Professional development for teachers is regarded as one of the principal pathways through which we can understand and cultivate effective teaching and improve student outcomes. A critical component of studies that seek to improve teaching through professional development is the detailed assessment of the intermediate teacher development processes…

With the increasing demand for evidence-based research on teacher effectiveness and improving student achievement, more impact studies are being conducted to examine the effectiveness of professional development (PD) interventions. Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) are often carried out to assess PD interventions that aim to improve both teacher…

This five-year study focused on school processes that promoted the scaling-up of a high school academic literacy framework, Reading Apprenticeship, developed by WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI). Implementing an innovative strategy for scaling-up involving school-based cross-disciplinary teacher teams, SLI brought the framework to 274…

The authors recently conducted a randomized controlled trial that showed a significant impact of teachers' lesson study, supported by mathematical resources, on both teachers' and students' understanding of fractions. The research and mathematical resources are described in the second part of this article. First the authors examine some of the…

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a continuing professional development (CPD) intervention in producing changes in physical education (PE) teaching practice and PE teaching quality by generalist primary school teachers when the CPD addressed the use of a game-centred approach. A cluster randomized controlled trial…

We conducted a randomized controlled potential efficacy trial to examine effects of two variants of the Tools for Teachers (TfT) professional development (PD) intervention on preschool teachers' implementation of embedded instruction practices and children's developmental and learning outcomes. Thirty-six preschool teachers recruited from three…

The present study examines the extent to which participation in a 14-week professional development course designed to improve teacher-child interactions in the classroom moderated the relation between teacher-reported job stress and gains in observed teacher-child interaction quality from the beginning to the end of the intervention. Participants…

Increasing teacher efficacy poses challenges to educational leaders, highlighting the need for a study of the awareness and development of strengths related to teacher efficacy. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of the awareness and development of strengths on teachers' perceived self-efficacy, as well as to determine if…

Data-based problem solving is a hallmark of research-supported practices such as positive behavioral interventions and supports. In this study, we provided members of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) teams from 38 elementary schools with professional development focused on a research-supported problem-solving model…

Data-based decision making (DBDM) is an important element of educational policy in many countries, as it is assumed that student achievement will improve if teachers worked in a data-based way. However, studies that evaluate rigorously the effects of DBDM on student achievement are scarce. In this study, the effects of an intensive…

This multiyear scale-up effectiveness study of Open Court Reading (OCR) involved approximately 4,500 students and more than 1,000 teachers per year in Grades K-5 from 49 elementary schools in seven districts across the country. Using a school-level cluster randomized trial design, we assessed the implementation and effectiveness of Open Court…

Research Learning Communities (RLC) was an intervention that aimed to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes by raising teachers' awareness, understanding, and use of educational research in their teaching practice. Two Evidence Champion teachers from each school attended four RLC workshops with peers from up to four other schools.…

With the increase in the use of online professional development resources, especially for rural educators, this study evaluated the effects of online training modules on in-service teachers' ability to collect and use instructional progress monitoring data to make instructional decisions for students with significant disability (i.e., moderate to…

Lesson Study is a popular approach to teacher professional development used widely in Japan. It involves a small group of teachers co-planning a series of lessons based on a shared learning goal for the pupils, with one teacher leading the co-constructed lesson and their colleagues invited to observe pupil learning in the lesson. The team then…

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a pilot intervention using a game-centered approach for improvement of physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE) outcomes simultaneously, and if this had an impact on enjoyment of PE. A group-randomized controlled trial with a 7-week wait-list control group was conducted…