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This qualitative study focuses on elementary teacher candidates (TCs) at two United States university-based teacher preparation programs and their experiences with edTPA, a teacher performance assessment increasing in implementation nationwide. TCs from two public universities, in a state where edTPA bears a high-stakes connection to teaching licensure, were participants. Their perspectives of program supports that contributed to edTPA completion are emphasized. Findings suggest that particular supports within coursework and the student teaching practicum contributed to TCs' feelings of success regarding edTPA completion, while certain gaps were hindrances. Implications are applicable to teacher education programs when considering structures that may or may not be necessary for supporting TCs with edTPA.

Since 2009, the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) has been rapidly implemented as a policy tool for strengthening teacher professionalization across the United States. However, its national assimilation has become a target for both praise and critique among teacher educators. In this article, we examine such diverse perspectives. Highlighting the sensemaking of administrators, faculty, staff, and teacher candidates (n = 75) across eight teacher preparation programs (TPPs) in two states, we examine how they have responded to varied edTPA policy designs and program contexts. Results show that both policy design and programmatic differences influence how these stakeholders have perceived and implemented edTPA--either as a framework for inquiry or compliance. In the process, we contend that edTPA has many promises and pitfalls as a scalable policy tool for preparing and assessing future teachers.

Simple Summary: The corn leafhopper, an invasive insect and vector of corn stunt spiroplasma, has been reported in multiple counties in Oklahoma. Corn stunt spiroplasma-infected corn leafhoppers were also confirmed in the state. The corn leafhopper, Dalbulus maidis (DeLong and Wolcott) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is an invasive insect that can cause damage to maize (Zea mays L.) in two ways: by direct feeding and the transmission of several plant pathogens. Dalbulus maidis is an invasive and serious economic pest of maize that has spread from its center of origin in Mexico to the southernmost parts of the United States. Prior to 2024, corn leafhoppers had not been documented in Oklahoma, and their spread northward toward the United States corn belt is of significant concern. Here, we provide the first reports of the insect in maize in several Oklahoma counties. Insect specimens were collected at various commercial and experimental field sites by Oklahoma State University research and extension personnel. The identity of the insect species was validated through morphological and molecular taxonomy. The presence records for the corn leafhopper presented here provide valuable information for future monitoring and management efforts of this economically important pest and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on elementary and secondary teacher candidates' perspectives of how their clinical experiences influence their preparedness in becoming effective culturally responsive educators. Clinical experiences in urban schools embedded within teacher preparation programs have the potential to develop students' ability to become culturally responsive educators, yet it is unknown how these experiences contribute to teachers' development in enacting culturally responsive pedagogy. Qualitative data was collected through open-ended survey responses and focus groups with teacher candidates in urban focused elementary and secondary teacher education programs at one college of education. Findings indicated that connecting with students' cultures and communities, the school/classroom context, and university-school partnerships and alignment impacted teacher candidates' feelings of preparedness on becoming culturally responsive educators.

In today's era of increased accountability and standards-based reforms within the United States educational system, Community Partner Organizations (CPOs) can offer essential support to teachers, schools, and districts. CPOs have the potential to have a positive impact in urban schools in particular, where high-stakes testing and accountability policies are often more demanding and the threat of school closure or turnaround is the everyday reality for teachers who are under enormous pressure to improve student outcomes. Collaborative social relationships between schools and community organizations can facilitate school improvement, combat social and economic barriers, and meet the increasing demands of local, state, and federal accountability policies.

This qualitative study aims to learn about the experiences of first year teachers as they rapidly transitioned to remote teaching during the global Covid-19 crisis in March 2020. Additionally, the murder of George Floyd shortly thereafter exacerbated racial turmoil, impacting communities, students and families simultaneously. As the shift was sudden and drastic, and the first year of teaching is already quite challenging with a large learning curve, we seek to highlight the experiences of beginning teachers during Covid-19, and specifically focus on their strengths, assets and resilience, adding to the literature on asset-based perspectives of beginning teachers. Using data from individual journals and focus groups involving 15 first year urban and suburban teachers, we assert that first year teachers were assets to their school communities due to their technological strengths and their equity-based teacher preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses an interpretive, qualitative research design to highlight beginning teacher perspectives of their experiences teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we share the experiences of 15 K-12 educators who began their teaching careers in the 2019–2020 school year, whose first two years of teaching were marred by frequent changes and a constant unknown. Despite this, and perhaps because of this, they changed as educators—their own beliefs, their expectations for families and students, their pedagogy, and philosophy for the future. Findings from this study help highlight the strengths of beginning teachers (particularly during a pandemic) and ways a pandemic can affect the beliefs and practices of beginning teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The edTPA, a national performance assessment for teacher candidates, has seen rapid adoption across the country since its development in 2009. Against the national backdrop of high stakes testing and accountability, the edTPA was developed to be an indicator of teachers' readiness to teach. The varying perspectives and responses to edTPA in Illinois range from resistance and advocacy, to thoughtful reflection and programmatic changes to best prepare teacher candidates for success. In this paper we explore how Illinois institutions have responded to the adoption of edTPA as a high stakes assessment consequential for teacher licensure. Using a "politics of policy" (Cochran-Smith, Piazza, & Power, 2013) framework, this research aims to examine these divergent responses across the state.