This book outlines a model for a teacher residency and how to establish a yearlong residency within an educator preparation program. It describes the four-year experiences of stakeholders at Tarleton State University but can be used as a step-by-step guide, in whole or in part, to transforming teacher preparation at any university. After a brief description of the “traditional” clinical model and why a university may look to make a change, the book offers a roadmap for the entire process of moving to a residency model. The chapters provide detailed explanations of how to build mutually beneficial partnerships with school districts, utilize co-teaching models, and create revised roles for cooperating teachers, teacher-residents, university and district leaders, and site coordinators. Contributing authors also cover change processes (successes and failures), funding models, scaling, sustainability, data collection, and evidence of effectiveness. Based on Tarleton’s recognition as one of the fastest-scaling residency programs and most complete transformations to date, the tools presented offer any teacher prep program the opportunity to make the leap to a residency model. This resource is also ideal for school district leaders seeking guidance on building or enhancing existing partnerships with universities, and for in-service teachers interested in discovering new co-teaching models.

“A significant contribution to understanding the interaction among teachers, students, the environment, and the content of learning” (Herbert Kohl, education advocate and author). What is at work in the mind of a five-year-old explaining the game of tag to a new friend? What is going on in the head of a thirty-five-year-old parent showing a first-grader how to button a coat? And what exactly is happening in the brain of a sixty-five-year-old professor discussing statistics with a room full of graduate students? While research about the nature and science of learning abounds, shockingly few insights into how and why humans teach have emerged—until now. Countering the dated yet widely held presumption that teaching is simply the transfer of knowledge from one person to another, The Teaching Brain weaves together scientific research and real-life examples to show that teaching is a dynamic interaction and an evolutionary cognitive skill that develops from birth to adulthood. With engaging, accessible prose, Harvard researcher Vanessa Rodriguez reveals what it actually takes to become an expert teacher. At a time when all sides of the teaching debate tirelessly seek to define good teaching—or even how to build a better teacher—The Teaching Brain upends the misguided premises for how we measure the success of teachers. “A thoughtful analysis of current educational paradigms . . . Rodriguez’s case for altering pedagogy to match the fluctuating dynamic forces in the classroom is both convincing and steeped in common sense.” —Publishers Weekly

With increasingly interconnected educational and employment ecosystems, credential innovations are trailblazing multiple pathways to professions at a pivotal moment of rapid change. In the current state of credential proliferation, the quest for simultaneous improvement of quality and value reflects heightened cross-sector interests, while at the same time the quest for concurrent enhancement of access and success remains. With the evolving educational models, technologies, and organizations, credential innovations will continue to serve as powerful catalysts in realizing the great promise for inclusive pathways to professions. The Handbook of Research on Credential Innovations for Inclusive Pathways to Professions surveys the state of credential innovations, examines trends and issues, and explores models and strategies with case studies across sectors and disciplines. The 21 chapters are organized in three sections. Section I, Credential Innovations Amid Evolving Ecosystems, features a powerful array of change theories-in-action with topics ranging from conceptual re-visioning to organizational restructuring and programmatic reengineering within evolving ecosystems. Section II, Credential Innovations and Propositions Across Sectors, spotlights diverse approaches to and propositions of credentials within complex socio-economic landscapes across education, business, and technology industries. Section III, Credential Innovation Models and Strategies, showcases institutional innovations ranging from model developments, pedagogical approaches, and personalized engagements to outcome measurements and strategies for sustainable implementation. Lessons learned and implications are explored to share promising practices, inform current development, and influence future policies toward inclusive excellence in education and the workplace.

Understanding Teacher Identity: The Complexities of Forming an Identity as Professional Teacher introduces the reader to a collection of research-based works by authors that represent current research concerning the complexities of teacher identity and the role of teacher preparation programs in shaping the identity of teachers. Important to teacher preparation, as a profession, is a realization that the psychological, philosophical, theoretical, and pedagogical underpinnings of teacher identity have critical importance in shaping who the teacher is, and will continue to become in his/her practice. Teacher identity is an instrumental factor in teachers’ and the students’ success. Chapter One opens the book with a focus on the development of teacher identity, providing an introduction to the book and an understanding of the growing importance of identity in becoming a teacher. Chapters Two–Nine present field-based research that examines the complexities of teacher identity in teacher preparation and the importance of teacher identity in the teaching and learning experiences of the classroom. Finally, Chapter Ten presents an epilogue focusing on teacher identity and the importance, as teacher educators and practitioners, of making sense of who we are and how identity plays a critical role in the preparation and practice of teachers.

Although teachers, school counselors, and administrators are all situated within educational settings tasked with supporting students' educational development, rarely do these professionals have sufficient opportunities to learn from and collaborate with one another before entering these schools. Unfortunately, many of these professionals are unaware of the primary and secondary responsibilities their peers and colleagues assume. What's worse, this lack of insight potentially compromises the extent to which educational leaders can forge effective partnerships that benefit students from the most alienated, disenfranchised and marginalized communities (e.g., Black children in under-resourced schools). While the educational discourse has included recommendations for maximizing interactions between these educational professionals, the collective voices of teachers, school counselors and administrators in regards to these issues has not been adequately examined. Thus, this book is a compilation of manuscripts and studies that explore partnerships and strategies educators and educational leaders use to produce positive socio-educational outcomes for Black students in various contexts. "Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices" is unique because it illuminates examples of effective school-community partnerships that foster positive student outcomes. "Creating and Sustaining Effective K-12 School Partnerships: Firsthand Accounts of Promising Practices" is intended as a practical text for committed educational leaders, at different professional points (e.g., practicing teachers, pre-service school counselors and teachers), who are eager to transform the current educational trajectory of Black children through interventions that show promise.

Educators and those who prepare teachers are facing increased scrutiny on their practice that include pressures to demonstrate their effectiveness, meet the needs of changing demographics and students, and adapt to ever-changing learning environments. Thus, there is a need for innovative pedagogies and adoption of best practices to effectively serve the needs of digital learners. The Handbook of Research on Innovative Pedagogies and Best Practices in Teacher Education is an essential research book that takes an in-depth look at the methods by which educators are prepared to address shifting demographics and technologies in the classroom and provides strategies for focusing their curricula on diverse learning types. It takes a look at the use of innovative pedagogies and effective learning spaces in teacher education programs and the decisions behind them to enhance more inquiry learning, STEM initiatives, and prove more kinds of exploratory learning for students. Covering topics such as higher education, virtual reality, and inclusive education, this book is ideally designed for teachers, administrators, academicians, instructors, and researchers.

Teacher residencies are on the rise across the United States as a successful way to address the high rate of teacher shortages and attrition. The National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR) has been guiding this work for over ten years, partnering with teacher preparation institutions, local school districts, and community partners to implement best practices for teacher preparation. With an introduction by NCTR on the key components of successful residencies, each subsequent chapter is written by an exemplary NCTR partner who have successful residency programs and who share specific aspects of their programs from which others can learn.