Teaching Ambitiously in Elementary School

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.