The purpose for this qualitative study was to describe elementary school teachers' perspectives on working with a literacy instructional coach. The particular literacy instructional coach in this study was also a university professor, not employed by the school district. The university professor provided professional learning to meet instructional…

Purpose and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two approaches to professional development methodologies implemented in public schools. A quantitative, correlational research design was employed to determine whether the academic success in the core content areas of reading, writing, math and science could…

Recent trends in teacher preparation have been toward a clinical model that provides teacher candidates with more authentic classroom experiences that are connected with methods courses. One type of clinical model that is on the rise is known as a professional development school (PDS). PDS structures are formal arrangements between P-12 schools…

This paper reports the effects on children, teacher candidates, and classroom teachers of a PDS-based initial certification course in the teaching of literacy. In this course, teacher candidates work with individual struggling readers on a range of literacy tasks, and the classroom teacher and university faculty member serve as course…

This article describes how a literacy learning community model was developed between two high school partnership sites and a large southern public university, and how teacher collaboration and shared learning across content areas in the first year impacted teachers' learning about literacy instruction and their school's vision for literacy.…

As more and more schools implement professional learning communities (PLCs), school librarians often ask: What is the role of school librarians in PLCs? What should they be doing to contribute? What are their colleagues in other schools doing? In this article the authors explore these questions by first describing eight potential roles for school…

Grantmakers for Education's Principles for Effective Education Grantmaking identify "innovation" and "constant learning" as a core proposition for achieving results in education philanthropy. To illustrate this principle, "Learning by Doing" examines the Noyce Foundation's efforts to apply new information to its…

In order to systemically improve student achievement in elementary literacy, a large urban school district partnered with a local university to develop a model for high-quality professional development that hopefully would result in long-term changes in teachers' literacy instructional/practices. Schools were selected based on their Adequate…

When it comes to professional development, state and local education institutions frequently support the priorities of determining content area needs and organizing the delivery of the professional development, but less often comprehensively evaluate the training's overall effectiveness. Taking current research and practical application into…

This is the first examination of exemplary evaluation under a new editorial approach, in which the authors are attempting not only to report how the evaluation was conducted and to explain the rationale for design and implementation but also to examine the conditions, events, or actions that might have contributed to its exemplary status. This…

Since joining the Coalition of Essential Schools in February 1999, the South Lawrence East Elementary School has used the CES Common Principles as the foundation for enhancing its culture and ensuring student success. To help the teachers meet their literacy goals, the school began a partnership in the spring of 2000 with the Eliot-Pearson Center…

This article describes a study on the module-based online professional development project. The professional development model providing a basis for the Reading CEU (continuing education unit) Module Project involved four groups of stakeholders: master teacher instructors, module participants, module developers, and the university support team.…

Working with the National Council of Teachers of English, South Carolina has taken the bold step of focusing professional development in reading on teachers, rather than programs. The state created the South Carolina Reading Initiative (SCRI), a multi-year, research-based professional development model. (MLF)

This article is a descriptive account of a professional learning community established among university professors, university teacher candidates, a school district instructional supervisor, the high school principal, a high school literacy coordinator, and teachers of a Mid-Atlantic high school in the United States. This learning community…

This article introduces Project PREPARE, a 5-year project to develop a collaborative site of practice and inquiry between two universities, primary and elementary schools in a poor rural town, and the school district. During the collaboration, there were steady improvement in student achievement in reading and mathematics on multiple measures.…