Research has shown that childhood trauma impacts a student's ability to learn academically, socially, and emotionally. The purpose of this qualitative study was to bring awareness to the effects of childhood trauma in education and provide suggestions for adequate trauma-informed professional development by investigating current trauma-informed…

This article reviews teacher professional development norms as they are shifting toward collaborative practice. It is posed that passive and individual practices are inadequate to prepare teachers to integrate the academic skills that learners need for both workforce and college readiness. Promising practices in professional development are…

In this article, I am concerned with three key issues of teacher professional development--teacher learning, motivation, and transfer of learning. Each issue has received minimal attention in teacher professional development literature. The three issues are discussed, and a model of an integrative professional development approach is outlined,…

Books by education experts and speakers at national professional conferences have inspired many school leaders to initiate professional learning communities (PLCs). Sustaining them effectively to raise student achievement is another matter. How can one know whether a PLC is moving toward a desired outcome? Measuring effectiveness requires an…

This article explores various models of online faculty development programs as described in the literature, and finds that they fall into a wide range of models from those that are highly structured to more organically grown examples. The Online Teaching Fellows program at the University of Rhode Island is shown to be an example of an…

This paper explores the weaknesses in university faculty development efforts when compared with corporate professional development practices. Suggestions are offered to think of faculty development as a process rather than as isolated development activities.

Bringing together two evidence-based "best practices" in developmental education--learning communities and tutoring--seems natural, especially given that they share collaborative learning as a common pedagogical approach. And yet doing so raised questions around the role of the tutor in learning communities. In this article, a faculty development…

Two recent studies by Biancarosa et al. and by Saunders et al. have finally demonstrated that "job-embedded, sustained professional development" can significantly improve student achievement. But there's a catch. In both studies, effective professional development (PD) strategies were successful only under certain circumstances or only in some…

The New Zealand Ministry of Education has published a best evidence synthesis iteration (BES) that identifies the characteristics of teacher professional development that make a positive difference for valued student outcomes. A companion best evidence synthesis iteration (BES) that identifies the leadership influences on valued student outcomes…

Our increasingly globalized world is driven by shared knowledge, and nowhere is that knowledge more important than in education. Now more than ever, there is a demand for technology that will assist in the spread of knowledge through customized, self-paced, and on-demand learning. The Handbook of Research on Innovative Technology Integration in…

Designed to improve PK-12 professional learning and increase student achievement, Wisconsin's policymakers developed and implemented new educator licensing guidelines (PI 34) and a Professional Development Plan (PDP) system based on empirical research and national policy trends in 2004. As PI 34 and the PDP system are relatively new, the…

High-quality teaching is the most significant school-related factor in helping students make significant gains in learning or achievement. Students who have effective teachers year after year routinely make more progress than other students. This is why every child must experience great teaching every day. For this to occur, teachers must have…

This article provides analysis of a site-based professional development model that is grounded in teacher best practices. Developed by the administration and teacher leaders of a racially/ethnically, socioeconomically, linguistically and academically diverse school in the USA, the teacher-centered coaching model described is an example of an…

Online education has become increasingly popular in higher education, which is a trend that will continue as more universities have begun to heavily invest in online teaching due to student demand. While best practices for implementing online instruction are well documented in previous literature, factors identified in this review of literature…

The National Staff Development Council (NSDC), a private, nonprofit association, has outlined high standards for educator professional learning. One demonstration of NSDC's commitment to the goal of ensuring all schools support and use high standards for professional learning is the organization's investment in developing an instrument to assess…