This article explores some of the key issues that emerged in the revision of the professional standards in Scottish education. The revision of the professional standards was part of a wider project to build teacher professional learning in ways that had an impact on practice and on pupil learning. The article begins by examining the international…

In this study, we investigated teachers' motivation to learn following in the footsteps of emergent research efforts in the field. This qualitative study was grounded in the intersection of four research fields: policy, educational psychology, andragogy and professional development (PD). Findings indicate that teachers' dissatisfactions with their…

The importance of the principal's role in improving student learning outcomes has been acknowledged, however, there is global concern about the availability of appropriate professional learning for principals. This article explores the impact on host principals of a shadowing and mentoring intervention designed to prepare New Zealand aspiring…

Teachers are an important influence on students' learning, and therefore the opportunity for teachers to learn and develop is something of interest to educators internationally. This article reports on a research project involving six primary school teachers who participated in one-on-one and small group interviews to explore the opportunities for…

This study describes the outcomes of an intervention focused on the strategies and practices of high-expectation teachers. Specifically, the intervention involved 84 teachers who were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The research methodology was primarily qualitative, grounded in the interpretive tradition. Data collected from…

Professional development is an important part of creating a culture of continuous school improvement to maximize student learning. Rarely do we measure the impact of professional development on teacher learning, implementation and student outcomes. This study describes a professional development strategy for elementary teachers to promote…

By following a professional development project focusing on enhancing assessment competence amongst teachers, the current study examines how teachers use reflective writing and systematic discussions as tools for developing competence in assessment. More specifically, the article aims at identifying conditions that influence and facilitate…

Innovative educational approaches for schooling require changes to the traditional teacher role towards operating as co-facilitators and co-learners, and working in teacher teams, with considerable professional learning supporting this. Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been acknowledged as highly effective, with their characteristics…

In order to prepare all teachers for working with the increasing number of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students in the US, researchers have explored what teachers need to know and pointed out that "just good teaching" is not enough. In this article, we described our effort to design and deliver professional development sessions based on key…

This paper provides a detailed description and evaluation of a three-year professional development project in a large urban setting in the southwestern United States. The impetus for the project was curriculum development focused on integrated scientific inquiry. Project goals included the development of a professional learning community, reformed…

This article provides analysis of a site-based professional development model that is grounded in teacher best practices. Developed by the administration and teacher leaders of a racially/ethnically, socioeconomically, linguistically and academically diverse school in the USA, the teacher-centered coaching model described is an example of an…

Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters. The…

Professional learning to embed educational reform may need to take account of the stage of the reform rather than previous teaching experience. As reforms move to the embedding phase, some teachers have become more expert in executing the reform than others and may be well placed to provide professional learning. In 2007, the New Zealand Ministry…

This study expands on the work of Huerta "et al." (2008) by reexamining the relationship between professional development and teacher leadership using more comprehensive measures of each. By confirming Huerta "et al"'s (2008) finding that Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) professional development is a significant predictor of teacher…

This study, concerning teacher motivation, developed from an initial evaluation of a school-university professional development programme, designed to improve classroom practice and achievement for culturally diverse students. The evaluation answered a broad range of questions. A key theme to emerge related to factors that influenced teacher…