A suburban Detroit consortium of superintendents created a leadership academy for teachers to learn the value of their own knowledge and improve their skills. The Galileo Leadership project challenges established beliefs and helps teachers engage collaboratively in the work of active leadership. From mini-retreats to active research, teachers…

Research says that there are measurable benefits to student outcomes that are the result of programs which provide time for teachers to collaborate successfully. According to Jane Belmore, focused and goal-driven collaborative planning time helps teachers become more highly qualified by improving teaching strategies, among other results. These…

Freed from the nuisances of paper-based methods, districts are making creative use of digital tools to move their curricular documents online, where educators can collaborate on course development and lesson planning. Back in 2003, Amarillo Independent School District (Texas) had begun using the Blackboard Content System to provide lessons online.…

As one part of a quality enhancement plan, North Carolina State University implemented a technology initiative with an initial focus on evaluating and improving classroom technology, piloting technology-rich workspaces for student projects, and initiating an internal grants program for faculty. An advisory committee directs the initiative with…

This article talks about the "special" support that special educators need from administrators. Special educators need the same type of support that regular teachers receive. Pairing regular and special education teachers allows special education teachers to contribute to and receive support from the other teachers in a school. Ensuring that…

This article describes the significant gains in student achievement in an urban elementary school when teachers worked together to develop, administer, and review assessment items. In grade-level teams, teachers completed item analyses and engaged in instructional conversations about students' needed instruction. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

This paper highlights the appeal of dynamic assessment (DA) for speech and language therapists (SLTs), and describes the usefulness of various DA models and methods. It describes the background to DA, and the uses to which DA has been put, by educational psychologists in the UK, and by SLTs in the USA. The research and development of methods of DA…

This mixed-method study examined characteristics and predictors of teacher collaboration. Limited research exists that describes the characteristics of teacher collaboration, and surprisingly little work explains the ways in which teaching experience and teachers' perceptions of the school environment influence teacher collaboration. Questionnaire…

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, social networks... it seems the entire world has gone 2.0 crazy. Among the followers are educators, who, in ever increasing numbers, are integrating these online, interactive tools into their classrooms and even libraries. This article presents profiles of a few of educators who have taken the plunge, launching blogs,…

This study examined the impact of the 2+2 Alternative Teacher Performance Appraisal System that has been implemented in Shanxi province in China. A mixed research design was used to evaluate the program. Six high schools and a total of 78 teachers (13 teachers in each school) in Shanxi province were selected. Three of the schools participated in…

Software for text processing and presentation design is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a good solution for collaborative writing of technical course material, allowing the creation of high quality lecture notes and presentation slides from a single source. This article presents a new editing framework…

As students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities transition from inclusive elementary and middle schools to high schools, they deserve similar opportunities for inclusive educational experiences at this next level--namely to participate in general education classes and other activities (e.g., co-curricular) with their classmates…

This paper highlights the framework and discusses the results of an action research network which aimed to promote academic access in two general educational settings within which a pupil with blindness and a deaf pupil were educated respectively. The persons involved in this collaborative scheme were general teachers, a school counsellor,…

The increased popularity of lesson study in the United States--an approach to professional development initiated in Japan more than a century ago--is due in large part to findings from the 1995 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) video study and the subsequent book, "The Teaching Gap" (Stigler and Hiebert 1999). "Lesson…

In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 30 teaching residency programs received funding through one of 28 Teacher Quality partnership grants awarded to establish or expand residency programs. These programs follow a model of teacher preparation in which prospective teachers complete graduate-level coursework alongside a year-long fieldwork experience in the…