Overview

A richly researched guide to the core competencies and wraparound supports required for quality, ambitious instruction Through targeted assignments, tailored support, and skillful feedback, ambitious teaching promotes deep, conceptual learning, even at the elementary school level. To help beginning teachers excel at this increasingly in-demand -and demanding- practice, Peter Youngs, Dorothea Anagnostopoulos, Jillian M. Cavanna, Corey Drake, and Tutita M. Casa thoroughly evaluate, in Teaching Ambitiously in Elementary School, the core knowledge and supports necessary for teaching ambitiously across a range of school contexts. The authors draw their insights from an extensive, mixed-methods study involving more than one thousand hours of classroom practice in nearly seventy US school districts. They examine how five elementary teacher preparation programs help beginning teachers develop their craft in pre-service preparation and then enact ambitious instruction in mathematics and English language arts. Considering multiple aspects, including individual teachers' characteristics, goals, and beliefs the learning opportunities and resources available to them and their strategies for teaching diverse students, the authors draw an explicit link between learning opportunities during pre-service preparation and the early pedagogy of elementary teachers. They also stress the critical importance of mentoring, coaching, professional training, and effective classroom management in supporting ambitious teaching practice. An essential reference for preservice teachers, practitioners, and researchers focused on qualitative assessments of teacher preparation and practice, Teaching Ambitiously in Elementary School makes a key contribution to enriching the ecosystem in which ambitious teachers can thrive when they first enter the profession.

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Reviews

""As teaching has become increasingly complex, the process of learning to teach ambitiously has also intensified. Teaching Ambitiously in Elementary School provides valuable insights into the importance of collaboration between universities and schools in preparing novice teachers. As John Goodlad famously observed, we won't have better schools until we have better teachers, but we won't have better teachers unless we have better schools for teachers to learn and practice in. This book provides us with a keener sense of the opportunities novice teachers require in both coursework and student teaching to develop the practices of ambitious teaching."" --Pam Grossman, professor of education and former dean, Penn Graduate School of Education ""Previous research produced small case studies about how teachers gain the knowledge and skills needed for ambitious teaching. This book dramatically expands the evidentiary basis, with a combination of surveys and observations, over several years, of teachers from five preparation programs. Marvelous work."" --Robert E. Floden, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus and dean emeritus, Michigan State University ""This inspiring book provides extensive scholarship and stories of teachers that span multiple years and settings, thus adding a much-needed perspective to conversations about ambitious teacher preparation. In addition, it provides a clarion call for teacher education programs and schools to form deep partnerships and to view professional learning as a continuous process that needs extensive support. This book can serve as a guide for researchers, teachers, and policymakers as we all strive toward excellent teacher preparation."" --David Stroupe, professor, University of Utah

Author Information

Peter Youngs is professor and chair of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Virginia. Dorothea Anagnostopoulos is a professor of curriculum and instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Jillian M. Cavanna is an associate professor of elementary education, STEM, and innovation at the University of Hartford and current president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in Connecticut. Corey Drake is the director of professional learning at The Math Learning Center. Tutita M. Casa is an associate professor of elementary mathematics education in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

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