This article presents a methodological comparison of beliefs and practices with regard to teaching a third-year introduction to reading and literature course. It reviews the different educational backgrounds of the teachers--one in foreign language acquisition and the other in literary study--and describes their different approaches to teaching…

This study investigated the perceptions of teachers regarding their own professional development along five distinct constructs (teaming, time, organizational support, communication, and professional responsibility). It also compared the perceptions of teachers utilizing a team-based approach to professional development with the perceptions of…

This study explored elementary school teachers' perspectives on their evolving understanding of themselves and children as learners while they were co-researchers in inquiry about children's thinking. Through collaborative inquiry, professional reading, classroom experimentation, shared stories, and personal reflection, participants created a…

This collection of papers presents the reflections of five beginning public school teachers from the greater Boston area on their first years in teaching. They share lessons garnered from teaching, writing, and reflecting together on their introductory experiences. As their first months in teaching passed, they found themselves working in some…

This publication presents a collection of tools that promote instructional coherence. It focuses on the importance of teachers collaborating to develop a deeper understanding of how children learn and exploring relationships between teaching and learning. Coherence leads to improved educational experiences for learners as teachers make their…

A limited approach to team teaching at the college level is described and assessed. Two instructors with solo assignments collaborated to teach a single instructional unit across separate sections of an interdisciplinary course. The experience demonstrated that small-scale joint teaching can have significant advantages while avoiding the practical…

To tackle low achievement and a 22% freshmen student withdrawal rate, a Seattle, Washington, high school gradually restructured its vision, policies, and curriculum. A committee fashioned the Bridge project, providing all freshmen with access to opportunities promoting academic achievement, responsibility, school spirit, fellowship, acceptance,…

This group of classroom tips discusses the benefits of peer coaching, peer group conversation about teachers' classroom experiences, using visual displays for collegial sharing, using cultural brokers in educational settings, and the role of picture books in developing literacy skills in diverse students with disabilities. (Author/CK)

Relates curriculum change theory to changes in vocational education and training. Defines dissemination as a central strategy in the change process. Examines the role of top-down educational management and bottom-up teacher collaboration in the change process. (Author/SK)

Discusses current middle school reform efforts and the need to change significantly the structure and practice of middle school education. Examines three practices that hold great promise for meeting the increasingly diverse needs of middle school students (and that boost each others' effectiveness): teacher collaboration, block scheduling, and…

Examines the evolution of a cooperative teaching effort between a general and a special education teacher who team taught kindergarten students with disabilities in a general education classroom. The obstacles they faced and their successes are recounted through excerpts from an open-ended, non-directed journal each kept, accompanied by interviews…

Discusses changes taking place in higher education as a result of incorporating new technologies that affect teaching and learning. Topics include linking pedagogy with technology; the institution's responsibility to distinguish between elements that should be transformed by technology and those that should be preserved; curricular collaboration;…

Draws on three intensive case studies of teacher knowledge, practice, and learning among teachers of mathematics and English in two high schools in order to examine the problem of how classroom teaching practice comes to be known, shared, and developed among teachers through their out-of-classroom interactions. The article also discusses classroom…

Used surveys, interviews, site visits, and achievement data to examine one district's development of school-based communities of instructional practice to improve teaching and increase achievement. Team-based teachers felt more involved in school-related decisions and reported higher levels of collaboration with peers than non-team-based teachers.…

Describes the Japanese professional development practice of lesson study and its articulation within the Japanese educational system, discussing insights gained from research that explored the feasibility of lesson study in a U.S. setting, noting challenges faced by American teachers trying to adopt the research focus that is inherent in lesson…