An arts curriculum director of an urban, Pre-K-12 school district north of Boston, Massachusetts researched literature about feelings of connectedness and professional learning among itinerant, art teachers. The study employed a framework of communities of practice for itinerant art teachers. The strands found across the literature were the state…

Using critical constructivism as the theoretical lens, the teacher educator-researcher used practitioner research to systematically examine the experience of PreK-12 teachers in his district-based teacher research professional development course, while also examining his development as a teacher educator. The results of this study showed that, as…

Every school district has policies and procedures for evaluating teachers that are shaped by state law and local collective bargaining agreements. As a result of No Child Left Behind and other accountability legislation many states modified requirements about the frequency of evaluation and now require the use of student achievement data as one…

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a high quality, certified visual arts educator in every K-12 public school across the United States, recognizing that effective arts instruction is a core component of 21st-century education. "Professional Standards for Visual Arts…

"Just as we 'do' laundry in a certain way...so, too, we 'do' school. As educators, we gather students, we sort them (by grade level, ability, or both), we teach them, we test them, and we grade them." --From the Preface. The 20 thought-provoking poems in this collection are meant to promote reflective conversation about how educators do school.…

This digest highlights ways in which new and seasoned teachers are developing a repertoire of skills and knowledge that complement education reform efforts. For example, rather than seeing each stage of a teacher's professional life as distinct and separate, a more holistic view of the development of teacher from novice to advanced practitioner is…

Calls for the crucial need to incorporate alternative approaches into everything teachers do and the mistakes teachers make in the classroom. Discusses three specific instructional trouble areas of every teacher's reality and common mistakes. (ASK)

This paper focuses on pre-service teacher education and elaborates on the critical importance of three attributes to the development of professional science teachers: (1) science teachers must be reflective practitioners of their profession; (2) all instructional practice and decisions of science teachers must be backed by a research-based…

Examines processes and models of professional development that effect change in teachers' practices. Describes the study group process, the role of reflection, goal setting research, and collaborative writing workshop project results. Presents findings that support the research relative to the critical need for collegial collaboration. (SG)

Offers strategies teachers can use to keep their teaching fresh. Discusses what gives teachers energy and what takes away energy. Notes that when teachers had strong emotional connections with colleagues their teaching energy was high. (SG)

A personal reflection on the author's professional development applies the principles of thematic cycling to identify six cycles from "a beginner's initial questions," through "more teaching, more questions, and more study," to "taking stock of where I am." Forty years of changes in the field of educating students who are deaf or hard of hearing…

Describes a project that used the process of cognitive coaching to implement the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards. Argues that cognitive coaching is a vehicle that helps teachers change and reform both curriculum development and instruction, combats the isolation of teaching, provides feedback, aids in reflective…

Three social factors are related to the evolution of the discourse on teacher reflection: the role of educational researchers and teacher educators; the social and economic crisis and its impact on education; and the shift from behaviorism to cognitivism. By relating the discourse of teacher change through reflection to these social factors, it…

This book examines the issues involved in creating reflective learning environments and raises questions that will help guide individuals' development as facilitators of learning. Section 1 looks at reflection as the core of learning. Section 2 describes the three stages in the reflective process: creating, observation, and analysis of the…

Describes a conversation among veteran women teachers exploring the people and experiences that have shaped their professional development and led them to become learners who continually reflect on and revise their practice. (TB)