This article discusses the issue of the sustainability of educational change in the light of findings from research undertaken in tandem with a development project initiated by a Scottish Education Authority, The Highland Council. The paper reviews some of the key themes that have emerged from recent literature on educational change, before…

Originally drawing from a "country club" community in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Creekland Middle School has undergone significant changes in the past decade. The percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch has risen--and continues to do so. This year, 46% of its student population is economically disadvantaged, up 20%…

This research study evaluates the effectiveness of a Spanish-English dual language immersion (DLI) program. Many researchers have found that high-quality and long-term DLI programs promote academic achievement and high levels of language proficiency for both language groups. Despite the evidence, leaders from the field of bilingual education have…

One of the major challenges that educational institutions face today is to prepare students for the 21st century global workplace. Along with this is the growing prevalence of innovative and mobile instructional technologies in the classroom. Over the last few years one-to-one laptop programs have gained popularity in schools and several research…

Teacher professional development is a complex enterprise (Sprinthall, Reiman, and Thies-Sprinthall, 1996). While many online professional development programs have been introduced over the past several years that provide continuous, job-embedded support, empirical evidence relating what works and what does not has been limited (Whitehouse, Breit,…

This is the inspiring story of a group of teachers who used new technologies to document, analyze, and share an inquiry learning process together. The Supporting Knowledge Integration for Inquiry Practice (SKIIP) is an exciting new professional development model that brings together the strengths and benefits of several existing approaches:…

Pay-for-performance plans have become popular as school districts search for ways to improve teacher quality and student academic achievement. There is a need to develop systems that are sensitive to the market and are performance based whereby higher performing teachers receive greater financial compensation and recognition. The sense of…

Westside Middle School, located in Omaha, Nebraska, serves 950 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Over the last few years, the school's teachers and administrators have evaluated its technology status and needs. As part of this process, the staff members engaged in many activities, including developing a building-level technology plan, organizing…

This article offers description and interpretation for understanding the exercise of leadership in teacher collaboration. Data gathered in two urban high schools through observations and interviews were coded and categorized following Miles and Huberman's modified analytic induction technique. The analysis contributes to emerging theory on…

The purpose of this study is to compare policies and practices relating to teacher in-service training in Japan and Turkey. On the basis of the findings of the study, suggestions are made about in-service training activities in Turkey. The research was carried using qualitative research methods. In-service training activities in the two education…

This paper analyses and discusses the roles and participation of those involved in a collaborative action research project to highlight the factors that influenced their content, quality and intensity. Emphasis is given to the reflections of the facilitator (author) on the processes employed to achieve equal participation and roles in the action…

To investigate benefits and challenges to engage teacher candidates in Japanese lesson study, defined as a collaborative, reflective, and iterative teacher development process, we analyzed reflective papers submitted by 60 teacher candidates studying at an Ontario faculty of education, engaged 20 practicum associate teachers in a group discussion,…

There are so many great ways to extend oneself professionally--or personally--over the summer. This paper presents several opportunities for summer 2009: (1) The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative; (2) Courage to Teach; (3) University of South Carolina's Summer Institute in Computer Science; (4) Online Program in Online Teaching; and (5) College Board…

The authors analyzed the open-ended responses of preservice (n = 53) and practicing (n = 57) teachers in terms of themes related to beliefs regarding the source and stability of teaching knowledge. Findings indicate that participants hold a range of beliefs regarding these constructs. Six themes related to the source of teaching knowledge emerged:…

Teaching in today's classroom is technology-driven. For language teachers, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is exciting yet challenging as they are required to possess appropriate skills and knowledge to teach in such an environment. Both technical skills and pedagogical knowledge are crucial for teaching and learning in a…