Professional Learning Communities (PLC) have been used increasingly in designing and discussing teachers' professional development, but how PLC are organised and framed differ between contexts. There is a lack of meta-level studies that aim to define and compare different ways of organising PLC. In this literature review of 32 studies,…

At a time when much attention is being paid to teachers' effectiveness, there is little regard for the effectiveness of their professional support. Although professional development facilitators are frequently involved in school improvement projects, little is known about the interventions they should carry out and the effectiveness of these…

This article advances a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of digital educative curriculum materials to support teachers' development of professional teaching knowledge. Instead of standalone levers of change, the educative curricula in this study were featured resources within a novel professional development approach. The qualitative,…

Many teachers say that they do "assessment for learning" (AfL), but often their assessment practice does not really reflect the intentions and principles that make AfL powerful. Teachers who understand the "spirit" as well as the "letter" of AfL are continually building their expertise so that they can carefully apply…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

The new IDEIA (2004) mandates regarding the implementation of Response-to-Intervention (RtI) present challenges for general education teachers. The law dictates the implementation of Response-to-Intervention, which requires the application of a pyramid of interventions for students failing to make adequate yearly progress in response to general…

"Training" certainly fit the factory model of education. To others, the word conjured images of what one does to animals, getting them to sit, roll over, and play dead. Few educators now describe their learning experiences as training. The word "development" may be an improvement, but just a small one. It evokes images of what someone does to…

Improving professional learning for educators is a crucial step in transforming schools and improving academic achievement. To meet federal requirements and public expectations for school and student performance, the nation needs to bolster teacher skills and knowledge to ensure that every teacher is able to teach increasingly diverse learners,…

This paper reports on a case study of a "lead literacy teacher" initiative in one Canadian province. This initiative is related to a ''minority world'' trend in teacher in-service that seeks to develop "experts" in a field with the intent that such experts can help other teachers to raise student achievement for the betterment…

In this article, the author discusses some of the most serious challenges--intellectual, institutional, and political--that he sees for the future of professional learning in education. He states that one common solution to these challenges would be for educators to begin to act more like professionals. One thing is clear about the early stages of…

This item provides an overview of projects in California's current portfolio of K-12 teacher professional development activities funded under the federal Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional State Grant and the Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) State Grant Programs. Under the two federal initiatives, since 1986 the Commission has received approximately…

Explains tenants of quality professional development using a beginning teacher's experiences for illustration. Suggests that professional development should: focus on single subject; focus on participants' needs; be ongoing and sustained; engage participants in pursuit of answers to genuine questions, problems, and curiosities; provide…

This is the first in a series of articles addressing conceptions of teacher learning, and the implications of these conceptions for improving the practice of teaching. This article provides descriptions of three perspectives on teacher learning: knowledge-for-practice, knowledge-in-practice, and knowledge-of practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999).…

This study offers a framework for identifying areas of agreement and disagreement across eight recent teacher education reform documents. Researchers analyzed each document in relation to the reform principles proposed by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF). They developed a rubric to assess whether the documents…

Argues that geography often is relegated to a negligible role in social studies curricula and that geography instruction suffers from a lack of standards and educational research. Recommends establishing intensive cooperative programs developing a thorough knowledge base for geography teachers and encouraging instructional research. (MJP)