The concept of developing teacher collaboration teams continues to be a prevalent problem for teachers and schools. The results of a Saskatchewan study of beginning teachers (Hellsten et al., 2007) was the finding that first and second year teachers perceived "planning and collaboration with other teachers", as well as "professional…

This article presents a study of the Collaboration Centers Project (CCP), which is a pseudonym for a three-year, federally-funded program that focused on helping in-service teachers better address the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. The CCP is important to study because of its clear intention to integrate real…

There has been a great deal of focus in recent years on high school reform as a way to ensure all students graduate ready for a skilled job or additional postsecondary education. As expectations for a more highly educated American citizenry rise, what happens in the middle grades--the beginning of the secondary-to-postsecondary education…

The experiences of three students with significant disabilities and their educational teams were studied during these students' first year of receiving general education services. Interviews were conducted with general educators, special educators, and parents to identify issues encountered during the year. Also, classroom observations were…

This article discusses the importance of faculty collaboration and outlines the process of creating a library instruction session while obtaining and utilizing faculty collaboration. The article maintains that library instruction is improved when combined with faculty collaboration and that ultimately library instruction is linked to academic…

In this article, the author discusses the professional learning communities and describes how this system helps improve schools and reduce teacher isolation. According to Richard and Rebecca Dufour, the best way to improve schools is for schools to function as professional learning communities. Under this system, teachers work in collaborative…

The impact of seminars on lessons in the English classroom as well as their importance in helping to build community within the profession is described. An English teacher has described how he found collaborative professional development through participating in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminars and also its impact on…

Transforming education from a craft to a profession is the greatest challenge school and district leaders face. Above all, "professionalizing" education means creating ongoing opportunities for discussion of problems of practice at every level--communities of practice cannot be just for the teachers. School and district leaders have at least as…

The Code of Ethics of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a public statement of principles and practice guidelines supported by the mission of DEC. The foundation of this Code is based on sound ethical reasoning related to professional practice with young children with disabilities and their families…

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a high quality, certified visual arts educator in every K-12 public school across the United States, recognizing that effective arts instruction is a core component of 21st-century education. "Professional Standards for Visual Arts…

This study investigates equitable practices used by a Teach For America (TFA) corps member (CM) in her second year of teaching low income, minority students. This study's conceptual framework is based on a contemporary conceptualization of equity pedagogy that includes: (a) tools of power and access (Delpit, 1988); (b) culturally relevant…

In this paper, the authors review and analyze state policy regarding beginning teacher mentoring with a focus on special education. Mentoring policies guide the selection, assignment, and training of mentors and the process with which novice teachers are matched with veteran mentors. Mentoring is a component of induction; but induction also…

This paper is concerned with teacher collaboration in Higher Education. Specifically, it focuses on how a "community of practice" emerged and developed during the process of enhancing first year transition for pre-service teachers. It is written from the perspective of five teacher educators and is situated within the literature of the…

This article explores the social-psychological process of identity negotiation in collaborative teaching, using Erving Goffman's (1959) theoretical tradition of dramaturgy to analyze the classroom itself as a performance venue. A dramaturgical analysis of collaborative teaching is especially significant given this growing pedagogical trend because…

Teacher professional learning communities provide environments in which teachers engage in regular research and collaboration. They have been found effective as a means for connecting professional learning to the day-to-day realities faced by teachers in the classroom. In this article, the authors draw on survey data collected in primary schools…