Wouldn't it be great if all your teachers were as good as your best? Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers work behind closed doors, doing their own thing. Peer coaching is a collaborative, ongoing process that can increase the effectiveness of all your teachers. This "Focus On" is designed to lead a faculty into the…

Teaching is a lifelong challenge, but the first few years in the classroom are typically a teacher's hardest. Since "The New Teacher Book" first came out in 2004, it has sold over 50,000 copies and become an invaluable resource for new teachers entering the classroom. This expanded collection of writings and reflections--some by new…

This quantitative study examined the effects of a New Hampshire Department of Education policy, Ed 512. This mandated state policy was designed to influence local district leadership to facilitate the development of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at the school level with the goal of improving instruction in the classroom. For this study…

Even though introductory educational psychology is a widespread feature of preservice teacher education, instructors of this course generally learn to teach the course in isolation from each other--a circumstance that limits the effectiveness of this course. The traditional strategies of professional development are conducting research about the…

The study examined the relationship between Catholic school teachers' motivation and job satisfaction. The data came from a survey of 716 teachers in three dioceses (Atlanta, Biloxi, and Cheyenne). The school's academic philosophy and its environment were important predictors of the teachers' satisfaction with their sense of efficacy regarding…

The recession has impacted American families and the schools their children attend like nothing in recent memory. Many families continue to struggle with the impact of joblessness. The number of homeless children and youth is staggering. Families struggle with access to health care, growing hunger and greater instability in the family unit.…

In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the effectiveness of knowledge transfer processes between academia and industry. Although there is growing evidence that the characteristics of individual researchers are important when explaining cases of successful transfer, few studies have taken the individual researcher as their unit of…

Using survey responses from a national sample of US teachers, this paper provides insight into 2 questions: (1) Do 3 specific attributes of leadership behavior--the sharing of leadership with teachers, the development of trust relationships among professionals, and the provision of support for instructional improvement--affect teachers' work with…

The cognitive and learning styles research domain is a highly complex one which has recently been the focus of rigour-relevance debates (Coffield et al. 2004; Evans and Sadler-Smith 2006; Rayner 2006). There is considerable support for the existence and value of style as a construct (Sternberg 1996) even though further work is needed to evidence…

Can we imagine different ways of working together to secure better outcomes for children and families? What are the complex issues that underlie the apparently simple call for "joined-up" services? Children's services in many countries around the world are being transformed as part of the call for "joined-up working for joined-up…

Faculty trust and organizational citizenship are vital aspects for schools. Both facets are of increased importance in this age of accountability and declining resources. The major focus of this study was to examine the relationship between dimensions of faculty trust and organizational citizenship by elementary school teachers. The general…

The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers use collaboration to improve practice in a Midwest elementary school. A case study approach was used for this research utilizing qualitative research techniques including surveys, individual interviews, and review of teacher reflective journals. This methodology was selected because the focus…

Background: The student teaching internship is the culminating experience and has been cited as the most significant, exciting, and difficult experience teacher candidates will encounter throughout their entire teacher preparation program. In order to prepare business teacher candidates for their internships, it is critical to understand the…

There is a widening gap between the health care needs of older persons and the treatment skills of the health care professionals who serve them. This gap is especially severe in rural areas, where there is a shortage of and inadequate collaboration between health care professionals and poor access to services for older persons. There is also a…

Many universities have introduced team supervision as a means of intervening in the intensity of the traditional supervisor-student dyad. This policy is intended to provide students with a great support during their candidature and to share the burden of sole supervision. It is also a pedagogy that seeks to support students' engagement with new…