This "AERA Open" special topic takes stock of the current knowledge about scaled-up early childhood education (ECE) programs. Rapidly rising ECE participation rates in recent decades have coincided with wide variability in the types of programming available for young children. This expansion makes understanding heterogeneity in effects…

As current graduate instructors of labs and class discussions, teaching assistants (TAs) play a critical role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate education, especially as some graduate students may choose a faculty career in the future. Because of the importance of TAs and their development as scholars and…

Background: In the USA, 28.5% of the population is considered underrepresented minority (URM) population; however, fewer than 8 % of US' research faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are minorities (National Research Council, Expanding underrepresented minority participation: America's science and…

This study investigates 27 preschool teachers' verbalization of various aspects of pattern structure as well as their knowledge of pattern structure while solving patterning activities. Aspects of structure that are investigated include the unit of repeat, its length and the amount of times it is repeated, and whether or not the pattern ends in a…

We employ Sfard's ("Thinking as communicating," 2008) "ritual towards exploration" idea to theorize the learning trajectory of two middle school teachers attending a professional development (PD) program designed around the "5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Discussions" and Accountable Talk. Data included four…

Faculty development programs are typically designed to broaden college/university faculty teaching expertise, increase research knowledge, or augment mentoring practice. Other than improved knowledge, skills and confidence levels, long-term benefits remain relatively unknown. The authors reviewed 414 empirical health professions faculty…

What is the significance of closure in mentoring relationships? This small-scale study explores mentors' reflections on coming to closure in preparing to end long-term mentoring relationships. It was conducted during the final term of mentoring on a three-year accredited national programme aimed at supporting the learning and development of early…

This quasi-experiment tested whether or not a statewide professional development program for principals yielded measurable changes in self-reported attitudes and practices. The two-year program combined training events at central and regional locations with on-site coaching. The program attempted (1) to change attitudes toward inclusion, broadly…

Professional development holds significant potential in promoting science education, but that potential is undermined if instructional changes are not sustained. For professional development, sustainability refers to the continuation of outcomes over an extended period of time after the program ends and is an issue across international contexts.…

How do professionals in the field of sexuality education build a lasting career? Ever-changing policies from one administration to the next can add or eliminate funding for programs, shift the focus between science and ideology, and swing public support for or against effective curricula. At the 2017 National Sex Ed Conference, four experienced…

Reforming the teacher education system has been a key government policy towards improving school education in India. While recent curriculum and governance reforms articulate a new vision of teacher education that underscores a symbiotic relationship between teacher education and school education, it fails to engage enough with the most important…

The authors challenge educators to engage with and for others to build communities that are relevant and meaningful.

University mentors require specialized knowledge and skill to support teacher candidate learning in the context of fieldwork. Without such knowledge and skill, interactions between university mentors and teacher candidates is often evaluative, thus undermining the educative potential of mentoring. We focus on mentoring practices employed in the…

The objective of this study is to explore the role of the application of ICT tools in Mathematics teaching. Learning and conversation technologies (ICT) are an integral part of daily life, including the teaching-learning process. Mathematics is considered the queen of all sciences. For a long time, the role of mathematics was reduced to the purely…

This article examines the development of a self-study/critical friend (SSCF) model of educational development. The SSCF model provides benefits for the self-study teacher in the form of personalized, sustained support. The critical friend in the pairing described here also serves as an educational development fellow, so this study provided an…