Building upon the work of social constructivists Vygotsky (1978) and Bakhtin (1981) and their work in dialogic instruction, as well as the self-efficacy theory put forth by Bandura (1977), this study sought to answer these questions: How does teacher participation in a book club impact teacher disposition to dialogic practices in the classroom?…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Exploring Scholars Initiative (ESI) at Alpine International School (AIS) in Europe in enhancing collective teacher efficacy. Established nine years ago, the ESI supports innovation and best practices in professional development. Alpine International School faculty are invited to propose passion projects…

Orientation programs have traditionally been implemented to share information about the institution and typically involve consistent goals that connect new faculty to other colleagues, clarify and establish expectations, expose new faculty to the culture of the institution, and introduce each to the available services at the institution.…

The rising teacher attrition rates coupled with the challenges associated with the millennial teacher dynamics have heightened the need to address the teacher shortage crisis. Millennial age teachers encompass the largest growing generation cohort serving in the teacher workforce. While many district and school leaders have orientation and…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact and perceptions of professional learning and the new teacher training opportunities offered at Bay Area Christian High School (BACHS) on teacher and student outcomes. Using Guskey's (1986) theory of teacher change as a guiding framework with support from Fuller's (1969) theory of…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact and perceptions of professional learning and the new teacher training opportunities offered at Bay Area Christian High School (BACHS) on teacher and student outcomes. Using Guskey's (1986) theory of teacher change as a guiding framework with support from Fuller's (1969) theory of…

This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of teachers towards their professional development (PD) in a school with a high population of low-income students. The study focus was driven by critical theory with a unique application of attribution theory as a part of the data analysis. This moved the data analysis beyond simply a…

Decades of research have elucidated the practices associated with effective professional development (PD) for educators, yet evidence suggests that school practices in the United States do not regularly meet these criteria, and even when they do, they may not have the desired effect on student outcomes (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Didion et al.,…

This Educational Leadership Portfolio (ELP) addresses the issue related to children's screen time and indoor sedentary behavior. Research shows that young children need to have time outside in nature to ensure holistic development in the twenty-first century. The overarching goal of this work is to reduce the extent of children's indoor sedentary…

The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice (DiP) is to discover how educators serving students with significant learning challenges describe the impact of participation in an appreciative leadership development program on their work and professional growth as leaders. This scholar-practitioner DiP achieves this goal through the scholarly pursuit…

The incorporation of Arts Integration in today's classroom has been utilized in an effort to promote higher levels of student engagement and learning. This teaching strategy exposes students to a new way of learning which researchers have said can lead to increased student attendance, engagement, and achievement (Darts, 2006; Gajda & Dorfram,…

For over three decades, U.S. public schools have utilized various formal mentoring and induction programs to support early career teachers' professional development and facilitate their willingness to remain in the teaching profession for longer than the first few years. These programs however vary in content, quality and targeted audience.…

This research study explored perceived influence of an instructional coaching program on teacher self-efficacy based on voluntary participation in comparison to mandated participation. At the time of this study, the literature on instructional coaching incorporated studies that tie instructional coaching to increases in teacher self-efficacy;…

Research indicates the most effective type of teacher professional development (TPD) involves a sustained and ongoing experience, which is coherent, job-embedded, and involves active participation by the learner and includes a learning community (Borko et al., 2010; Desimone, 2009; Easton, 2008; Loucks-Horsely et al., 2010). However, most teachers…

As a result of the national shift to a more standards-based model for education, principals across the country are leading organizational change in all aspects of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership for student learning. One reform initiative, entitled standards-based grading (SBG), attempts to reimagine the way schools measure and…