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Teacher educators are under increasing pressure to show that preparation programs meaningfully impact instruction among pre-service teachers, who are then influential in student learning. This external pressure is challenging for teacher educators. We present an early field-based course and applied teaching project to examine teaching practices and pupil outcomes. Over 400 candidates taught lessons, utilized evidence-based practices, collected information before and after instruction, and responded to information gleaned from instructional experiences. Candidates provided nearly 17,000 hours of in-class assistance over four semesters, taught more than 800 lessons, used selected evidence-based teaching practices with high degrees of accuracy, and made a noticeable impact in over 60% of sampled lessons. Implications for teacher educators in general and special education are discussed.

Written assessment items were developed to probe students' understanding of a variety of direct current (DC) resistive electric circuit concepts. The items were used to explore the mental models that grade 3-8 students use in explaining the direction of electric current and how electric current is affected by different configurations of simple battery and bulb circuits. Consistency of applying mental models in different, but equivalent, circuits was also analyzed. Students analyses of current flow direction was categorized into one of two mental models: (1) bidirectional and (2) unidirectional. We found an increase in the consistency of current flow direction mental model use coinciding with grade 4 instruction of batteries and bulbs, however, the proportion of students using a bidirectional flow model was similar in grades 3-8.

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