With increased emphasis on student achievement in schools, teacher education programs are challenged to meet the demand for highly effective teachers. Ensuring that preservice teachers feel confident in their ability to teach, prompted one Midwestern University to implement an extended student teaching placement. The idea behind this endeavor was two fold; first to provide future teachers a more robust and diverse classroom experience; and secondly to provide more opportunities for students to get experience in high-risk school settings. There is very limited research on the impact of year-long student teaching on a teacherís sense of efficacy. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of teacher candidates placed in a year-long student teaching placement to teacher candidates placed in a traditional one semester (16 week) placement. All teacher candidates completed a 24 question Teachersí Sense of Efficacy Scale as well as nine demographic questions. The survey developed at Ohio State University by TschannenMoran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), measures teacher attitudes towards working with students, student engagement, instructional practices, and classroom management. Specifically, the questions represent essential tasks in teaching such as assessment, differentiating lessons for individual students, dealing with students with learning challenges, repairing student understanding, and encouraging student engagement and interest. The results of the study indicated that pre-service teacher candidates in a year-long student teaching placement were more satisfied with their ability to engage students and manage classroom behavior than their counterparts in a traditional one semester placement.

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Young children are faced with the challenges of collaborating with others usually for the first time as they enter preschool. They must learn to think beyond their own needs and recognize the needs and wants of other children. Most educators soon realize that the naturally occurring interactions among the children tend to establish hierarchies. A qualitative case study completed over a span of five months examined a clique of five preschool aged girls who appeared to partially identify themselves by wearing what they titled, "sparkly princess shoes". Methods of data collection include interview and observation. Implications for practice and strategies for adults working with preschool aged children are provided.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and opinions of college pre-service teachers who experienced the Accelerated Reader program in their K-12 setting. Students were surveyed to elicit responses about the benefits and downfalls of the program. The authors found that, in general, the college students disliked having used AR, and many felt that the program had actually resulted in long-term damage to their motivation to read. Problems with the AR program included cheating on the quizzes, reading easier books to earn more points and being forced to read books that did not interest them.