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This study reports on changes made within the study, plan, teach and reflect steps of lesson study with pre-service teachers who were learning to teach within a disciplinary literacy course.

Using methods associated with formative experiments and design-based research, this study gathered data over four iterations of the disciplinary literacy course. Data included the course materials, pre-service teachers’ written work, observational notes from research lessons, transcripts of post-lesson discussions and teacher-educators’ analysis sessions and pre-service teachers’ post-program interviews. Data were analyzed within and across iterations.

Initial adjustments to the lesson study process focused on the reflect step, as we learned to better scaffold pre-service teachers sharing of observational data from research lessons. Later adjustments occurred in the study and plan steps, as we refined the design of four-day lesson sequences that better supported pre-service teachers’ attention to disciplinary literacy while providing room for their instructional mentors to provide specific team-based feedback. Adjustments to the teach step included reteaching and more explicit attention to literacy objectives.

This paper contributes to the literature by explicitly applying formative experiment and design-based research methods to the implementation of lesson study with pre-service teachers. Furthermore, it contributes examples of lesson study within a disciplinary literacy context, expanding the examples of lesson study’s applicability across content areas.

The paper identifies and explores the perspectives of middle school educators regarding the benefits and challenges of an ongoing, emerging school–university partnership. Over five years, professors at one comprehensive, Midwestern university, formed a partnership with a local middle school. While progress has been made to develop the partnership, the authors recognized a lack of shared governance (Essential 7). In particular, they were unsure the partnership was mutually beneficial. The authors interviewed teachers, the principal, assistant principals, guidance counselors, the instructional coach and the youth service center director to gain their perspectives on the partnership.

The authors used an intrinsic, evaluative case study to examine educators perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the partnership (Guba & Lincoln, 1981; Patton, 2002). This approach was used because within this bounded system the authors have an interest in obtaining information to help improve the program and partnership.

Results suggest the partnership was beneficial in a number of ways including hiring of and offering fresh ideas to teachers. Educators also felt there were many benefits for university candidates. Challenges included scheduling, technology access and candidate disposition. Implications are discussed.

Inherent within the research methodology, researchers’ inclusion in the data collection process may affect participants responses.

Researchers discuss the implications of this work, including the role of hiring candidates and clear articulation of a mission for the partnership.

This work adds to research on school site stakeholders’ perspectives on the value of school–university partnerships and includes teachers and the schools’ entire leadership team.

Professional development schools (PDSs) advocate links between schools and teacher education programs, but how do mentor teachers in schools experience their role in this? Therefore, this research focuses on mentor teachers to investigate the change brought about by the implementation of a complex-wide PDS.

This qualitative single case study in a newly formed complex-wide PDS is based on surveys and individual interviews with mentor teachers from one school complex area. Activity systems analysis provided the framework to analyze mentor teachers interactions, their role and activities.

Mentor teachers expressed a sense of purpose in educating the next generation of teachers, experienced continuous learning in the collaboration with the teacher candidates and recognized opportunities for professional development offered by teacher education programs.

Schools and teacher education institutes rely on mentor teachers in their support to educate the next generation of teachers. Knowing what activities and values mentor teachers place on their mentoring can guide school administrations and teacher education institutes in their support and recruitment for mentor teachers.

This research contributes to the development of teacher education in the State of Hawaii and has identified helpful structures for meaningful teacher education.

The OSCE is regarded as the gold standard of competence assessment in many healthcare programs, however, there are numerous internal and external sources of variation contributing to checklist marks. There is concern amongst organisers that candidates may be unfairly disadvantaged if they follow an “excellent” preceding candidate. This study assessed if average checklist scores differed depending on who a candidate follows accounted for different sources of variation.

This study examined assessment data from final year MBChB OSCEs at the University of Aberdeen and categorised candidates into three levels dependent on examiner awarded global scores of preceding candidates for each station. Data were modelled using a linear mixed model incorporating fixed and random effects.

A total of 349 candidates sat the OSCEs. The predicted mean (95% CI) score for students following an “excellent” candidate was 21.6 (20.6, 22.6), followed “others” was 21.5 (20.5, 22.4) and followed an “unsatisfactory” student was 22.2 (21.1, 23.3). When accounted for individual, examiner and station levels variabilities, students following an “excellent” candidate did not have different mean scores compared to those who followed “other” (p = 0.829) or “unsatisfactory” candidates (p = 0.162), however, students who followed an “unsatisfactory” student scored slightly higher on average compared to those who followed “other” (p = 0.038).

There was weak evidence that candidate's checklist variations could be attributed to who they followed, particularly those following unsatisfactory students; the difference in predicted mean scores may be of little practical relevance. Further studies with multiple centres may be warranted assuring perceived fairness of the OSCE to candidates and educators.

Empirical evidence on how supervisors have perceived the changes and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on their supervision is scarce. This paper aims to examine how the changing landscape of doctoral education has affected supervision from the supervisors’ perspective.

This survey addressed change, challenges and impact in supervisory responsibilities due to COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was completed by 561 doctoral supervisors from a large multi-field research-intensive university in Finland.

Results show that supervisors estimated that their supervision had been negatively affected by the pandemic, but to a lesser extent than their doctoral candidates’ progress and well-being. In the changed landscape of supervision, the supervisors grappled with challenges related to recognising doctoral candidates’ need of help. Supervisors’ experiences of the challenges and the impact of changed circumstances varied depending on the field and the position of the supervisor, whether they supervised part- or full-time candidates, and the organisation of supervision.

The slowed-down progression and diminishing well-being of doctoral candidates reported by supervisors is likely to influence supervision in a delayed way. Supervisors may be anticipating some issues with stalled studying and stress, but the question is the extent to which they are prepared to handle these as they emerge in supervision encounters. The fact that the experiences varied across field, position, organisation of supervision and the type of candidates (full or part time) suggests that support provided for supervisors to overcome challenges needs to be tailored and engineered.

This study contributes to the literature on doctoral supervision by exploring the impact of transitioning to online supervision and the rapid changes in doctoral supervision as a consequence of the recent global pandemic.

Numerous studies have shown that minority workers are disadvantaged in the labour market due to stereotypes and discrimination. However, published research on résumé screening has overlooked the effects of multiple social categorisations pertaining to candidates' gender, education and origin. This study addresses this gap and examines whether the gender, the level of education and the national origin cues mentioned in the résumé affect the perceived employability of candidates.

This study employs an experimental between-subjects factorial design in that 12 résumés varying in gender, education and national origin were rated by 373 Portuguese working adults.

The results documented a gender premium as women were favoured in interpersonal and job skills but not in job suitability, and an education premium, since higher educated candidates were preferred despite their gender and origin. No meaningful interactions for gender × education × national origin were observed, which suggests that ingroup favouritism and outgroup discrimination in résumé screening can be averted.

The findings endorse a multidimensional view of perceived employability by investigating candidates' skills and job suitability from the viewpoint of the decision-makers, which extends our understanding of résumé-screening discrimination. This is critical to prevent hiring discrimination at an earlier career stage, which can increase youth employment and enhance the integration in the labour market of local minorities such as women, inexperienced workers and second-generation immigrants.

Clinical practice provides teacher candidates with opportunities to link teaching and learning theory to practice in a supported environment with strong mentorship through their initial phases of teaching. Teacher candidates wait in anticipation for the opportunity to get into classrooms to work alongside veteran teachers to promote student learning and achievement. This article presents one educator preparation program’s (EPP’s) innovative program that spans the boundaries of the USA to provide teacher candidates with a two-week intensive full-time clinical placement in schools located in the Cotswold Region of England.

Highlighted in this piece is the program’s partnership history, design, structure, connection to the nine essentials, assessment of program goals, and a synthesis of the literature on global education and its value in educator preparation.

Highlighted in this piece is the program’s partnership history, design, structure, connection to the nine essentials, assessment of program goals and a synthesis of the literature on global education and its value in educator preparation.

This article highlights one university’s innovation that places teacher candidates in the classroom for a two-week full-time immersive clinical experience in various schools in England. As early as their sophomore year, teacher candidates can participate in this study abroad program and do so while developing their own cultural competence and global citizenship.

This study aims to advance the understanding on individual variations in PhD candidates’ personal interest in their doctorate and supervisory and research community support, and several individual and structural attributes potentially having an impact on the profiles.

The authors explored the interrelationship between personal interest – social support profiles, and nationality, gender, research group and study status and the risk of dropping out. A total of 768 PhD candidates from a research-intensive university in Finland responded to a modified version of the cross-cultural doctoral experience survey. Latent profile analysis was used to explore the individual variations in PhD candidates’ interest and support from the supervisor and research community.

Three distinctive PhD interest-social support profiles were detected; the high interest–high support profile (74.4%, n = 570), the high interest–moderate support profile (18.2%, n = 140) and the moderate interest–moderate support profile (7.4%, n = 56). The profiles exhibited high to moderate levels of research, development and instrumental interest. Individuals in the high interest–moderate support and in the moderate interest–moderate support profiles were more prone to consider dropping out from their PhD than in the high interest–high support profile.

The results indicate that by cultivating PhD candidates’ interest and providing sufficient supervisory and the research community offers a means for preventing candidates from discontinuing their doctorate. Hence, building a supportive learning environment that cultivates a PhD candidate’s personal interest is likely to reduce high dropout rates among the candidates.