For investigating a comprehensive PLC framework, instruments are needed that capture the multi-layered PLC characteristics and that take into account the complex influencing educational context. Such instruments are currently lacking. This study aims at describing the development and validation of two qualitative classification instruments usable…

Two departments in a secondary school in England participated in "lesson study" projects over a five-month period to explore its usefulness as a vehicle for professional development. Through a cycle of two research lessons, conducted separately in each department, teachers identified challenges that inhibited the learning of their…

In the United States, effective data use is proving to be a vexing problem. In response, scholars have recently begun viewing this as a systemic problem, believing there are actions a school district may take to make data use more efficient and tenable throughout the organization. In this article, we add to the knowledge of how school…

The purpose of this study was to provide insight into teacher perceptions as to if and how professional learning communities (PLCs) promote and support effective professional development in a rural high school. Effective professional development should enhance pedagogy, which is defined as improving educational practices of teachers through…

The purpose of this study was to investigate participating teachers' (PTs) perceptions on the effectiveness of collaborating with a peer for purposes of professional development. As the primary researcher, I wanted to investigate how my colleagues (PTs) perceived peer-to-peer collaboration as a method of professional development. As well, I wanted…

This qualitative study explored the collaborative team practices used by elementary teachers working in collaborative teams within one school district. The study consisted of simultaneous data collection that included: eleven observations of team meetings, fifteen individual in-depth interviews, one focus group discussion and document review…

We discuss the results of a study aimed at shedding light on the influence that the sharing of professional teaching experiences may have on teachers' professional learning. The focus is on the uses that participants make of their notes about their lesson planning experience in an in-service blended learning course, and the mediation strategies…

Educational reform is not easy. As school leaders search for a format that leads to improvement on many fronts concurrently, data teams is one such promising practice. The data team design not only involves sensemaking of data as evidence of effective teaching and learning, but also builds a professional learning community, distributes leadership,…

The Project Approach has been applied to early childhood education in Taiwan since 1993. The purposes of this study were to explore how teachers of young children conduct the Project Approach, what challenges they have encountered and what support they may need. In addition, this study investigates teachers' implementation of the Project Approach…

Although there are a million reasons why some schools do not work, there is one thing that Breakthrough High Schools (BTHS) have in common: a principal who has a focused vision that is based on the needs of his or her school and district and an ability to rally the troops and move the school away from the herd. The principal's ability to carefully…

In the fall of 2007, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) was invited by Philadelphia's School Reform Commission to conduct a Strategic Professional Development Review for the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). ERS is a nonprofit organization that is nationally recognized for its extensive work in partnering with urban school districts to make…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…