This longitudinal study examines elementary teachers' self-efficacy for science teaching in the years after professional development (PD) ended and during a subsequent 3-year period of follow-up support. Self-efficacy is important because teachers make decisions about classroom activities based, in part, on how confident they are in their…

Drawing on state reading achievement data provided by a California school district, we analyze the achievement impacts of Achieve3000, an intervention designed to offer K-12 students expanded opportunities to acquire literacy skills. Achieve3000 is a personalized, technology-adaptive program to supplement regular instruction in English language…

Remaining continually curious about students' mathematical thinking is challenging, yet worthwhile, in teaching practice. This paper describes and analyzes two video-based professional learning (PL) activities designed to help teachers go beyond their initial perceptions of what students understand and to identify what else they might learn about…

In order to humanize and connect future educators across programs, this case study explains how a Northern California four-year university created a weekly professional development speaker series, Teachers, Eduleaders, Advocates, and Scholars (TEAS). TEAS aims to connect future educators to current practitioners to better meet the needs of PK-12…

Using an embedded quasi-experimental mixed method approach, this exploratory study aimed to understand the benefits of mindfulness training for elementary school teachers and leaders in one rural school district. After the delivery of two 90-minute mindfulness professional developments with on-the-job practice of strategies over 2 weeks,…

Classrooms nationwide welcome a diverse group of learners. A goal, and an achievable one, is to recognize this unique diversity on a whole child spectrum and to strive to customize learning to meet individual needs. Critical to this process is for teachers to have at hand research that connects factors of learning in a holistic way. It is equally…

This study explores how six school leadership teams in a rural district in California responded to professional development (PD) designed to strengthen leadership practices and organizational conditions in schools for improving teaching and learning. Specifically, the PD was intended to address the problem of practice identified by the schools:…

Although there is no common definition for teacher leadership, the concept is continually advanced as a key component for both the success of schools and the professionalization of teachers (Boles & Troen, 1994; Dozier, 2007; Greenlee, 2007; Lieberman, 1987; Smith, 1999). Teachers need to be given opportunities to leave the isolation of their…

Due to a surplus in the State General Fund, California's Pre-K-12 teachers and administrators have an additional $490 million to spend on programs supporting professional development. The $490 million represents one of the largest investments in professional development and teacher effectiveness ever made by California and has the potential to…

This is the executive summary for the guidance document, "Maximizing the Use of New State Professional Learning Investments to Support Student, Educator, and School System Growth: State Guidance for Key District Stakeholders." It has been created to help districts determine the most effective uses of new state professional learning money…

This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the American Instructional Resources Surveys (AIRS) that were administered to principals and teachers in spring 2019 via RAND's American Educator Panels. The AIRS focused on instructional resources used and supported in English language arts,…

There often exists an immense disparity between the idealized goals of classroom teachers and the actual shortcomings of these educators. Strategies have been devised and programs have been implemented to enable teachers to be successful; however, these practices often lack the empowerment to sustain teachers through the arduous tasks and demands…

All across California, educators are finding that creating strong and effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at every grade level or in every subject area is not easy. It may be tempting to conclude that PLCs are one more idea that did not work. But there is solid research to support the core concepts of PLCs: (1) a focus on learning;…

Pedagogical competence and teaching efficacy significantly influence the quality of classroom science learning. Without applying pedagogical learning in realistic classroom environments, there is slight possibility that prospective teachers will increase their teaching confidence or develop understanding of how learners acquire and construct…

In this article, we examine classroom observations from a 3-year large-scale randomized trial in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to investigate the extent to which a professional development initiative in inquiry science influenced teaching practices in in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in 73 schools. During the course of the study,…