In this study, we examined a student teaching study abroad program where one Midwestern university has partnered with United States Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Germany. We explored university supervisors' perceptions and experiences in their supervisory role for this student teaching study abroad program. In this…

The nature of science (NOS) has become a central goal of science education in many countries. This study refers to a "developmental work research" program, in which four fifth-grade elementary in-service teachers participated. It aimed to improve their understandings of NOS and their abilities to teach it effectively to their students.…

This study examines the views of administrators (i.e., principals and vice-principals) in Ontario, Canada, with regard to the province's Teacher Performance Appraisal process. A total of 178 responses were collected from a survey that examined five areas: 1) preparation and training; 2) classroom observations; 3) preparing the formal evaluation;…

Ever so slowly, the United States is taking a harder look at how its teacher preparation schools are improving the quality of the teachers they produce. The signs are everywhere--from proposed federal action to state legislatures and school boards passing new oversight laws and regulations, to a newly marshaled push for stronger accreditation by…

Given what system leaders must accomplish with limited resources, they must make bold decisions about their current investments to achieve high-priority goals related to implementing college- and career-ready standards. This workbook is designed to guide users through a five-step process of understanding what professional learning is available in…

This report is an overview of the Building a Teaching Effectiveness Network (BTEN) project, in which 19 AISD schools participated from 2011 to 2015. The report highlights the positive impact BTEN had on AISD schools and describes challenges with a new way of thinking about improvement. [Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines.]

Substitute teachers are often not as effective as they should be, considering that they generally oversee 5 solid months of a typical student's K-12 education. The Ashland (Ohio) City Schools developed a questionnaire to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their substitute teacher program. The result was an in-depth manual and improvement of…

This study was designed to identify barriers that local Head Start staff believe limit their ability to provide quality services, the extent to which staff believe programs experience these barriers, and the techniques or approaches programs have used to overcome these barriers. It also sought to determine how Head Start programs use Quality…

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to investigate how principals rated the competencies of beginning teachers in Florida who had graduated from the University of North Florida. The 1990-1991 study complies with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education standard calling for teacher training institutions to…

This study reports on a large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) in a Swedish municipality. The implementation was founded on two principles: (1) teaching should be informed by educational research; (2) to be successful teachers' professional development needs to be based in everyday classroom practice. From these principles,…

This handbook aids the foreign language teacher in conducting a reappraisal of her/his foreign language program. Section one discusses the formulation of a philosophy of foreign language education and a rationale for including foreign languages in the curriculum. Section two helps the teacher recognize expected student outcomes for particpation in…

To meet the more rigorous expectations embodied in new college- and career-ready standards, students will need teachers who teach in ways that are distinctly different than how most have been teaching. Students will need, for example, English and science teachers who give students more guided practice in reading nonfiction texts that are more…

"Modeling Mathematics Teaching Excellence" is a professional development process designed to enable mathematics departments to conduct an assessment of how well their program is meeting the needs of their early adolescent students. It is a modified edition of the Mathematics Assessment Process for the Middle Grades (MAP), a year-long…

The Mathematics Assessment Process (MAP) for the Middle Grades gives teachers and school reform leaders new tools to examine and systematically realign mathematics programs. MAP engages an interdisciplinary coalition within a school in an exploration of mathematics instructional excellence. Through an extensive self-study, a school answers the…

The Mathematics Assessment Process (MAP) for the Middle Grades gives teachers and school reform leaders new tools to examine and systematically realign mathematics programs. MAP engages an interdisciplinary coalition within a school in an exploration of mathematics instructional excellence. Through an extensive self-study, a school answers the…