This paper explores how the charter school sector evaluates the success of specialized education programs in order that the Nature School can learn from these best practices and develop its own framework. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with five evaluation experts and eight diverse charter school authorizers overseeing a significant…

To address racial and gender inequality in K-12 computer science (CS) education, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach. In addition to curricula that are culturally responsive and sustaining inclusive, K-12 CS teachers need to be equipped to implement the curriculum, pedagogy, and instruction to mitigate the racial and gender gaps in…

This research examined the influence of the distance mode of teacher training on quality teacher performance at the pre-tertiary level of education in Ghana. The study used the quantitative approach involving 304 participants who completed teacher training through the distance education mode and taught at the Kindergarten, Primary School, Junior…

The purpose of this study is to explore how a university-school partnership in Canada supports pre-service teachers in developing positive perceptions about learning and teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their teacher preparation programs. This initiative provided opportunities for pre-service teachers to…

The purpose of this research project was to design, deliver, and informally assess the content and methodology of an introductory online course for the educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (N=20) that focused on the block-based coding language, Scratch. Prior work by The Playful Learning Lab examined various STEM resources and their…

States are responsible for setting and evaluating the standards that teacher preparation programs (TPPs) must meet for accreditation. Despite the considerable investment that states make in this process, no prior research has linked the ratings of TPPs generated by program reviews to inservice teacher performance. In this paper, we describe…

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is an educational framework that illustrates how to foster educational excellence through a focus on cultural competence, critical consciousness, and academic success, which aims to empower students by making education more applicable and responsive to their lived experiences (Ladson-Billings, 1995). This study…

Research-practice-partnerships (RPPs) have arisen as a potentially powerful mechanism for school improvement; however, there is little work how to evaluate RPPs. This study investigates how four RPPs are addressing impact by (a) document analysis of metrics (N = 123) being used to assess partnerships, and (b) interviews exploring how network leads…

Even with measurable benefits of all three School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) components, implementation of each component widely varies. Not all SBAE students experience the benefits of FFA and SAE, resulting in young adults who may not be fully prepared for their careers or to enter the workforce. FFA Affiliation and SAE for All are two…

Highly qualified and well-prepared transition professionals are arguably the most important piece to improve postsecondary outcomes for youth with diverse needs. A dearth of dynamic field placements for preservice teachers to connect coursework to practice has been identified as a gap in teacher training. This need could be potentially filled by…

Most teachers report wanting more training and support to teach autistic students. Individual, autism-focused coaching is a promising approach for improving teacher self-efficacy and autistic student outcomes. Given the high workload demands of coaching, it must be feasible and acceptable. This study considers coaches', teachers', and autistic…

Though a variety of studies have considered the impact of mentoring on beginning teachers, there is little research that explores effective ways to support their work. This qualitative study addresses that gap in the literature by describing how one mentoring program sought to develop mentors' understanding of their local context by sharing…

Digital citizenship refers to exhibiting responsible digital habits to function in a digital world. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine K-12 educators' experiences based on a digital citizenship graduate-level course that they participated in for professional development. Forty-five educators participated in this course. In…

Most teachers report wanting more training and support to teach autistic students. Individual, autism-focused coaching is a promising approach for improving teacher self-efficacy and autistic student outcomes. Given the high workload demands of coaching, it must be feasible and acceptable. This study considers coaches', teachers', and autistic…

IIEP-UNESCO Dakar and the IFEF have carried out a joint study on contextualizing and adapting the competency-based approach (CBA) in seven African countries: South Africa, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, and Senegal. This study has identified good practices and their use for making the CBA more effective in TVET systems, as well as the…