A study of new teachers with science degrees but little or no training in education found that coaches who spent time in their classrooms provided the most effective support for new teachers. Science methods courses provided by a university also were very helpful for the new teacher. But academic mentors for science content and teacher mentors who…

Online professional development (OPD) has potential to improve teacher quality by improving teachers' knowledge and instructional practices. These changes, in turn, have potential to improve student achievement. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of scientific research on the effects of OPD on teachers and, more importantly, on students. This…

This paper introduces a variation on the post-test only cohort control design and addresses questions concerning both the methodological credibility and the practical utility of employing this design variation in evaluations of large-scale complex professional development programmes in mathematics education. The original design and design…

General music teachers have a technology tool that not only helps students sing better, it helps them read better! Carry-a-Tune or Singing Coach--the technology that received a rave review from former "General Music Today" technology columnist Kirk Kassner in 2005--is now being offered in an enhanced version called TUNEin[TM] to READING.…

Middle and high school teachers across academic disciplines face increased pressure to address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. This means that the responsibility of preparing students to read, write, talk, and think critically about…

Like a steady drip from a leaky faucet, the experimental studies being released this school year by the federal Institute of Education Sciences are mostly producing the same results: "No effects," "No effects," "No effects." The disappointing yield is prompting researchers, product developers, and other experts to question the design of the…

Each year, the author's school district, North Syracuse (New York) Central School District, requires teachers to identify and work on specific professional development goals. She relates how she identified assessment as the area she wanted to work on during the 2005-2006 school year. For several years she had been wondering if the students were…

It is difficult to transform research evidence into teacher practice; indeed it has been argued that educational research is not very useful to teachers. In this paper, we explore teacher knowledge about a relatively new area of research concerning the role morphemes play in spelling, and seek to transform their practice. We find that although…