The increasing number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools requires rethinking teacher education (TE). Most teachers have received little preparation in how to educate ELLs.Change in TE programs is needed to ensure that TE students are prepared to teach ELLs. Such change begins by educating TE faculty first. One catalyst for change, a faculty institute in which faculty, doctoral students, and public school personnel participated, is described here. Analysis of the process, the content, and course changes illustrated this TE program's efforts to infuse the curriculum with ELL scholarship. Change occurred with respect to individual faculty knowledge and awareness and resulted in changes to course syllabi. Emerging issues during the process illustrate how context influenced this change effort. TE programs need to adopt changes in order to graduate teachers confident in their knowledge of and preparation for multilingual and multicultural populations in order to serve all pupils effectively.

In an attempt to address the gendered achievement gap in writing that exists both nationally and internationally, Gary McPhail conducted a year-long teacher research study focused on the gendered literacy interests of his first grade students and how they responded to a writing curriculum he created that included genres intended to be of interest to both boys and girls. This paper focuses on the experiences of one self-declared "bad boy" in Gary’s class.