This article describes a school-university partnership that focuses on the development of classroom management skills for preservice teachers in an urban setting, through collaboration between mentors, principals, and a university supervisor. To prepare preservice teachers for the unique challenges of urban schools, three key elements were…

Every teacher can recall a range of experiences in professional development workshops. Some of these may have provided opportunities in which teachers felt engaged, empowered, and supported as learners, while others felt disconnected from practice. Although these authors recognize that workshops, particularly those with no follow-up support, are…

In 2007, using funds from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) and private foundations, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began piloting its version of a schoolwide reform model called the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP). Under the TAP model, teachers can earn extra pay and take on increased responsibilities through promotion (to mentor…

In this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, curricula are viewed as catalysts to improve high school students' mathematics performances and a critical question is whether single subject or integrated curricula produce stronger student outcomes. This study was designed to investigate the effects of an integrated reform-based curriculum,…

Facing a new state mandate, Maryland teacher educators established a pilot professional development school (PDS) and achieved positive results with preservice teachers. The PDS internship was more effective than the regular program in preparing teacher candidates to maintain classroom discipline, use technology effectively for instruction, and…

The purpose of this article is to describe a new approach for conducting multi-site evaluations of professional development (PD). The approach extends a popular model of PD evaluation through the creation of individual project profiles that take into account the unique contextual variables of individual projects while providing an evaluation…

The capacity of any professional development effort to achieve durable change in teacher practice is affected by a host of design factors and their precise alignment with multiple delivery strategies. However, how successful professional development (PD) programs achieve an effective mix of these factors and strategies is not well understood. The…

Over the past 6 years, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have influenced the theory and practice of evaluation. In 2006, Robin Miller, with the help of Christian Coryn of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU), and Daniela Schroeter, also at the Center, sat down with widely regarded…

This qualitative study explored the impact of teacher collaboration in a professional learning communities (PLC) school on teacher self-efficacy. Through the collection and analysis of personal interview data from 20 teachers in a large, suburban Midwestern high school, the impact of structured teacher collaboration was evaluated for its impact on…

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Division of Violence Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation of programs aimed at improving students' behavior. For this evaluation, such programs were termed Social…

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for evaluating a professional development school program to enact an evidence-based model for a continuous cycle of program improvement. Guided by the logic model for program evaluation, we developed three survey instruments based on the professional development school standards of the National…

In 1991, the Newark School District (New Jersey), through the partnership of the Newark Teachers' Union and Montclair State University, established the first professional development school (PDS) in the city. Used primarily as a center for retooling elementary grade teachers in grades 6, 7, and 8, the school has come to play a pivotal role in the…

PPG's training department enhanced its value to the organization by getting closer to its internal customer and helping them build the competencies needed to meet business goals. Techniques included the training, development, and education process model and a professional development sourcebook clarifying competencies and activities for acquiring…

Educational technology-related professional development (ETPD) can be designed in many different ways. ETPD varies by general purposes and goals, specific learning objectives, curriculum content, student grade levels for which the strategies and tools presented are appropriate, professional development models used, how it is matched to…

This report presents pilot-test results for a science professional development program featuring online, on-demand materials developed by the National Science Teachers Association. During the spring 2006 semester, 45 middle school teachers from three different school districts across the United States participated in a professional development…