The case study from Brunei described in this report provides a practical example of how learning outcomes in this area can be improved through the power of teacher coaching. This report explores how the Literacy and Numeracy Coaching Programme (LNCP) -- developed by Brunei's Ministry of Education with technical assistance from the Education…

Advancing the science of gifted education requires that researchers and educators better understand when and why (and for whom) programs and services are effective. Assessing Fidelity of Implementation (FoI) is key to achieving this level of understanding and can be incorporated into formative or summative evaluations and formal or informal…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

This 13th report in WestEd's evaluation of the K-8 Early Implementers Initiative for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provides an extensive response to the following question: What does NGSS science teaching look like in the classroom? The report first discusses Initiative teachers' experiences with four instructional practices that…

Improving the methods of instructing future educators, through program evaluation and improvement, should be a goal of all teacher education programs. In physical education, the National Association for Sport & Physical Education created standards for initial preparation of physical education teachers. The six standards for preparation include…

Lauded as a rewarding pedagogical approach, community-engagement can be time-consuming, resource-intensive, and difficult for instructors to manage for effective student learning outcomes. Collaborative teaching can allow instructors working in the same classroom to draw from each others' expertise and share resources. In this essay, we propose a…

Ever so slowly, the United States is taking a harder look at how its teacher preparation schools are improving the quality of the teachers they produce. The signs are everywhere--from proposed federal action to state legislatures and school boards passing new oversight laws and regulations, to a newly marshaled push for stronger accreditation by…

To support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the development and dissemination of two tools aimed at operationalizing classroom instruction based on the standards: (1) the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC)'s Framework; and (2) the Math Design Collaborative (MDC)'s…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality instructional and formative assessment tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality instructional and formative assessment tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense…

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. Math experts have developed formative assessment lessons (FALs) that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum.…

Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

In evaluating the success of teacher development programs, valid and scalable measures of teaching practice are needed. We have developed and validated the Science Lesson Plan Analysis Instrument (SLPAI) for quantitative evaluation of teacher-generated multiday lesson plans. This paper presents the SLPAI as a complement to surveys and classroom…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality formative assessment tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Core Common State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense attention to high quality…

These training materials are part of a four-volume set dealing with the Vocational Rehabilitation Program Standards Evaluation System (VRPSES). (VRPSES is concerned with evaluation standards developed to measure the performance of the vocational rehabilitation program in achieving its mandate.) Covered in the volume are the following topics: an…