The mission statement for the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) states that one of its goals is "to influence the professional growth of educators and others who are committed to the needs of children." Professional growth is vital for educators at all levels. In this article, the authors present a teacher educator and a…

How can student outcomes assessment (SOA) be incorporated into ones courses and teaching? The purposes of this article are to explore a process enacted in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University using SOA to: (i) develop a clearer understanding of what students should learn in a course, (ii) determine how a course or courses fit within…

This article profiles Judy Bowers, a teacher-educator and part of the choral music education program at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. Bowers also directs one of FSU's oldest ensembles, the one-hundred-voice Women's Glee Club, which she helped expand from twenty-two members. Bowers' Adopt-a-Choir, Study-Buddy, and Partnership…

The purpose of this study was to describe Japanese physical education (PE) teachers' beliefs about teaching students with disabilities in integrated classes. Participants were five Japanese PE teachers (one women and four men). The research was descriptive and qualitative, using an interviewing method. Data were gathered in interviews, analysed…

This article focuses on the challenge of teacher retention in rural schools in relation to the No Child Left Behind mandate, that school districts must attract and retain highly qualified teachers. This case study examines the extent to which a rural school enhanced teacher retention by overcoming the barriers that might otherwise have presented a…

Researchers and practitioners have attempted to identify technologies that support students' scientific understanding, activities and support practices that facilitate students' inquiry processes, and methods to sustain technology-enhanced innovations in everyday science classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the findings and…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. The following papers are included in the 2013 proceedings: (1) Teaching About Asia in a Social Science Education Program (Cyndi Mottola Poole and Joshua L. Kenna); (2) Teaching Students about…

A survey of 342 rural South Carolina teachers examined teacher attitudes toward inclusion of special needs students in regular education settings. The survey included 25 statements, to which respondents reacted on a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Major topics addressed included regular education teachers, collaboration…

This paper reviews the literature dealing with the professional development school as the ideal setting for educator preparation programs. Researchers claim that professional development schools can be sites where graduate students preparing for academic careers can be socialized to the roles and responsibilities of teacher educators, and they can…

This study explored alternative approaches to teaching and learning high school mathematics through a fluid approach to professional development utilizing cognitive coaching. Cognitive coaching is the application of specific strategies in a nonjudgmental environment, built around a collaborative, reflective planning conference. The process builds…

RAED provides a computerised infrastructure to support the development and administration of Vicarious Learning in collaborative learning communities spread across multiple universities and workplaces. The system is based on the OASIS middleware for Role-based Access Control. This paper describes the origins of the model and the approach to…

Academic institutions that prepare personnel to work in the field of special education face considerable challenges in finding and retaining qualified faculty. At the same time, a growing number of special education teachers and administrators choose academia as a second career. Few studies have sought to capture their lived experiences as shift…

Behind a simple equation, 2 + 2, lies a rich yet realistic approach to enhancing teaching and learning. As this book demonstrates, the current method of job appraisal consists of sporadic classroom visits from school administrators that frequently serve to reinforce teacher isolation rather than promote professional development. In contrast, the 2…

This monograph covers the Saginaw Teacher Study Group Movement from its inception in 1996 through its expansion to include the overwhelming majority of Saginaw teachers in 1999-2001. Since 1996, classroom teachers in Saginaw have been volunteering for study groups addressing the learning and teaching of students in poverty. In the first half of…

This article relates the experiences of teachers from the Towson University/Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland, Professional Development School (PDS) site. A Collaborative Action Research Study Group (ARSG) was formed to facilitate the professional development of inservice teachers involved in PDS partnerships. Setup of the ARSG was…