Competence-based education refers to the integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes and interactivity as the intended outcomes of learning. It makes use of lifelong learning and lifelike tasks in realistic settings and requires the cooperation of teachers. This research was prompted by the desire to explain why collegial cooperation often seems…

This mixed-methods study examines middle school students' academic language development in the context of a year-long professional development project titled, Developing Content Area Academic Language (DCAAL). The purpose of DCAAL was to partner middle school teachers (n = 8) with a team of university researchers to explore how to integrate…

This paper presents the findings from a project that explored teachers' adaptations to technological change in four large classes in higher education. In these classes, lecturers changed from single- to multi-lecture settings mediated by videoconferencing, requiring them to transfer their beliefs and practices into a new pedagogical space. The…

Raven Elementary teachers collaboratively adhered to a systematic reading program, administered frequent assessments, and their students' test scores improved over time. Our findings indicate that, though effective for improving certain outcomes, such a tightly designed and narrowly focused system created a limiting learning environment for…

Previous research indicates that lesson study can support preservice teachers' abilities to professionally notice. This qualitative case study examined specific lexical and indexical conversational components of lesson study analysis meetings that afford or constrain elementary preservice teachers' incidences of professionally noticing students'…

This article focuses on teacher professional development (TPD) in natural science through the 5E model as mediating artifact. The study was conducted in an upper secondary school, grounded in a school-based intervention research project. My contribution to the field of research on TPD is founded on the hypothesis that teachers would be best…

Schools are using various forms of professional learning communities (PLCs) in order to increase student achievement and improve educational practices through enhanced communication and collaboration among teachers. This study examined a PLC that had too narrow a focus and failed therefore to affect student achievement. A critical shortcoming of…

We study the relationship between mentors' and mathematics teachers' performance in an education program. To this end, we characterize the relationship between the changes made in the written productions of three groups of teachers and the characteristics of their mentors' comments that could motivate those changes--type of comment, content, and…

Despite significant pressure to reform science teaching and learning in K12 schools, and a concurrent call to reform undergraduate courses, higher education science content courses have remained relatively static. Higher education science faculty have few opportunities to explore research on how people learn, examine state or national science…

Policy makers, practitioners and scholars agree that teachers need sustained job-embedded professional learning experiences to help students meet the demands of new accountability systems, higher education, and the workforce (Smylie, Miretzky, & Konkol, 2004; Valli & Buese, 2007). Research shows that job-embedded learning for teachers can…

Initiated for the 2013-14 school year, the Common Assignment Study (CAS) is a three-year effort being led by the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) and The Fund for Transforming Education in Kentucky (The Fund) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Conceptually, CAS builds on previous efforts to improve instruction through…

The purpose of this dissertation research was to capture the lived experiences of teachers in an independent private school during a four-year period of multiple systemic changes. This was done in a retrospective manner to gain firsthand insights from within the systemic change. The perceptions on change from teachers with varying academic…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the implementation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) as a professional development model effective in altering teachers' perceptions of their knowledge and skill in teaching developmental writing in grades K-3. This research is necessary to examine how offering teachers…

De-contextualized professional development is the common route taken by school districts to addresses pedagogical skills and address change within an educational organization. Research suggests that the current process of professional development activities is limited if not ineffective. Research shows that another model of professional…

To help create a supportive learning environment for students, school psychologists must collaborate daily with parents, teachers, and other professionals. Effective communication is an indispensable tool for helping to ensure that all parties understand how they play an essential role in a student's development. The ability to communicate…