Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline how collective capacity building is supporting system-wide reform in one country. It seeks to outline the way in which professional learning communities within, between and across schools are creating an infrastructure for improving professional practice and raising standards.…

What is transformative professional development for educators? Ideally, teachers and school leaders are given multiple opportunities to revisit schemas about themselves and their learning communities, with the intent to transform practice, the school environment, and even themselves. In practice, three cohorts of teachers and school leaders…

Over the last few years, almost all local education boards in Japan have redesigned their teacher evaluation methods. Consequently, questions then arise as to whether the new policies and practices are control measures for teachers' performance and competence or do they represent an opportunity for authentic professional development? With this in…

The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers use collaboration to improve practice in a Midwest elementary school. A case study approach was used for this research utilizing qualitative research techniques including surveys, individual interviews, and review of teacher reflective journals. This methodology was selected because the focus…

Despite clear evidence that formative assessment creates vantage points throughout the teaching-learning cycle for both teachers and students, research suggests that teachers are not taking advantage of the full cadre of formative assessment strategies available to them--particularly those that have been associated with improved student learning…

In this article, the author describes his work with a professional network in Connecticut. The Connecticut Superintendents Network is designed to be a community of practice among superintendents who are committed to sustained instructional improvement in their districts. Here, the Harvard University professor applies the medical rounds model to…

Sixty-one interns, who completed the Master of School Administration program at a North Carolina university, and their 49 principal-mentors, when asked what interpersonal and professional characteristics and assignment concerns they perceive as important when selecting and assigning mentors, listed strong leadership abilities and high…

One aspect of teacher induction that has been given inadequate attention in relation to its importance is the issue of mentor accountability. Using data from the 1989-1990 school year, this study investigated the degree to which mentors acted in accordance with standards set out by the Connecticut State Department of Education. Two research…

Scholars and practitioners have long criticized teacher evaluation as ineffective. Peer assistance and review (PAR) alters traditional teacher evaluation, as master teachers conduct summative as well as formative assessment of beginning teachers and veteran teachers in need of intervention. Relying on data from a longitudinal case study of one…

We use dialogic theory to frame our conversation about how we are completing our Ph.D.s, in an attempt to help other students finish their degrees. Dialogic theory allows us to document how we think through the Ph.D. process, critically evaluate our experiences in graduate school, and transcend solely individualistic or structurally oriented…

This research brief presents an overview of a 2004 study by G.S. Shannon and P. Bylsma entitled "Characteristics of Improved School Districts: Themes from Research" (Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction). The authors reviewed more than 80 research articles that investigated the attributes of schools and districts …