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The literature on SoTL contains numerous studies examining the relationship between High-Impact Practices (HIPs) as adopted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), student engagement, and student learning outcomes as measured on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). To further understand how these practices might affect student engagement and learning within college courses, this study examined the relationship between HIPs, reported student engagement and reported learning outcomes in a teacher preservice program. Focus group interviews and a modified version of the NSSE survey were used to "unpack" how these practices related to student engagement and learning in five courses with 94 enrolled students. Major themes from the analyses included the importance of applied learning, collaborative assignments, understanding diverse points of view and constructive feedback on assignments as essential components of engagement and learning. Implications for teaching and future research are discussed.

Reflection on teaching and learning is considered one of the most essential elements of teacher development. With the rise of multilingual learners in U.S. public schools, the role of critical reflection has become even more prominent in teacher preparation programs to disrupt preservice teachers’ (PSTs) biases and stereotypes regarding these learners and their families. Moreover, to address the widening educational inequities and to enact more equitable teaching practices, PSTs ought to reflect on their pedagogical practices with the guidance of an educator-mentor. Therefore, this qualitative action research case study explored how one teacher preparation program implemented reflective and experiential practices in their graduate Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages coursework to assist PSTs in systematically examining their understandings of culturally responsive practices. Our research was grounded in culturally responsive teaching. Our findings revealed that our PSTs had an awareness of culturally responsive pedagogy; they recognized the importance of learning from and with their students and families but still had areas for growth when implementing culturally responsive practices, prompting us to further explore how these PSTs enact culturally sustaining practices in their future classrooms.

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