The aim of the study was to test the effect of teachers' professional development upon students' mathematics academic achievement levels with the help of lesson study. In this manner, the study aimed at increasing students' mathematics learning levels via lesson study. Action research was used as research method in the study. The sample of the…

School Counselors' roles have changed with the challenges of today's population. School counselors are support staff with high student-to-counselor ratios. School counselors need to be aware of the demographics of the changing student populations and resources in order to provide multicultural guidance and obtain needed skills. This discussion…

Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices, an innovative framework intended to counteract discipline disparities and improve school climate and culture, entered year 3 of implementation in 2020-2021. Highlights from ten participating schools included improved perceptions of school climate by students and staff and consistent participation in…

Science education is a vital element of a country's progress. Hence, teachers of Science should be equipped with the indispensable skills to be able to effectively contribute to the development of functionally-literate and scientifically-minded citizens. This descriptive survey research determines the Science teachers' qualities which served as…

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of lesson study, a professional development model, on the perceptions of middle school mathematics teachers about subject area competencies and the views of the teachers about this model. In this study, which was conducted with a qualitative research method, the data were collected through…

This report provides a brief overview of Culturally Responsive Restorative Practices, an innovative framework intended to address discipline disparities and improve school climate and culture at ten Austin Independent School District (AISD) schools. This work is part of a 5-year, $3.5 million Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the…

The purpose of the staff focus groups was to gather information about staff perspectives on the GEAR UP program, their experiences with the GEAR UP program, and their support for student college preparation. Most of the focus group participants across five GEAR UP campuses understood the GEAR UP program. Many staff provided positive comments about…

This report analyzes the psychometric properties of the revised school-level SEL implementation rubric and the SEL specialists' activity log.

This report describes characteristics of the 11 model SEL schools in AISD and compares them to nonmodel SEL schools.

This report examines teachers' perceptions about Professional Development Units (PDUs), an optional component of the REACH program, as well as the effects of participation on instructional practice and student growth.

Questioning and discussion techniques are effective instructional methods that develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Despite these positive associations, there is often inconsistent implementation of these techniques across disciplines and grade levels, often resulting in a negative effect on student achievement. This case study…

What is teacher leadership, and what does it look like in action? Part of a qualitative study to better understand how teachers learn to exercise leadership, this article illustrates indicators of informal teacher leadership through the lived experiences of eight practicing elementary and middle school teachers. Characterizing informal teacher…

Schoolnet is an instructional tool designed to help AISD staff at all levels to improve student achievement. In 2011-2012, the evaluation focused on system implementation.

This report summarizes results from a survey of AISD campus-based parent support specialists who reported the numbers of parents and parent involvement activities at their schools for 2011-2012. [Funding for this report was provided by district Title I funds.]

The problem on which this study focused was the need to organize and implement effective leadership meetings that led to improved professional collaboration. The purpose was to evaluate the use of a protocol in organizing and implementing such meetings. The research questions were framed around the four levels of the Kirkpatrick (1996) evaluation…