The effect of a 15- to 24-month in-service professional development (PD) program on state accountability mathematics test scores for middle school students was examined using a quasi-experimental design. Middle level mathematics teachers (n = 128) from 7 school districts and 64 middle schools volunteered for a PD sequence of content-oriented…

Universities and schools are struggling with the critical issues surrounding teacher quality, student learning, and the gap between research and practice. This study employed a collective case-study design to explore the impact of leadership teams and school-university partnerships on teacher leadership, professional development, and overall…

This study explored the mechanisms for culturally relevant training and coaching for early child care providers, especially family, friend, or neighbor (FFN) caregivers. In particular, given the evidence that coaching early care practitioners may have more significant effects than traditional training programs, the main objective of this research…

The purpose of this article is to describe commonalities among teachers who have sustained passion for the teaching profession, identify ways to instill a similar passion in teacher education candidates, and encourage teacher educators to maintain and model an enthusiastic passion. The authors present the results of a study that consisted of…

The National Science Education Standards encourage teachers to go on their own special path to professional development. Whether your budget and personal schedule allow real travel or vicarious adventure, summer is a great time to take a book along. So, once again this year, the reviewers of "NSTA Recommends" have come up with suggestions for your…

The maintenance and development of information-documentation professionals' skills has always constituted one of the major objectives of L'association des professionels de l'information et de la documentation (the Association of Professionals of Information-Documentation (ADBS)). The hundred different and complementary training courses on…

Principals don't have to leave town--or even their office--to get smarter. With a phone, fax, and computer, they can set up a self-service principal's academy simply by tapping into a broad array of resources that are available on the Web, in their district organization, and among trusted colleagues. Help is close at hand, whether they need…

As developers and facilitators of the leadership institute, the authors have learned a great deal about the design, implementation, and evaluation of principals' professional development. In this article, they discuss several features and key components that are necessary to provide a high-quality leadership development program. Just as other…

Principals often think of professional development in terms of activities--attending a workshop, networking with colleagues at a conference, reading a professional article or book, and so on. Although these are all good things in and of themselves, genuine professional growth does not occur until knowledge and skills are put into practice at the…

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the…

In this article, the authors describe an assessment-centered teaching (ACT) framework they developed to communicate the integration of assessment and instruction. The framework is a visual representation of the relationships among the fundamental elements of assessment knowledge: the characteristics of quality goals for student learning and…

Toulmin's model of argument has been used by researchers as a theoretical perspective on argument and as a methodological tool for analysing episodes of oral argumentation in school science. An adaptation of Toulmin's Argument Pattern (TAP) has also informed a professional development programme for teachers. Research on the impact of the programme…

Imagine a world where evaluation is a social epidemic . . . where individuals, groups, organizations, and communities are constantly learning about and from evaluations. The author believes that we are well on our way to creating a "global cascade" of evaluative thinking and practice. Evidence of this phenomenon can be seen in the field's…

Assistive technology (AT) has the potential to increase developmental skills and provide solutions to challenges, such as behavior, attention, and communication, faced by students identified with disabilities or at risk in early childhood settings. Early childhood education professionals must have AT knowledge and competency to effectively use AT…

What purpose is served by renovation or redesign of professionalism, and how successful a process is it likely to be? This article addresses these questions by examining the effectiveness as a professional development mechanism of the imposition of changes to policy and/or practice that require modification or renovation of professionalism. The…