Teacher educators recognize that teacher candidates must have authentic, scaffolded opportunities to transform knowledge into practice. This study explores teacher candidates' engagement with teacher inquiry as a method for supporting professional development. Findings suggest teacher candidates differ tremendously in their responses to the…

Some families, parents and children included, may not be fully prepared or aware as they enter into the commitment of a dual-immersion language elementary education experience. One factor crucial for a dual-immersion program to meet its objectives, parents and students must commit to a minimum of five to six years of their elementary education to…

Mentoring has become increasingly popular during recent years and particularly so in the provision of leadership development, including the mentoring of school principals. In New Zealand, many of these mentoring programmes are developed and funded by central government and are mostly designed to meet the needs of those in their initial years of…

This brief offers a preliminary framework for understanding and implementing evaluations of out-of-school time (OST) programs professional development initiatives. In so doing, it draws on research from early childhood and elementary education and highlights the evaluation methods and results of recent OST professional development initiatives at…

Nationwide dissemination of the Iowa Chautauqua Model for inservice professional development of K-12 science teachers has led to new professional development programs in many states. Discusses a formative evaluation of the implementation of the Collier Chautauqua Program (CCP) which focuses on teacher enhancement resulting from participation in…

Individual differences in response to a given treatment have been a longstanding interest in education. While many evaluation studies focus on average treatment effects (i.e., the effects of treatments on the levels of outcomes of interest), this paper additionally considers estimating the effects of treatments on the dispersion in outcomes.…

The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (NLS and NNS) represent a major government initiative to improve classroom practice and student learning in literacy and mathematics in elementary schools across England. National targets were intended to increase the percentage of 11-year-olds reaching the "expected level"--Level 4--in…

This paper explores a six-year-old professional development program in which "professional artists" help teachers learn how to integrate the arts into their curriculum The specific goal of the program is to help teachers learn to use the arts to teach the content areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The paper…

In 655 schools in 27 states, the Literacy Collaborative aims to improve elementary students' literacy achievement. A trained literacy coordinator trains other teachers and provides in-class coaching. Systematic collection of data on every child and data utilization by all program participants support continuous school improvement and create a…

This report documents the evaluation of selected Portland, Oregon, Public Schools elementary and middle school literacy instructional programs and professional development models in 2000-2001. The literacy evolution examined the use of four reading intervention programs and professional development models as well as district adoptions of publisher…

The California Legislature and Governor created the Class Size Reduction (CSR) program as part of the 1996-97 Budget Act. The goal of the program is to increase student achievement by reducing average class sizes from 28.6 students to no more than 20 students in up to 3 grades. The 1997-98 governor's budget proposes expansion of the CSR program to…

This paper describes the outcomes of a practicum that initiated site-based-management strategies to support the consistent implementation of a quality school-age child-care program. Implemented at a multisite child-care center, the program sought to enhance staff members' job satisfaction and maximize their opportunities for professional growth…

The failure of a geography instruction project in Jamaica suggests the following recommendations to educators considering similar strategies: (1) arrange time off for teacher participants; (2) offer tangible rewards; (3) select suitable teachers who are committed to their subject; (4) offer training in group interaction skills; and (5) limit…

Discusses the collaborative efforts of a team of elementary school and university educators working within the context of a professional development school (PDS) to foster culturally responsible pedagogy, inspire reflective practice, and enhance student performance. Concludes that the PDS experience increases teacher effectiveness and…

This paper presents findings of a study that evaluated the impact and institutionalization of Project READ/Inquiring School, a school-reform project for systemic change. The product of collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and several school districts in western Pennsylvania, the project's goals are: (1) to help schools build literacy…