The core practice of professional scientists is inquiry, often referred to as research. If educators are to prepare students for a role in the professional scientific and technological community, exposing them to inquiry-based learning is essential. Despite this, inquiry-based teaching and learning (IBTL) remains relatively rare, possibly due to…

Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

One of the greatest challenges in education today is to adapt and respond to a linguistically and culturally diverse world, and to combat social disintegration and discrimination. Participatory and collaborative action research represents an empowering and emancipatory approach to this challenge because the "target groups" become…

When it comes to teacher preparation, the support provided to new teachers, and ongoing professional development for working teachers, Grades K-12 and the field of early care and education (ECE) are two very different worlds. While both worlds assume that teachers' classroom skills and behavior can be influenced at multiple points in time (through…

To help schools and districts in their efforts to create more productive and effective learning environments, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) researchers developed the School Practices Survey, a tool districts and schools can use to assess teachers, administrators, and others in the school community regarding their…

Described is an analysis of factors which relate to the establishment of staff development methods and the effect of these factors on staff development policy. A number of ways in which a department of engineering can formalize staff development programs are illustrated. (CW)

This document contains the 12 issues of the newsletter "The Link" published during 1999-2001. "The Link" disseminates resources, recent educational research findings, and other information of interest to practitioners in the four states served by AEL, Inc.: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Feature articles…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of recent educational reform efforts in Washington State and to determine what educators believe to be the most important future areas of focus. In particular, the researchers wanted to determine whether school-wide improvement efforts (i.e. School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Improvement…

This directory lists materials and products useful in the professional development of teachers and other providers of transitional services to young people with disabilities. Materials and products were identified through requests to state and local educators, state systems, change and model demonstration transition projects, regional resource…

This digest examines the spread of mentoring in the United States, obstacles to realizing the potential of mentoring as a vehicle of reform, needed research, and selected issues of policy and practice. While the education community understands that mentors have a positive effect on teacher retention, the question of what mentors should do, what…

Practice-based or experiential learning has come to be dominated by mentalist models of reflection on experience. The argument here is that these models split mind from body and subject from environment in ways that yield problematic practices. An alternate conception of practice-based learning is offered here, based on the notion of…

This resource guide was developed for teachers and administrators interested in participating in intercultural and international exchange programs or starting an exchange program. An analysis of an exchange program's critical elements discusses exchange activities; orientation sessions; duration of exchange; criteria for participation; travel,…

The intent of this publication is to support schools as they connect the vision they have for technology and student learning with the tasks they need to accomplish in order to achieve their vision. Chapter 1 provides an understanding of the origins of "Planning into Practice" and lays the groundwork for how to use the materials. Chapter…

A recent model for the design of staff development programs for educators includes 5 stages--readiness, planning, training, implementation, and maintenance--each of which is defined by a set of 4 to 11 practices. To test this model and the relative merits of its 38 practices and its underlying assumptions, a national questionnaire survey of over…

Recounts one professor's discouraging experience with the process of submitting articles for publication in prestigious peer reviewed journals. Notes the wide disparity in comments from the reviewers ranging from corrective and helpful to condescending and dismissive. Detailed responses from the editors appear duplicitous and confusing. (MJP)