Section archive - Theories & Approaches

This study assesses the effects of a critical thinking-based pedagogical course on student teachers’ content knowledge and CT disposition. Although the students who were exposed to CT-based instruction showed better progress in both academic achievement and CT disposition than in traditional instruction, this result was not statistically significant according to the Mixed Factorial ANOVA and ANCOVA results.

This qualitative study describes how the coach program works and analyzes key aspects that may explain its positive relationship with college enrollment outcomes. Interviews were conducted between the spring of 2006 and spring of 2007 with nine current and former college coaches, two postsecondary specialists, and 30 high school seniors in two coach schools, which serve students who are predominantly African American or Latino and low-income.

In this article, The authors identify half a dozen challenges that confront the schooling of children and youth and appeal for teacher educators to lead efforts to address each of these needs. The authors recommend that teacher educators should rethink continually the content of programmes, the way courses are delivered, the suitability of the clinical component and the student teaching experience, and the best ways to assess the impact of the programme.

This study investigates the relationship between teacher candidates' reading abilities and their performance on the Texas Examination of Educator Standards and Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities. The participants were 150 undergraduate students enrolled in the teacher education program of a university in south Texas. Based on the results, the authors claim that teacher candidates' success on the standardized teacher certification exams is, in part, a measure of their reading and analytical skills. The authors also claim that the colleges of education in Texas could still maintain a very high pass rate on the exiting licensure exam even if they dropped the required score on the THEA Reading exam below 260.