Professional learning (PL) programs increasingly rely on the expertise of instructional coaches in supporting teacher learning and instructional change. To continue to improve the use of coaching as a lever of teacher PL, it is important to understand how both coaches and teachers understand and view their interactions in the context of such PL…

We report on a teacher development program aimed at improving mathematics teaching and learning from grades 5-9. The 18-month largely online program arose from a partnership of mathematics education researchers, mathematicians, physicists, and nine school districts. The program employed functions as a lens to reinterpret and interconnect content…

Purpose: The purpose of this viewpoint article is to share the reflections of school and university leaders on the success of their emerging school-university partnership for the preparation of middle school teachers. Design/methodology/approach: The article is a reflective paper in which the leaders of the school-university partnership discuss…

This explanatory mixed methods study explores rural Oklahoma STEM subjects and STEM elective teachers' professional experiences, including professional development and certification pathways. Participants completed the Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM Survey, Friday Institute for Education Innovation, 2012) for teachers and…

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the effect of a differentiated professional learning program (PL) for teachers of multilingual learners of English (MLEs) and (b) the pathways of the teachers' empowerment and professional knowledge and skills on their MLEs' learning. This PL program contained three components: (a) five large-group PL…

Teacher-education programmes around the world face the challenge of preparing professionals capable of adapting their teaching processes to rapidly accumulating empirical knowledge, while remaining relevant in an era of constant change. In this case study, we propose that integrating Simulation-Based Learning (SBL) into teacher-education…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educators across the world to quickly move their instruction to a virtual or hybrid environment. Teachers experienced a wide variety of adverse situations stemming from teaching online, and their experiences depended upon their technology training as well as their access to technology resources. The problem addressed…

General education teachers are expected to provide instruction to and promote learning in all students within a general education classroom per state and federal mandates. These mandates ensure students with disabilities like dyslexia are given access to a general education classroom, curriculum, and materials, and provided with support through an…

The Atlanta Schools Critical Education Network for Distinction (ASCEND) is an ongoing interdisciplinary coalition supporting the critical consciousness of social justice educators. ASCEND partners include: (1) activist faculty from two university departments: Middle and Secondary Education and African American Studies; (2) a justice-oriented…

To enhance partnerships in two rural schools, our college of education initiated a faculty-in-residence program. A group of faculty members visited two other colleges of education with established faculty-in-residence programs to learn from others and to discern a direction for our own work. Two teacher educators, each at a different partner…

In the 2024 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Chapter 551 of the Public Acts of 2024 (PC 551), the Mathematics Supports Act (the Act), codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-1-233 -- 49-1-234. The Act indicates the General Assembly's commitment to strong mathematics instruction in Tennessee to prepare students for postsecondary…

Professional development, typically initiated by administrators to improve student achievement outcomes, is often irrelevant to the needs of early career music teachers. As music teacher educators, we were concerned about issues of importance to early career music teachers as they entered the music teaching profession. We explored conversation as…

This article presents a case in point of an inquiry community in a professional development school (PDS). The community (supported by an "Inquiry in the PDS" graduate seminar) spanned institutional boundaries and involved a range of PDS partners who collaboratively studied their own practices. The article describes the community and…

Background: Since 1982 many student-centred physical education teaching approaches have been proposed as viable alternatives to the traditional teacher-centred methodology. However, research indicates that their uptake by physical education practitioners has been limited. This is concerning, particularly given the prominence of alternative…

The author is past-president of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and past-president of the National Association of Professors of Middle Level Education (NAPOMLE). She is also the chair of the education department at the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville). Her current areas of interest are in advocating for…