Background/Context: The emphasis on scientific practices articulated by the National Research Council framework and the Next Generation Science Standards requires significant pedagogical shifts for U.S. science teachers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study provides a rare window into the challenges and opportunities…

For the advancement of current and future economic and overall well-being to occur, STEM professionals are highly needed. STEM education is an approach that integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula into one interdisciplinary curriculum. In the context of STEM education, learners acquire deep and critical thinking…

This study addresses current dilemmas surrounding features of effective teacher professional development (PD). Using a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the complexity of teacher learning, this study investigates the interconnections among teachers' professional backgrounds, purposes for developing professionally, teaching contexts,…

There is growing enthusiasm for STEAM education in preparing students for an increasingly complex world. However, implementing STEAM in the classroom can be challenging for educators, as it may require collaboration across disciplines, increased workload, and understanding the nature of STEAM integration. This paper details a mixed-methods…

In an effort to address K-8 teacher confidence in STEM and increase basic genetics knowledge to a level consistent with its importance in society, we have developed, implemented, and evaluated a 7-day teacher professional development workshop. The overarching goal of our workshop is to facilitate the implementation of innovative DNA-based…

A curriculum-linked professional development approach designed to support middle level science teachers' understandings about tectonics and geospatial pedagogical content knowledge was developed. This approach takes into account limited face-to-face professional development time and instead provides pedagogical support within the design of a…

In recent years, K-12 schools throughout the United States have garnered nationwide attention because of bullying problems. Bullying impacts schools in various ways: student performance and self-regard, and it creates an environment of hostility in schools. Many factors contribute to the problem, including socioeconomic status, low self-esteem,…

The authors drew upon Remillard and Bryans' categorization of curriculum use in observating two middle-grade teachers' integration of Standards-based curriculum materials produced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Each teacher participated in a two-year professional development program focused on increasing content knowledge and…

The importance of professional development (PD) is clearly understood; however, little is known about how the most effective PD influences teachers' learning and how teachers perceive PD that goes beyond the typical two-hour session on an aspect of instruction. In this article, the authors present the response of a group of middle school teachers…

Middle school teachers' use of digital curricula incorporating dynamic technology has been found to support student learning of complex algebraic concepts. This article reports on pilot research involving collaboration among faculty from a public university's college of education, educational researchers from a nonprofit research organization, and…

This article discusses a study of three Australian middle-years teachers who deployed Learning by Design principles and practice to support multiliteracies learning through students' production of digital/multimodal texts. The aim of the research was to develop an understanding of how three teachers embraced new e-learning pedagogical designs for…

The development of inquiry and project-based materials is challenging in many ways, not the least of which is the design of supports for teachers implementing such materials. We report on the design of educative and just-in-time teacher supports for an online project-based unit in ocean science. The teacher supports were visible as tabs on the…

In this article we sought to understand how social studies teachers' metacognitive awareness of their technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) changed after their participation in a program that consisted of: (a) professional development for the use of an online learning environment; and (b) using an online learning environment in…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

This paper will describe results concerning the impact of the PD on the three primary study outcomes: teacher knowledge of rational number topics, teacher instructional practices, and student achievement in rational number topics. All analyses are completed. However, the results cannot be shared at this time because the report is currently under…