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The purpose of this study was to examine how 22 elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) planned and taught lessons on world religions to 7 th -grade students. Pre-and post-lesson interview transcripts, lesson observations, as well as PST lesson plans and reflection journals served as data sources. Prior to teaching, the PSTs lacked adequate knowledge of world religions, were apprehensive about the task, and sought to teach without bias. Despite attempts at powerful and purposeful social studies teaching that was student-centered, the PSTs portrayed a bias toward Christianity, lacked solemnity, and were unprepared for student reactions. Because nearly each state includes world religions in its social studies standards, teachers must improve their capacity and willingness to teach world religions effectively.

The purpose of this case study was

The purpose of this study was to examine how 52 pre-service teachers (PSTs) assessed 7 th -grade students' learning of social studies lessons they planned and taught. The PSTs provided assessment artifacts on 312 students, along with explanations for how they assessed and graded each student. Of the 429 coded assessment explanations, 240 (56%) related directly to students' social studies achievement, 141 (33%) related to non-achievement factors, and 48 (11%) related to achievement factors not connected with social studies. Consistent with previous research on the assessment practices of in-service teachers, the pre-service teachers in this study used a combination of student achievement, effort, behavior, and ability to make their grading judgments. Assessment of student learning is taking a greater role in education today, and much of the burden for helping new teachers to improve their assessment practices will fall on teacher educators, who should integrate explicit coursework on assessment with authentic field experiences for PSTs to practice planning and teaching lessons, as well as assessing and grading students.