The Development of Ambitious Instruction: How Beginning Elementary Teachers' Preparation Experiences are Associated with Their Mathematics and English Language Arts Instructional Practices

This study of 83 graduates from 5 elementary teacher education programs found that elementary candidates' opportunities to learn general teaching methods were positively associated with their enactment as first-year teachers of ambitious mathematics and English language arts (ELA) practices. Opportunities to practice content-specific instructional strategies during student teaching were positively associated with first-year teachers' enactment of ambitious mathematics practices, but negatively associated with classroom management in mathematics and disciplinary demand in ELA. First-year teachers' classroom management was positively associated with enactment of ambitious instruction in both subjects. In sum, we identify several learning opportunities that support first-year teachers' ambitious instruction. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.