In this wide-ranging interview with Educational Leadership, Stanford University Professor of Education Linda Darling-Hammond discusses the kind of preparation and support new teachers need to survive their critical first years in the classroom. Among her central recommendations are more intensive mentoring that lasts through the first year of…

National science assessments and international comparisons indicate that science achievement in the United States is stagnant or declining. Of the many steps needed to improve U.S. science education, the authors write, none is more important than improving teacher training and preparation. Analyses of scores on the National Assessment of…

A partnership between the University of North Carolina and Hunter Elementary School in Greensboro attempts to close the achievement gap for low-income students and simultaneously the gap between the skills teachers should possess and the quality of training they receive. The partnership follows the professional development school (PDS) model and…