Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs. Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.

In Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education, Pam Grossman and her colleagues advocate an approach to practice-based teacher education that identifies “core practices” of teaching and supports novice teachers in learning how to enact them competently. Examples of core practices include facilitating whole-class discussion, eliciting student thinking, and maintaining classroom norms. The contributors argue that teacher education needs to do more to help teachers master these professional skills, rather than simply emphasizing content knowledge. Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education outlines a series of pedagogies that teacher educators can use to help preservice students develop these teaching skills. Pedagogies include representations of practice (ways to show what this skill looks like and break it down into its component parts) and approximations of practice (the ways preservice teachers can try these skills out as they learn). Vignettes throughout the book illustrate how core practices can be incorporated into the teacher education curriculum. The book draws on the work of a consortium of teacher educators from thirteen universities devoted to describing and enacting pedagogies to help novice teachers develop these core practices in support of ambitious and equitable instruction. Their aim is to support teacher educator learning across institutions, content domains, and grade levels. The book also addresses efforts to support teacher learning outside formal teacher education programs. Contributors Chandra L. Alston Andrea Bien Janet Carlson Ashley Cartun Katie A. Danielson Elizabeth A. Davis Christopher G. Pupik Dean Brad Fogo Megan Franke Hala Ghousseini Lightning Peter Jay Sarah Schneider Kavanagh Elham Kazemi Megan Kelley-Petersen Matthew Kloser Sarah McGrew Chauncey Monte-Sano Abby Reisman Melissa A. Scheve Kristine M. Schutz Meghan Shaughnessy Andrea Wells

This book brings together internationally recognised scholars with an interest in how to use the power of assessment to improve student learning and to engage with accountability priorities at both national and global levels. It includes distinguished writers who have worked together for some two decades to shift the assessment paradigm from a dominant focus on assessment as measurement towards assessment as central to efforts to improve learning. These writers have worked with the teaching profession and, in so doing, have researched and generated key insights into different ways of understanding assessment and its relationship to learning. The volume contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. The book’s structure and content reflect already significant and growing international interest in assessment as contextualised practice, as well as theories of learning and teaching that underpin and drive particular assessment approaches. Learning theories and practices, assessment literacies, teachers’ responsibilities in assessment, the role of leadership, and assessment futures are the organisers within the book’s structure and content. The contributors to this book have in common the view that quality assessment, and quality learning and teaching are integrally related. Another shared view is that the alignment of assessment with curriculum, teaching and learning is linchpin to efforts to improve both learning opportunities and outcomes for all. Essentially, the book presents new perspectives on the enabling power of assessment. In so doing, the writers recognise that validity and reliability - the traditional canons of assessment – remain foundational and therefore necessary. However, they are not of themselves sufficient for quality education. The book argues that assessment needs to be radically reconsidered in the context of unprecedented societal change. Increasingly, communities are segregating more by wealth, with clear signs of social, political, economic and environmental instability. These changes raise important issues relating to ethics and equity, taken to be core dimensions in enabling the power of assessment to contribute to quality learning for all. This book offers readers new knowledge about how assessment can be used to re/engage learners across all phases of education.

ABC of Learning and Teaching in Medicine is an invaluable resource for both novice and experienced medical teachers. It emphasises the teacher’s role as a facilitator of learning rather than a transmitter of knowledge, and is designed to be practical and accessible not only to those new to the profession, but also to those who wish to keep abreast of developments in medical education. Fully updated and revised, this new edition continues to provide an accessible account of the most important domains of medical education including educational design, assessment, feedback and evaluation. The succinct chapters contained in this ABC are designed to help new teachers learn to teach and for experienced teachers to become even better than they are. Four new chapters have been added covering topics such as social media; quality assurance of assessments; mindfulness and learner supervision. Written by an expert editorial team with an international selection of authoritative contributors, this edition of ABC of Learning and Teaching in Medicine is an excellent introductory text for doctors and other health professionals starting out in their careers, as well as being an important reference for experienced educators.

The field of language testing and assessment has recognized the importance and underlying theoretical and practical underpinnings of language assessment literacy (LAL), an area that is gradually coming to prominence. This book addresses issues that promote the concept of LAL for language research, teaching, and learning, covering a range of topics. It brings together 14 chapters based on high-stakes and classroom-based studies authored by academics, professionals and researchers in the field. The text examines diverse issues through a multifaceted approach, presenting high-quality contributions that fill a gap in a research area that has long been in need of theoretical and empirical attention.

What kind of experiences do children need in order to grow and learn? What kind of knowledge do teachers need in order to facilitate these experiences for children? And what kind of experiences do teachers need to develop this knowledge? A Good Teacher in Every Classroom addresses these questions by examining the core concepts and central pedagogies that should be at the heart of any teacher education program—and recommends the policy changes needed to ensure that all teachers gain access to this knowledge. This book is the result of a blue-ribbon commission sponsored by the National Academy of Education.

Teacher retention is an area of great concern across the globe as it appears many teachers leave the field after only a few years, especially those serving low-income students. There is a growing gap from preparation to practice. Not only must educator preparation programs (EPPs) be diligent in utilizing systematically effective methods of preparing novice teachers, but schools must also be cognizant of the need for continued mentorship and quality professional development that matches the unique needs of their novice teachers. When novice teachers enter the profession, they must be offered explicit and scaffolded opportunities for continued learning in order to bridge the theoretical aspects of teaching learned in a preparation program to the practical application of a classroom/school setting, as these opportunities differ from the needs of veteran teachers. Collaborative Approaches to Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Teachers for the Field provides a collection of theoretical, application, and research-based information regarding a variety of viewpoints and strategies that educator preparation programs must be cognizant of in order to meet the varied and individualized needs of novice teachers so that the academic, behavioral, and/or social-emotional needs of their students are effectively supported. Overall, this book recognizes the constant need for improvement within educator preparation programs and school systems, showcases that teacher retention is a concern across the United States and globally, and shows how educator preparation programs and schools/districts must reach across the boundaries of content-specificity and collaborate to prepare teacher candidates most effectively. Covering topics such as teacher retention, collaborative partnerships, and growth mindset, this book is essential for educational preparation faculty, educational leadership faculty, P-12 general and special education teachers, administrators, government officials, pre-service teachers, students, researchers, and academicians.