Michelle is a first-year English teacher at Vailsburg Middle School, a public school in Newark, New Jersey. Michelle is dedicated, caring, energetic, and insightful. This year, the author had the chance to watch Michelle and her principal, Serena Savarirayan, meet for their weekly debriefing of Michelle's teaching. Serena began by praising…

This article describes the challenges in organizing professional learning communities (PLCs) in special education, identifies the teacher and student benefits of using a PLC approach to professional development, and discusses the promise and pitfalls of organizing web-based PLCs to engage distributed stakeholders in the practice of special…

How prepared are central office administrators to lead school districts in the face of changing standards and changing student populations? The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the responses of central office administrators in the top 5% performing school districts in Washington State with the goal of identifying common attitudes…

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence the ability of teachers and administrators to use data obtained from a data warehouse to inform instruction. The mixed methods study was guided by the following questions: 1) What data warehouse application features affect the ability of an educator to effectively use the…

Based on the importance of principals' roles in supporting students with disabilities and other diverse learners, Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), in collaboration with LeadScape, held a policy forum on this topic as part of its cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education,…

Performance Management clearly illustrates an attempt by the State to control the work of teachers by making them more efficient, more effective and more accountable. This article will critically scrutinise this bureaucratic process and amplify the voices of those being controlled and will highlight first-hand accounts of how teachers employ…

This study focuses on new teachers' job satisfaction and their challenges and experiences during their probationary period. This research concentrated on how their challenges and experiences affected their choice to leave the profession. Basic Interpretive Qualitative method was utilized to explore and understand new teachers' challenges and…

The lack of women represented in high level student affairs positions has been documented in the literature (Ting & Watt, 1999). The literature suggest that an existing pool of qualified, experienced women is present on university campuses, but has yet to be tapped to enhance the gender diversity at senior administrative level positions (King…

Sabbaticals have long been linked to higher education institutions and their employees. Sabbaticals have been granted for the development and respite of employees teaching classes and conducting research. However, sabbaticals are not just limited to faculty at colleges or just linked to education. A number of businesses have also turned to…

This qualitative study sought to identify the attitudes of elementary principals toward the inclusion of students with autism in regular education classrooms and the relationship between their attitudes and their placement recommendations for children with autism. The perspectives of elementary principals (administrators with a minimum of three…

Visual texts, such as photographs, paintings, film, political cartoons, maps, charts, and graphs are important resources used for a variety of purposes in the history classroom. Aligning instructional use of visual texts to key developmental skills within the area of historical thinking should be a central concern to teachers of historical…

In 2009, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) adopted a new policy statement on early childhood education. Based on the work of a task force of 13 chiefs, "A Quiet Crisis: The Urgent Need to Build Early Childhood Systems and Quality Programs for Children Birth to Age Five" presents a compelling argument for why public…

Based on spring 2012 survey results, Austin Independent School District (AISD) teachers' most commonly mentioned professional development need was using technology in instruction, while campus administrators' most commonly mentioned topic was academic rigor.

Teaching science to diverse learners can be a demanding and challenging task. Teachers may be underprepared and thus unsure of how to best address the needs of their students in their classroom. One approach to helping teachers is through professional development. Yet, programs that focus mainly on science or special education can fail to fully…

This qualitative interpretive exploratory case study investigated a sample of South African teachers' perceptions of the requirements for successful implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional Teacher Development (PTD) within disadvantaged South African township schools in the Port Elizabeth district in South…