In 2019, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned a consortium of evaluation and early years assessment specialists to evaluate the first phase of Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP1). The evaluation was led by Ecorys, with the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), Professor Kathy Sylva (the University of…

This study examined students' growth in algebra readiness progress-monitoring measures for a group of U.S. middle school students with math learning difficulties within the context of Project STAIR, a federally funded initiative supporting teachers' use of data-based individualization. Participating teachers received professional development and…

Mathematics achievement is critical to students' success (Claessens & Engelbut, 2013) but, in 2024, only 39% of U.S. fourth-grade students and 16% of those with disabilities were at or above NAEP Proficient in mathematics. Nye et al. (2004) demonstrated the importance of teachers for improving student achievement and postulated that increasing…

Designing effective faculty-led professional development (PD) workshops is easier than it sounds and is a highly rewarding way for faculty to become change agents on their own campuses. This chapter presents the authors' experiences leading PD workshops and provides a roadmap to make the workshop development process straightforward and fun for…

The effectiveness of an instructional coach is extremely important in the teaching and learning process. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine the current reality of school stakeholders' perceptions of roles, responsibilities, and barriers to effective instructional coaching and to use this information to make recommendations to…

This paper describes the Idaho Reading Coach Academy, which is part of the Idaho State Department of Education's (ISDE) K-3 literacy project, Striving to Meet Achievement in Reading Together (SMART). SMART is a multiyear cohort project that developed a statewide network of reading coaches who could provide direct support to participants. ISDE…

Dialogic teaching has been demonstrated to be conducive to the development of important competencies and skills such as creativity, communication skills and critical thinking skills. Yet, the literature confirms that teacher--student interactions in the classroom are predominantly monologic rather than dialogic across subjects, grades and…

In this article, the authors share the challenges we faced as we launched a center for teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we describe how we used design thinking as a strategy for working through these challenges. The article presents an overview of the design thinking process, a case study of our application of the process,…

Successful implementation of formative assessment in classrooms relies on teachers' formative assessment literacy, which is typically supported by professional development programs. This study reports on the impact of a professional development program on a group of in-service primary teachers in Hong Kong. The authors investigated the…

Throughout the past decades, the profession of school leader has become more complex. To deal with these increasing complexities and the challenges school leaders encounter, it is important that school leaders are provided with effective professional development. However, research on school leaders' learning and professional development, and…

Professional development programs (PDP) are an important tool for achieving educational goals; assessing their effectiveness, however, is complex. The success of PDP depends on teachers' ability to transfer newly gained knowledge and skills into practice. To assess this effectiveness, it is necessary to develop appropriate methodological tools.…

Assessment for learning (AfL) can facilitate students' development of metacognition. However, teachers often struggle with the implementation of AfL in their classroom. The dynamic approach can help teachers develop professionally in the complex competency that is AfL. The dynamic approach is based on four principles: (a) addressing the…

Lesson study is a type of inquiry cycle used by educators seeking to improve instruction and student learning. Educator teams collaboratively study student thinking, design lessons, observe student learning during a live classroom lesson, and conduct data-driven analysis and reflection on evidence of success. The use of lesson study in the U.S.…

This paper reports on research conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Certification Modular Model 2.0 (CMM 2.0) offered by the Teacher Quality Institute of the Australian Capital Territory. The research evaluated the extent to which the CMM 2.0 was attractive, sustainable and developmental. The data was collected via two surveys conducted…

The purpose of this study was to explore the professional and personal growth benefits for women faculty who engage in mentor and mentee relationships. The problem areas focus on the many obstacles to securing mentoring relationships for women faculty in higher education. There are many obstacles to securing mentoring relationships for junior…