The Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) is a major national research and development effort that supports innovative partnerships among institutions of higher education (IHEs), local K-12 school systems, and their supporting partners in order to improve K-12 student achievement in mathematics and…

This qualitative study examines the role of international experience in the transformative learning of female educators as it relates to professional development in a higher education context. It also investigates how the learning productions of these experiences were transferred to the participants' home country. Nine American female faculty and…

Technology use permeates virtually all aspects of twenty-first century society, though its integration in early childhood settings and recognition as a developmentally appropriate practice remains problematic. A position is taken that education professionals may be "missing the boat" by not embracing technology usage as a developmentally…

A few years ago, the authors began to consider how to foster more intentional teacher leadership development among all clinical teachers who mentor teacher candidates in their Professional Development Schools. A Professional Development School (PDS) is an in-depth school-university partnership designed to bring about the simultaneous renewal of…

Few inquiries have investigated master's students in education as they mentor preservice teachers. In this embedded case study I explored the professional development of 15 master's students as they mentored 35 preservice teachers for eight weeks in a summer literacy camp. Data sources were e-mail exchanges, written reports, and transcriptions…

A common problem within professional education is the acquisition of conceptual knowledge that is essentially "inert" (Bransford, 1993, p. 174). That is, while students often graduate from educational programs with substantial conceptual knowledge, they are unable to apply that knowledge to solve the kinds of ill-structured problems they…

Second Life is a three-dimensional, multi-user virtual environment that has attracted particular attention for its instructional potential in professional development and higher education settings. This article describes Second Life in general and explores the benefits and challenges of using it for teaching and learning.

This paper reports on a self-study by two teacher educators who used Korthagen and Vasalos' (2005) core reflection model. This model extends Korthagen's earlier ALACT model of reflection for teachers, to include deeper levels of personal reflection, tapping into the emotional dimensions of practice (for example, beliefs, identity and mission). The…

Recent mathematics education reforms (NCTM, 2000) have resulted in increased opportunities for teachers to learn new teaching practices. However, the relationship between teacher professional development and the actual implementation of new practices is unclear. I posit that a teachers' decision to implement newly learned practices is strongly…

"Retiring Lives" presents fourteen personal real life stories from people at various stages of retiring. Each author recounts their own story about retiring, bringing together many aspects of the experiences: the social, psychological and practical. These inspirational and illustrated stories will encourage the reader to hold up these…

One of the main policy responses to the problems of turnover and inadequate preparation among beginning teachers is to support them with a formal, comprehensive induction program. Congressional interest in formal, comprehensive teacher induction has grown in recent years. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which reauthorized the…

Although Missouri has had a Career Ladder program for teachers since 1987, very little research has been carried out to measure the program's effects and what has been studied has not been comprehensive. This paper examines the program's effect on student achievement across the state, using longitudinal data on district math and reading scores for…

This report provides national data on the availability and use of educational technology in public school districts during fall 2008. The data are the results of a national district-level survey that is one of a set that includes district, school, and teacher surveys on educational technology. Every year between 1994 and 2005 (with the exception…

Professional development with proven positive effects on vocabulary instruction and student achievement: that's what reading teachers are looking for, and that's what the Teacher Study Group (TSG) model delivers. With the nine complete TSG sessions in this book, K-8 teachers will form dynamic in-school learning groups with their fellow educators…

The complexity of literacy coaching can be daunting. Coaches face a huge set of responsibilities as they work with teachers to improve practice and increase student learning. From mentoring new teachers to conducting demonstration lessons to facilitating professional development meetings, coaches get pulled in many directions at once. This…