Evaluating Socio-Cultural Pedagogy in a Distance Teacher Education Program (Section II: Program Level Assessments of Innovation‪)‬

Increasing pressure has been placed on teacher education to prepare teachers to educate bilingual/bicultural students using scientifically-based teaching methods (e.g., Fillmore & Snow, 2000; No Child Left Behind Act, 2001). Socio-cultural theory and pedagogy have emerged as a research-based foundation for diversity teacher preparation (Rogoff, 1995; Rogoff & Wertsch, 1984; Tharp & Gallimore, 1989; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985). Socio-cultural theory rests on the premise that learning is social, and that it is through social interaction with teachers and peers who are more knowledgeable that students receive assistance as needed in their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to engage in culturally meaningful tasks. Researchers at the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (CREDE) synthesized relevant research into a socio-cultural model of five pedagogical practices: Joint Productive Activity, Language and Literacy Development, Contextualization, Cognitive Challenge, and Instructional Conversation (Dalton, 1998). Most practicing teachers have little systematic education in or experience with socio-cultural theory or pedagogy. Darling-Hammond (1997) argued that increasing student achievement means improved focus on teacher development. The demand for diversity teacher preparation programs is high, yet there are relatively few bilingual/ESL teacher educators available to provide teachers with meaningful content and experience in implementing a socio-cultural model of education.