This article compares Spanish proficiency assessments across three states (Texas, Arizona, and California) in relation to four overarching themes: (a) verification methods of proficiency; (b) test-task authenticity; (c) impact of pedagogical content knowledge in test performance; and (d) conceptions of language 'correctness' on the scoring…

Teachers' mathematics content knowledge has been shown to be correlated with children's learning. Because teachers often enter teacher preparation programs with weak content knowledge, the college level mathematics courses they take can have a significant impact on the development of that knowledge. The present study examines the mathematics…

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the impact of the Teacher Study Group (TSG) professional development in vocabulary on first-grade teachers' knowledge of vocabulary instruction and observed teaching practice, and on students' vocabulary knowledge. Sixty-two schools from 16 districts in four states were randomly assigned to…

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the impact of a technology integration professional development on high school teachers' technology integration and students' use of computers in core content areas. The District invested in technology for all classrooms, as well as 1:1 technology for all secondary students with an expectation…

Teacher quality is instrumental in improving student performance. Unfortunately, discrepancies between teacher preparation programs and national and state K-12 student standards have contributed to the difficult task of producing quality teachers. The contemporary mathematics education paradigm used at most colleges and universities relies on…

The ESEA Blueprint for Reform states that teachers need "effective, ongoing, job-embedded, professional development that is targeted to student and school needs… [and] aligned with evidence of improvements in student learning." Unfortunately, the professional development approaches advocated, though sensible and compelling in theory,…

The Texas statewide assessment of academic skills in 1997 indicated that >55 % of the student population failed to master the mathematics objectives set by the test criteria and 42 % of the mathematics teachers at the secondary level in the East Texas region were categorized as underqualified to teach mathematics at that level. The issue of…