Describes a professional development initiative based on implementing Japanese lesson study in a U.S. school. Japanese teachers acted as lesson study coaches. Researchers documented processes engaged in by participants. There were many crucial differences between groups. American teachers found it difficult to sustain a vision of teaching as a…

Explores the extent of teacher inquiry and how professional development can promote schoolwide inquiry within seven urban elementary schools, highlighting the regular, systematic inquiry present in two schools and organizational contexts that facilitate inquiry. As a key element of professional community, the ways that inquiry contributes to other…

Used data from questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and document analyses to examine how professional development was conceived and supported within a school-university partnership, examining perceptions of growth achieved by secondary school teachers and teacher educators. Participants perceived four sites for their professional development…

Examined the role that support from the school and colleagues played as one teacher developed during his first year as a secondary English as a Second Language teacher in Singapore. Data from observations and interviews indicated that the teacher considered collegial support the most important school-based support during that first year. The paper…

K-12 teachers completed an inservice designed with a constructivist perspective to foster their professional development regarding student motivation. Participants reflected on their professional expertise and practical knowledge in groups conducted by university researchers. At the end of the intervention, participants showed increased ability to…

Investigated the impact of a collaborative inquiry involving diverse teams of teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents. The teams collected and analyzed local data to make data-based decisions about improving teaching and learning. The collaboration helped teachers engage in a continuous improvement process that allowed them to…

Describes an elementary-level professional-development project designed to build a community of practice focused on inquiry-based science teaching (Guided Inquiry supporting Multiple Literacies). Presents the basic tenets that guided the development of learning experiences for teachers and illustrates how the principles influenced the design of…

Uses data from American, British, and Chinese mentor teachers to explore the relationship between mentoring contexts and mentoring practice. Three instructional contexts shaped differences across programs and countries: structure of school curriculum and assessment, organization of teaching and mentoring, and student population. Mentors'…

Discusses Japanese teacher professional development strategies, which are driven by a peer-based model using peer collaboration, planning, and management, exploring how the Japanese perspective of teaching as craft contributes to elementary professional development. Critical issues inherent in the Japanese model are discussed, noting its basic…

Describes a professional-development project designed to establish a community of learners among high school teachers. Diverse English and history teachers met twice monthly for two-and-a-half years to read and discuss fiction and history, develop an interdisciplinary humanities curriculum, and videotape and view classroom instruction. Teachers at…

Presents quantitative and qualitative data from a study involving a university, school districts and teacher candidates. Preservice-inservice dyads were taught how to use action research to examine, analyze, and reflect upon their teaching. Results indicated general acceptance by both new and experienced teachers, with developmental differences…

Examined the motivational effects of a teacher research initiative within an urban alternative school, studying participating teachers' self-efficacy, empowerment, collaboration, and perceptions of school climate via surveys, interviews, observations, and field notes. Growth occurred in general and personal teaching efficacies from pretest to…

Articulates the efforts of two teachers and a professor in a graduate seminar focused on analyzing and improving instruction to develop a scholarship of pedagogy. The teachers reported cases documenting how they used research-based ideas from the seminar to better reflect upon their practice. Their seminar experiences attested to three central…

Examined the relationship between Latino paraeducators and the teachers with whom they worked within two elementary schools with predominantly low-income, Hispanic students. Observation and interview data indicated that paraprofessionals engaged almost entirely in low level activities and had access to only a narrow set of the practices in which…

Discusses how co-teaching is useful for teaching important aspects of teaching to preservice educators, presenting an episode of masterful questioning from a study about teaching and learning in a science classroom co-taught by an experienced science teacher and a preservice teacher completing an internship. Their work suggests that preservice…