This retrospective cross-case analysis compares two fourth-grade language arts teachers' beliefs and practices as they respond to an influx of high-stakes tests, including district-mandated benchmark testing systems. One teacher works in a suburban school, the other in an urban school. Results from the study show that the teachers' beliefs about literacy instruction are somewhat similar. Both teachers believed that creating a text-rich atmosphere engages students' interests, social interactions around texts aid comprehension, and "best practices" such as guided reading and literature discussions are useful methods. Both teachers harshly criticized the continuous barrage of tests in their district (between 10 and 17 districtmandated benchmark assessments per nine-month school year). However, their practices differed dramatically and created inequitable educational opportunities. Students in the suburban setting spent more time socially constructing knowledge about texts, themes, and topics while students in the urban school spent more time individually practicing the skills necessary to achieve understanding of a text's inherent meaning. Results from the study suggest that research on the influence of high-stakes assessments should go beyond surveys or interview statements of knowledge and should investigate teachers' practices in contexts where evidence of inequity may present itself.

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This mixed methods study offers a theoretically grounded description of a field-based science methods course within a Professional Development School (PDS) model (i.e., PDS-based course). The preservice teachers' (n = 21) experiences within the PDS-based course prompted significant changes in their personal teaching efficacy, with the opportunities working with children afforded in the course attributed as a source of these beliefs. However, the preservice teachers' teaching outcome expectancy beliefs did not significantly shift. The results of this study support the extant literature in that field experiences with science methods courses can facilitate preservice teacher development in meaningful ways. This study expands upon this literature by considering a PDS context for science teacher preparation, more specifically, a science methods course purposefully integrated in elementary classrooms at a PDS where preservice teachers facilitated scientific inquiry projects with children. The findings should prompt new ways of thinking about teacher preparation, particularly related to science, that provide systematic and intentional connectivity between university programs and K-12 schools so preservice teachers can connect theory and practice.

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