the inputs to the system? Is processing serial or parallel? Is it linear or nonlinear? Is it mediated by a single, crucial connection? We apply Bayesian model averaging within families to provide inferences about parameters that are independent of further assumptions about model structure. We illustrate the methods using Dynamic Causal Models of brain imaging data