It was 2007, and a candidate for head of school had a question for the faculty: "What do you want as a school?" A veteran teacher raised his hand. "We want a faculty and staff evaluation program." Hearing this response, the candidate decided, "This is a place I want to work." Within a year, newly installed McDonogh…

This article describes an innovative partnership between a state department of education, local school systems, and institutions of higher education aimed at increasing the number of effective teachers for high-poverty/ high-minority schools through collaborative partnerships, rigorous coursework, ongoing professional development, intensive…

This article reports on an inter-institutional project to design, develop, pilot, and evaluate a state-wide online training course for higher education adjunct faculty who are preparing to teach their first online course. We begin with a brief literature review to contextualize the stated problem the project sought to address: the need for…

More than 40 school business officials honed their skills as leaders in education by participating in the 2008 Eagle Institute held July 31-August 1 in Annapolis, Maryland. Association of School Business Officials International's (ASBO) Eagle Institute is a tremendous learning forum to foster growth among rising leaders in public education. Led by…

Since September 2002, business leaders and educators have been examining the differences in business and educational leadership in a professional development partnership, titled, The Academy for Leadership in Education (ALE). This organization was created as a program to encourage the study of leadership and develop the capacity for mentoring new…

Various approaches to the professional development school (PDS)--each designed for its respective audience, mission, and purpose for engagement--have shaped the professional development school effort during the past 25 years. Central to these approaches is improving teacher quality in the service of student learning. This provides direction for…

While "Dancing With the Stars" often shares the background of the dancers and shows some of the preparation that goes into the dances, it does not always give viewers the background of the dances being danced. Many people are never knowledgeable about where dances came from or how they began. In this article, the author provides some…

The 2010 Professional Development Schools National Conference recognized the professional development school relationship between Towson University with its dual certification major and the Howard County Public School System for its outstanding collaborative accomplishments, naming the Towson-Waterloo-Ilchester-Bellows Spring PDS as a recipient of…

In this article, we share how a professional development school (PDS) partnership between several elementary school sites within a district and an institution of higher education prepares special education teacher candidates. The following challenges are identified for PDS stakeholders: recruiting qualified special education mentor teachers,…

In fall 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a three-year project (IB Access Project) with International Baccalaureate (IB) to increase participation of minority students and students in poverty in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP). The IB Access Project seeks to do four things: (1) Improve teacher practice…

This article discusses the Maryland Technology Academy Leadership Program which was launched in summer 1999 to build technology integration leaders who could promote and support the use of technology in schools throughout Maryland. For over four years of operation, the program provided an intensive professional development experience to more than…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Maryland and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region to…

This book discusses the challenges to developing a teaching force that is competent to work with immigrant students, arguing that professional development should be re-thought and teacher educators should move far beyond traditional inservice and teacher training. A framework is developed for considering what teachers of immigrant youth need to…