A recent law in a New England state allowed public schools to operate with increased flexibility and autonomy through the authorization of the creation of Innovation Schools. This project study, a program evaluation using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the first Innovation School…

Research reveals that many teachers express a discomfort about teaching writing; moreover, there is growing evidence that professional learning communities can have a positive impact on teacher learning and performance. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the relationship between teachers' involvement in a professional…

African American students, commonly designated a sub-group in assessment data reports, consistently score well below their peers in mathematics. A consequence of this phenomenon is that math teachers often feel obligated to provide remedial methods of instruction focused on recall and repetitive practice, believing that these strategies will…

"Experiential" professional development (EPD), influenced by Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound design, was integrated in the classrooms of secondary Spanish teachers to create opportunities for them to learn to use communicative language teaching (CLT) through experience. Teachers collaborated with colleagues, students, and a…

In this article we describe a secondary-postsecondary collaborative partnership that addressed the issue of students' frequent failures as they transition from high school to college mathematics courses. Although the partnership did not take place in a professional development school, secondary and postsecondary participants worked together as…

This article describes efforts to increase faculty involvement in suicide prevention and mental health promotion via curriculum infusion. The participants were faculty, staff, and 659 students enrolled in classes of a large eastern university from Fall 2007-Spring 2011. Counselors, health educators, and medical providers recruited faculty from a…

According to this author, when it comes to data-based decision making, many educators are looking in the wrong place. This is one reason why this potentially powerful practice has too often under-delivered. Many schools rush headlong into analyzing data without considering if the data they are reviewing is worth the effort, if other data might…

Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) released the first comprehensive study of assessment perceptions in 2012 that surveyed parents, teachers, and district administrators. In the intervening years, the landscape has shifted dramatically; indeed, it continues to shift every day. With new standards, accountability assessments, and ways of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the role that a collaborative teaching approach, referred to as a community of practice (CoP), had on a team of four second grade teachers' implementation of a science-based interdisciplinary curriculum. Data was collected in the form of extensive observation notes gathered over 10-weeks of twice weekly…

This study sought to compare the attitudes of Israeli homeroom and special-area teachers' toward home-school collaboration. The issues examined were general attitudes, level of commitment, and actual initiation of such collaboration. Data were collected from 110 elementary and secondary-school teachers who live in a northern town in Israel.…

There are many problems facing educators today. Student retention, standardized test scores, and motivational issues are only a few. It seems that students are dropping out of school at higher rates and having more difficulty finding motivation to do well on their school work and standardized tests. This sought to investigate strategies that…

High school mathematics inclusion classes help provide all students the access to rigorous curriculum. This study provides information about the teacher efficacy of high school mathematics co-teachers. It considers the influence of the amount of collaborative planning time on the efficacy of co-teachers. A quantitative research design was used,…

This ethnographic case study examined the roles of district and school macro-culture and teacher sub-group micro-culture in influencing the nature and extent of teachers' professional collaboration. Informed by the sociocognitive theory that learning is rooted in social relationships and develops through interpersonal discourse and activity, the…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple participant case study was to understand the impact of a nine month collaborative literacy coaching (CLC) initiative on middle and high school content teachers' personal and general sense of efficacy for literacy teaching. A variety of data, including but not limited to transcripts of weekly…

Communication and professional dialogue are essential elements of a high-quality education environment in which all students can succeed. Such an environment is especially important for the success of students with special needs. Unfortunately, collaboration between special educators, general educators, and other professionals is often hindered by…