The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics emphasizes that young children need play-based opportunities to develop and deepen their conceptual understanding of mathematics. From a social-constructivist perspective, learning is more likely to occur if adults or more-competent peers mediate children's learning experiences. Emphasizing both the…

The purposes of this study were to investigate changes of science teaching and to explore the factors which influenced changes of three first grade teachers when implementing an in-service project. The researcher, the leader teacher and three first grade teachers built a collaborative relationship to hold a teacher development group. The leader…

This document is designed to facilitate the state of Wisconsin's Planning Curriculum in Mathematics. Planning Curriculum in Mathematics complements Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards for Mathematics and puts into action the standards in the latter document. It is hoped that these materials will serve as springboards for contemplation by…

This Okaloosa-Walton Community College (Florida) Staff and Program Development (SPD) Plan provides a five-year framework to support the enhancement of college personnel and the expansion and improvement of college programs and services. To give direction and support to the activities of SPD, the document details a set of goals: (1) to evaluate…

Noting the increasing recognition of the importance of quality early child care in Kansas, this report examines the status of child care in Kansas and efforts to improve quality. The report discusses the need for quality care, focusing on the increase in the number of working families, the importance of the early years for brain development, and…

This paper describes data from focus groups conducted with elementary teacher mentors at two Professional Development School (PDS) sites. The focus group sessions emphasized four themes: teachers' decisions to get involved in a PDS, teachers' perceived barriers to PDS success, how teachers benefit from PDSs, and recommendations for improvement.…

An examination was made of how newly hired counselors in eastern North Carolina were functioning in schools. An attempt was also made to determine the counselors' level of satisfaction with these roles. School principals of participating counselors completed surveys to ascertain the degree to which their perceptions agreed with that of their…

This bulletin is designed to illustrate the broad range of research and improvement activities supported by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Contents include: "Model Professional Development Programs Win Recognition,""Are Our Schools Safe?,""Charter Schools on the Rise,""What to Expect Your First Year of Teaching,""Evaluating…

This paper describes the implementation and assessment of a unique model of professional development for teacher educators. Southwest Texas State University's (SWT's) College of Education graduates and certifies more teachers than any other institution in the state; SWT has had a professional development school since 1991. The View and Doing…

This report looks at and identifies emerging trends in the roles that teacher unions play in educational reform and improving the quality of teaching. A description of the efforts of six teacher unions to improve teacher quality within the context of the current systemic reform movement shows a range and depth of union initiatives beyond what is…

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) Department of Early Childhood commissioned a needs assessment of current kindergarten (K2) and preschool (K1) programs (1) to inform the BPS Department of Early Childhood about professional development needs to improve the quality of existing K1 and K2 programs; and (2) to inform the Department of additional…

This collection draws on material from IRA journals and other publications to complement Standards for Reading Professionals. It will enable the reader to visualize how a particular element of the standards might look in their own program. The collection is organized into sections corresponding to the five standards: Foundational knowledge;…

A growing body of research evidence indicates that implementing CREDE's Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy promotes positive learning outcomes for students. The Five Standards are: (1) Joint Productive Activity (JPA); (2) Language and Literacy Development (LLD); (3) Contextualization: Connecting School to Students' Lives (CTX); (4) Challenging…

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is a diverse and dynamic set of projects intent on improving the USA's technical workforce. This book uses the ATE work as a means to focus on key issues for federally funded projects and all community colleges facing the difficult challenges of staying current…

This paper provides Human Resource Development practitioners several methods for enhancing learning projects of new professionals preparing for certification or licensure. Implementation of these activities provides opportunities for new professionals to become more self-directed and therefore immersed in their own learning. While these activities…