This report summarizes the factors that were commonly noted across five high achieving elementary schools in Colorado: (1) Burlington; (2) Canyon Creek; (3) Soaring Eagles; (4) South Lakewood; and (5) Tavelli. After 10 days of onsite visits to participating schools, noteworthy commonalities surfaced across the schools. Policies, practices, and…

This paper reports implementation results of designing a workshop for mathematics teachers in introducing classroom social norms. The participants are eight mathematics teachers in primary and junior secondary level. Teachers learned and did some activities about social norms during the workshop. First, they watched an example of learning videos…

Since Schön's influential work on reflective practice, reflection has been prioritised in teacher education programmes internationally. The research described in this paper examined the development of postgraduate student teachers' reflective processes in their first school placement. Twenty-five students were asked to write an account of their…

This study of two successful first grade teachers examines the forces that guide their instructional decisions. Findings reveal the complexities of forces that influence the moment-to-moment decisions made by these teachers. Teachers repeatedly attempted to balance their desires to be student-centered while addressing state standards and…

Implementing teacher evaluation systems across the United States has created both challenges and opportunities to improving teacher quality. Lessons learned at the state level illustrate a wide range of challenges with system implementation, including value-added growth scores, implementation timetables, and human capital demands (McGuinn, 2012),…

Profile analyses were used to investigate differences in the self-efficacy growth of teachers with more and less mathematics background as the teachers participated in professional development across two summers. Professional development activities were associated with increases in teachers' self-efficacy; however, without considering mathematics…

Whole-School Professional Development (PD) days held regularly in schools are designed to promote and up-skill school staff on relevant areas of educational policy and practice. An aim of PD days is to empower participants with new knowledges and skills, and to confirm that current practices and interpretations of education policy and procedure…

This case study analysed the circumstances during a one-year work placement in which a pre-service teacher showed professional development, with a focus on the impact of her interactions with various interlocutors. The study was conducted within the framework of the cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and of activity theory with its methods…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the visual arts beliefs and practices of eight K-1 teachers in four schools and in two different school districts in a southern state. Using a phenomenological framework (Creswell, 2007; Leedy & Ormrod, 2005), the research revealed the teachers' understandings of beliefs and how…

Elementary teachers often cite challenging student behaviours and classroom management as areas of concern and therefore priorities for professional development. In this paper, the authors discuss the findings from a two-year research project, Sociocultural Perspectives on Behaviour and Classroom Management (SPBCM). SPBCM examined the social and…

This article examines the outcomes of an eight-month professional development initiative, designed to support six Writing Project teachers' classroom inquiry projects, each focused on improving an aspect of student writing. We begin by introducing the genesis of these classroom research projects as well as the structure and content of the support…

The following is a pilot study examining the impact of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) program on a group of pre-school and elementary school teachers (n = 11). CARE is a professional development program that utilizes mindfulness practices and emotional awareness skills designed to reduce stress and improve teaching…

International practicum is disappearing from teacher education programs with the increasing pressures for "local experience". International practicum is seen as too different from local contexts to develop preservice teachers to meet professional standards. This study explores the teaching development of a group of 24 preservice teachers…

This dissertation focuses on beginning mathematics teachers from alternative certification programs and their perceptions of what is required to be successful. A mixed-methods research study was completed with several goals in mind: (1) identifying how beginning mathematics teachers define success in the classroom during their earliest years, (2)…

This study is a phenomenology of the practice of high school teaching. It is an examination of the day-to-day lived experience of high school teachers. The research is grounded in Heidegger's (1962) theory of hermeneutic phenomenology, as well as Polanyi's (1961) theory of tacit knowing. The study uses a phenomenological research design influenced…