Appraisal Centers provide authentic experienced-based communities of practice for preservice teachers (PSTs) to show application of theory into practice at critical gateways throughout their elementary education program while fulfilling School of Education dispositions, course objectives, and state standards. A goal is to provide formative…

The gap between the practice of individual academics based on the ideal of the SoTL--improving student learning--and the institutional infrastructure and leadership to support that work is an ongoing challenge to the development of the field (Hutchings, Huber, & Ciccone, 2011; Poole, Taylor, & Thompson, 2007; Simmons, forthcoming). To…

Instructed second-language acquisition (ISLA) research endeavours to make positive changes in pedagogical practices. In this regard, there is a recent debate concerning whether teachers are (or should be) willing to engage with research. To investigate the research-pedagogy link, the current case study conducted interviews with 12 EFL teachers in…

Communities of Practice (COP) have been used in schools and other educational institutions as a way of growing knowledge and managing change. This article centres on one professional inquiry with a group of Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) and using a strengths-based approach, explores the elements that increased the effectiveness…

In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to create the country's first Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) program. Ten years later, with the assistance of Teacher Quality Partnership funding, the program quadrupled in size. As the UTR expanded, an increasing theory-practice gap became apparent, reflecting…

Research into Practice--Evidence-informed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in Rochdale (UK) was a pilot intervention aimed at supporting teachers to use evidence-based teaching and learning strategies to improve pupil progress. The project ran for one year (2014/2015) in ten primary schools in the Rochdale area, all of which are members…

The Guide to Blended Learning is an introduction using technology and distance education teaching strategies with traditional, face-to-face classroom activities. This Guide has been designed to assist teachers adopt blended learning strategies through a step-by-step approach taking constructivist and design-based approach and reflecting on…

This study explored whether or not, and how, an on-site and research-teacher community of practice model for professional development addressed the challenges to classroom practices in a Head Start program. Data sources included interviews with teachers, videos of planning and teaching sessions, and the researchers' fieldwork log and reflective…

In this study, the experiences of seven female health professionals learning online are examined and, in this context, the implications for online course designs and future research are discussed. The instruments of data collection include individual telephone interviews, journals written by the participants during online courses, and e-­mails…