Microsoft Word - Editor's Welcome - Summ 2013.docx Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2013 Editors’ Welcome James Marshall, Patrick Newell, Paul Beare California State University, Fresno This issue of Educational Renaissance contains an eclectic collection of four articles illustrating the tremendously diverse nature of the teacher preparation enterprise. Included in this issue is everything from curriculum redesign in an early childhood and elementary teacher preparation program, to the use of technology by math and science teacher candidates during student teaching, to a case study of a new urban education program. The issue begins with a commentary on current political trends in teacher preparation and the implications of these trends for the future of The Renaissance Group authored by the organizations Executive Director, Dr. Michael Giovannetti. The first article is a descriptive description of the journey taken by a group of researchers at Winthrop University as they endeavored to redesign their early childhood and elementary teacher education programs. The details of this journey offer a roadmap for the program revision process leading toward substantial improvement in teacher education. In the next article, researchers from Western Kentucky share their study on how effectively student teachers use technology to complement their teaching in mathematics and science. Using the Teacher Work Sample as a capstone project, teacher candidates reveal how they use technology to enhance their teaching goals. The final article highlights a case study of early findings from a new Urban Education teacher preparation program. The author, from Kennesaw State University, describes four themes that emerged from the qualitative study: commitment, challenge, perceived benefits, and self- efficacy, and how these themes evolved into overconfidence within the teacher candidates. We are confident that you will find this issue to be both stimulating and provocative. Page intentionally blank Â