Teacher Preparation: Research, Policy, and Practice

This chapter reviews research in several areas of teacher preparation research, policy, and practice, including coursework, clinical placements, practice-based teacher education, efforts to prepare teachers to work with diverse learners, and context-specific teacher education. In addition, the chapter explores research on the role of technology in teacher preparation, alternative teacher certification programs, teacher residency programs, edTPA, and beginning teacher induction. For each area, the authors identify implications of their review for policy makers and/or directions for future scholarship over the next 10 years. Research in some areas is characterized by experimental studies that have identified causal relationships between preparation program features and teacher and student outcomes. Scholarship in other areas features numerous large-scale quantitative studies that have reported significant associations between preparation program features and teacher and student outcomes. Further, research in other areas of teacher preparation primarily consists of qualitative studies that provide important directions for future research.

Keywords: teacher education; teacher quality; clinical placements; educational policy