This study examined patterns of change in the science teaching practice, beliefs, and content knowledge of 15 upper-elementary teachers from three Title I schools during their participation in a yearlong, reform-based science professional development program and during the year following the program. Further, this study sought to understand the…

Nationally adjunct faculty comprise almost 70% of all two-year institution faculty while in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) adjunct faculty teach 60% of the community college courses, and should past trends continue, the number of adjunct faculty members is expected to grow 10% within the next fifteen years (Caliber, 2007; Phillipe…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of "PAVEd for Success," comprehensive preliteracy program guidelines to support the development of foundational preliteracy skills in 4 year olds. Prekindergarten teachers received professional development on variables of the program that included a summer institute, after-school…

For the past 15 years, Catholic colleges and universities have developed programs serving Catholic K-12 schools by preparing teachers and leaders for Catholic school contexts. University-school partnerships provide an opportunity for Catholic institutions of higher education to extend beyond developing human resources to strengthen Catholic K-12…

Effective communication with teachers is a critical element of any successful professional development. Teachers are the foundational component of any educational system. It is vital that adequate attention is focused on appropriate and effective training of these teachers. Ideally, professional development offers a means of collaborative support…

Educational reforms have created tremendous stress for teachers in many parts of the world. This paper discusses the inadequacies of policy-makers treating teachers as having "deficits" that require "fixes", rather than addressing bigger system issues that cause their stress. Drawing from the case of a Hong Kong professional…

This paper compares and contrasts the impacts of three professional development designs aimed at middle school Earth science teachers on how teachers plan and enact instruction. The designs were similar in their alignment to research-based practices in science professional development: each design was of an extended duration and time span,…

This paper considers professional development in a context that is familiar and problematic to teaching teams in tertiary education everywhere, that of delivering online programmes with an ever-decreasing complement of staff. The Teaching Qualification Further Education (TQFE) teaching team at University of Dundee confronted the reality of reduced…

Having implemented and evaluated over 35 mlearning projects in a variety of contexts in higher education over the past 6 years the researcher is ready to share the untold secret: not all mlearning projects succeed! This article critiques three of the researcher's mlearning projects that can be classed as "failures" and compares them to successful…

This study investigated the application of an online videocase discussion community into fostering preservice and inservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' professional development in Taiwan. This investigation further revealed the nature and development of discussion discourse and the participating teachers' perceptions of this…

In 2006, special education teachers made up 12% of the educational workforce but only 7% of National Board Certified teachers. In contrast, general education teachers made up 88% of the educational workforce and 93% of National Board Certified teachers. This study surveyed a sample of special education teachers who successfully completed…

A national report by The Teaching Commission (2004), entitled "Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action", highlighted the significance of professional learning by teachers. Requirements outlined by the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) component of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) have emphasized the demands for high-quality professional…

In July 2007, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) began implementation of AISD REACH, a comprehensive and strategic compensation initiative. The initiative addressed three key areas: student growth, professional growth, and recruitment and retention of teachers and principals at highest needs schools. REACH combines an outcome-based pay…

In an invitational learning environment (Purkey, 1991; Schmidt, 2004), 7 teachers began the process of identifying their cultural identity and perspectives, naming ways that they used their cultural identity with their culturally diverse students, and discovering culturally responsive teaching pedagogies that they could use in their classrooms. In…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct a meta analysis study with the goal of providing state and local education leaders with scientifically-based evidence regarding the effects of teacher professional development on improving student learning. The analysis focused on…