The culture of isolation in schools leaves many art educators feeling that they are, in a sense, islands. Working from the idea of an island, I use the geographic metaphor of an archipelago as a means to understand the tensions between isolation and collaboration related to professional development for art educators. In this article, I describe…

The working theory of internal accountability has emerged as an alternative model for thinking about educational accountability. Internal accountability is defined by three layers of interaction: 1) individuals' sense of responsibility; 2) shared norms and expectations among individuals in an organization; and 3) the capacity of the organization…

Business leaders, United States citizens, and American politicians continue to seek school reform as a means for providing the United States with a workforce consisting of employees who possess 21st century skills. The development of teacher transformational leadership and the use of distributed leadership practices are needed to create public…

The National Research Council's most recent report "Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8," (2007) has suggested a redefinition of science proficiency. "This framework rests on a view of science as both a body of knowledge and an evidence-based, model building enterprise that continually extends,…

Wouldn't it be great if all your teachers were as good as your best? Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers work behind closed doors, doing their own thing. Peer coaching is a collaborative, ongoing process that can increase the effectiveness of all your teachers. This "Focus On" is designed to lead a faculty into the…

Context: Mid-level providers comprise an increasing proportion of the health care workforce and play a key role in providing health services in rural and underserved areas. Although women comprise the majority of mid-level providers, they are less likely to work in a rural area than men. Maldistribution of health providers between urban and rural…