Since professional learning is about shifting adult mindsets and behavior, it is work that frequently challenges assumptions, expectations, beliefs, instructional practices, and long-standing habits. To have meaningful and productive conversations about evaluation and data, educators must be equipped with effective practices and tools that allow…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe the leadership styles of Catholic school principals in California who lead professional learning communities. It is not known how Catholic elementary school principals describe their leadership styles when leading professional learning communities. The overarching research question…

In today's educational system, there is a great emphasis on principals' leadership and impact on all students, particularly students with disabilities. Due to increased accountability, legal mandates, and the effects of the pandemic on student performance, strong elementary principals must lead the charge to improve the educational trajectory of…

*English Learners in secondary school settings often face discrepancies in opportunities and outcomes. Methods to address these discrepancies are grounded in an instrumental approach to instruction, wherein educational practitioners are understood to require methodological intervention in the form of professional development by a more experienced…

Lesson study, especially when conducted with support from targeted resources, is often identified as a potentially effective means to support teacher learning. In this study, 80 school-based teams of educators, representing 80 classrooms of third- or fourth-grade students in the US, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: lesson study…

The importance of teacher collaboration and professional growth are highlighted by their inclusion in the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In ESSA, it is recommended that teachers are provided with opportunities to collaborate and participate in learning communities. The purpose of this action research study was to address the problem of…

This qualitative research study sought to help community colleges aid math faculty in making a transformation in their teaching practices. The research questions were: (a) What did it take for faculty to change their teaching style from traditional lecture-based instruction to one that incorporates low-stakes collaborative practice, just-in-time…

This work attempts to examine instructional leadership from a peer influence perspective within a districtwide network of educational leaders. This approach to instructional leadership supplements a conventional understanding of technical core of professional collaboration. We argue from a social network perspective that individual perception is…

In order to humanize and connect future educators across programs, this case study explains how a Northern California four-year university created a weekly professional development speaker series, Teachers, Eduleaders, Advocates, and Scholars (TEAS). TEAS aims to connect future educators to current practitioners to better meet the needs of PK-12…

Part of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) research series titled "Teachers' Time: Collaborating for Learning, Teaching, and Leading," this case study looks at Hillsdale High School, a large, comprehensive high school located in San Mateo, California, a high-tech enclave of Silicon Valley nestled 23 miles…

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the organizational factors necessary for an inclusive special education model as identified by special education teachers and school site administrators. Specifically, explored the importance of implementation factors (i.e., fidelity) and organizational factors (i.e., administrative support), as well as…

BIPOC students attending a community college in the Bay Area bring traumas to school with them and then they relive their traumas in the classroom through professors' pedagogy and the curriculum. This dissertation which was conducted during twin pandemics of COVID 19 and racism, researched a group of English professors that teach first generation…

In 2016, the Office of Correctional Education in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation embarked on a process of implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) in all 35 California state prisons. The American Institutes for Research provided professional development and consulting on the PLC process. Through working to…

This case study describes the rationale, development, and functioning of the Elders Learning Community, a nonprofit home and community service program that served older adults in Richmond, California. The program applied a blend of self-directed learning, learner-centered and significant learning approaches, and features of a member-driven…

Questioning is recognised as a well-established aspect of good mathematics teaching, and this study draws on this instructional practice to provide multilingual learners high-level mathematics, discourse, and cognitively demanding mathematics. Three seventh grade mathematics teachers engaged in professional learning to develop their questioning…