As difficult as the economy is at a personal level, school systems across the country are also struggling to find solutions to applying limited funds to seemingly unlimited challenges. Professional learning, as National Staff Development Council (NSDC) President Charles Mason says in his column, is often among the first things to be cut from a…

Delivering meaningful professional development, engaging students in exciting yet practical curricula, and effectively communicating with faculty and staff members are challenges in any school setting. At the Louisiana Virtual School, a state-funded virtual school run by the Louisiana Department of Education, the 6,000 students, 115 instructors,…

As West Virginia increasingly emphasizes the teaching of content in application, the shift demands a fundamental change in teachers' roles. Teachers are no longer just purveyors of facts, but also the facilitators of elaborate activities that help students exercise what are often called 21st-century skills. Business leaders and policymakers more…

This article maps out key features of self-study in teaching and teacher development, particularly in relation to social action. As teacher educator-researchers, we have become increasingly interested in how self-reflexivity in teaching and teacher development can illuminate social and educational challenges that have resonance beyond the self and…

Leaders in a handful of school districts are pondering the idea of "front-loading" teacher compensation by paying novices more than they would typically earn under traditional salary schedules. Boosting new teachers' salaries, officials in Denver, the District of Columbia, and New York City contend, would increase the applicant pool and…

This study examines the nature of teacher participation in the context of a video club. Video clubs are professional development meetings in which teachers watch and discuss excerpts of video from their classrooms. In this study, I adopt a situative perspective to examine how teachers develop in their participation to accomplish the goals of the…

Reaching consensus on the meaning of professional development is needed to integrate professional development across various sectors of the early childhood field, distinguish various professional development approaches, match learning opportunities to learner characteristics, and evaluate its effects on professional practices and child and family…

This article focuses on an evaluation of the Microsoft Peer Coaching (MPC) program in Florida, USA. First, the design of the MPC materials was analyzed using characteristics of exemplary peer coaching and technology integration models. Second, facilitators (n = 14) and coaches (n = 46) who attended the MPC workshops in Florida were surveyed…

School principals play an important role concerning technology use within their schools. While school districts across the nation are spending considerable resources in order to provide technical infrastructure to teachers and students, questions remain concerning the priority principals place in how teachers and students use technology within the…

Educators sometimes misjudge immigrant families' ability to contribute to their children's school success, especially those of English learners (August and Shanahan 2006). However, families powerfully influence the academic achievement of their children, and most take a strong interest in what happens in schools (Au 2002). Cummins (1986, 2003)…

By implementing a system of common formative assessments, the teachers at an American urban elementary school improved student achievement and facilitated their own professional development. By aligning content standards with assessments and purposeful instruction, the teachers at this school developed a depth of knowledge about their content…

This article highlights the annual Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Convention held at Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the first time that the premiere professional development event for career and technical educators had come to Charlotte and the city did not disappoint. In fact, Charlotte proved to be the perfect place for…

Pursuing professional development (PD) is contractual for some, and oxygen for others. As technology has increased access to anytime-anywhere learning, many of the hurdles for conquering time and space constraints have been addressed with online learning in web-based classroom environments, webinars, and even some of the newer social networking…

The Internet is becoming an interactive and collaborative experience. Popular social software used to interact with the Internet includes blogs and microblogs for keeping track of things that interest you or for letting others know what you're up to (www.blogger.com, www.livejournal.com, twitter.com) and sites like Facebook for bringing together…

This article describes a process by which seven educators collaboratively engaged in developing a shared language to describe the mathematics pedagogy used to guide whole-class discussions as well as the products of their work. Suggestions are made for how others might engage in similarly productive professional development activities. (Contains 3…