Using a teacher inquiry method, we present the results of our investigation as to how candidates in teacher education integrated multimodal theory and practices into program assignments. One hundred ten candidates (N=110) participating in three sections of a graduate literacy course served as the data source for the inquiry. Our inquiry’s purpose was to investigate the candidates’ beliefs about the efficacy of multimodal compositions in classroom teaching, and the extent to which they used artificial intelligence tools when completing them. We required candidates to complete three multimodal projects using conventional and/or AI supported composition strategies. When analyzing the data, we prepared a frequency count to determine the percentage of hand-composed versus AI-produced artifacts for each multimodal project, and we conducted a thematic analysis of their written reflections and online discussion posts to identify recurring patterns and themes about the use of multimodal compositions. Results of our inquiry revealed that the candidates enthusiastically endorsed the use of multimodal compositions in classroom teaching, and they believed that such practices to be particularly effective and inclusive when teaching emergent bilingual students and students with reading difficulties. Candidates also expressed concern that multimodal compositions might foster an overemphasis on the product of student compositions rather than the processes involved when learning new concepts and skills. We conclude by asserting that by employing multimodal forms of expression in classroom teaching, our candidates will be better able to support and advance their students’ learning.
I am a Professor and Coordinator of the Literacy Education at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York, where I teach courses on literacy topics to preservice and practicing teachers. I am an active member of the Literacy Research Association, and the American Educational Reading... Read More →
Wednesday October 21, 2026 10:30am - 11:20am EDT Garden Room
The profession of teaching is changing at an unprecedented speed. Teachers are tasked with adapting to a changing technological and instructional landscape, increased mental health concerns of students, and politicization of their work; understanding the ways in which teachers conceptualize their professional identities can help to address persistent challenges such as teacher retention and aligning teacher education with the current context of teaching. This presentation describes findings from a mixed-methods study investigating how teachers construct and express their professional identity through Instagram posts. The methodology combines qualitative content analysis of Instagram posts with focus group discussions to provide rich, contextualized data on teacher professional identity development. Turning to Instagram as a source of information about teachers’ professional identities reflects the ubiquitous nature of social media in the lives of teachers, yet the approach and questions are novel because most social media research about teachers has focused on the ways in which they adopt tools or learn new instructional techniques.
Anne Burns Thomas is a Professor in the Foundations and Social Advocacy Department in the School of Education at SUNY College at Cortland. A former middle school teacher, her research interests include the nature of support for new teachers in urban schools, urban teacher education... Read More →
Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:30am - 12:20pm EDT Garden Room
This presentation will explore the CAEP accreditation process, emphasizing flexibility, strength, and balance. Attendees will learn how to adapt to shifting state and federal policies, build strong assessment systems, and maintain equilibrium across standards. Practical strategies for addressing standards will be shared.
Centering joy as an act of resistance, presenters share multimodal strategies — literature circles and restorative practices — designed to help teacher candidates cultivate identity, criticality, and belonging. Grounded in Muhammad's Culturally and Historically Responsive Model (2020, 2023), these approaches model humanizing pedagogies to sustain both educators and students in challenging times.
Institutions of higher education have a responsibility to prepare future educators not only to teach effectively, but to navigate the complex realities of today’s school environments. Increasing concerns about campus and school-based violence have heightened the need for intentional, research-informed preparation for preservice teachers, particularly in relation to active shooter scenarios and broader safety challenges. Together, we can move from fear and uncertainty toward preparedness, responsibility, and collective action, ensuring that future educators enter the profession equipped to teach, lead, and protect themselves and their students.
This proposal examines how multimodal assessment and data visualization can strengthen educator preparation by expanding the ways candidates, faculty, and program leaders engage with evidence. Building on scholarship in multimodality and multiliteracies, the session argues that contemporary learning is increasingly mediated through visual, textual, oral, and digital modes, requiring teacher education programs to design assessment systems that reflect this complexity.At Touro University Graduate School of Education, assessment data had been fragmented across multiple Excel files, limiting timely analysis and obscuring patterns across programs. To address this challenge, we integrated Watermark Student Learning & Licensure with Microsoft Power BI to consolidate candidate submissions, key assessments, and placement data into interactive dashboards. This shift enabled real-time analysis of program-level and cross-program performance, including comparisons across traditional and alternative certification pathways. Research on multimodal digital classroom assessment suggests that combining multimodal perspectives with performance assessment theory can broaden the kinds of evidence available for instructional decision-making while also raising important questions about validity, literacy demands, and the interpretation of evidence. Similarly, scholarship on multimodal teacher education emphasizes that such work requires strong assessment support and reconceptualization of how learning is represented and evaluated.The session positions dashboards not merely as reporting tools, but as pedagogical and organizational instruments that support data literacy, shared inquiry, and continuous improvement. By enabling faculty and stakeholders to interpret assessment evidence through multiple modes, the approach aligns with research showing that multimodal learning can deepen understanding and engagement, particularly when preservice teachers encounter content through varied media and representational forms. Participants will learn how integrated assessment systems can support transparency, accreditation readiness, and evidence-based program improvement in educator preparation contexts.
Following the 2014 “transgender tipping point,” trans visibility increased dramatically in public life while remaining understudied in teacher education. This systematic review examines scholarship published between 2014 and 2024 at the intersection of transness and teacher education, exploring how trans people, experiences, and issues are represented and what this literature reveals about the field's assumptions, gaps, and possibilities.
