Coaches can provide teachers with quality professional development experiences by mentoring, providing workshops, modeling, or encouraging professional growth (York-Barr & Duke, 2004). This study focuses on the instructional coach's role in the professional development of teachers of English language learners (ELLs). The study has the following…

The purpose of the current study is to reveal the relationship between the specific leadership behaviors of principals and teacher collaboration in Turkish primary schools, controlling for several school characteristics, such as school size and average class size, and the demographic characteristics of teachers, such as level of education and…

This paper reports a study that explored science teacher learning of pedagogical content knowledge and the factors that facilitated this in their workplace, schools. The research design employed interview and observation in two secondary school science departments in England. A seven part construct of PCK was used to analyse all data and the…

Efforts to improve student performance on high-stakes assessments in mathematics place teachers in the epicenter of multiple reform expectations. While studies have documented how teachers implement single reforms, very little is known about teachers' implementation processes when multiple expectations are imposed. With a focus on how…

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the effectiveness of an Early Childhood Development Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program at one community college as part of an ongoing action research project. Prior to this dissertation study, external and internal barriers prevented the associate degree program stakeholders from…

The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the extent to which teacher perceptions of collaboration within mathematics Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) may be a differentiating factor between schools identified as "high performing" versus "low performing" based on student achievement level on the Texas…

A growing body of research suggests that school leaders and policymakers should attend to the social conditions within schools that promote instructional improvement and student achievement gains. This dissertation uses theoretical and empirical work on social capital to frame three aspects of the relationships among teachers. The three studies…

Schools' functioning as learning organizations provide educators the opportunity to focus on working together in innovative ways. However, it is unknown to what extent learning organizations exist in small high schools or whether small high schools' functioning as learning organizations improve academic achievement. The purpose of this study was…

Teachers creating instruction for inclusive classrooms prepare for a wide variety of student achievement levels, student preferred learning styles, and personal student emotional needs. Differentiated instruction and formative assessments allow teachers to tailor instruction of state standardized objectives to individual student needs to raising…

Patriarchy is a threshold concept in women's studies--a significant, defining concept that transforms students' understanding of the discipline. This article reviews our design, implementation, and findings of a lesson study crafted to teach women's studies students the complex idea of patriarchy as a social system. We analyze the lesson using…

This qualitative study investigated how teacher participation in professional learning communities leads to shared expectations and understandings [among teachers] about teaching and learning within their schools, thereby establishing consistently high-quality instructional practice across classrooms. This multi-case study of four teacher teams…

This paper and its appended multi-media production describe the rationale and process of creating and presenting a "digitally saturated" (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003), multi-layered, synchronous "montage" (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003) of educational Action Research findings. The authors contend that this type of presentation, arising from the fusion of…

This paper presents a research that emerges from a set of community-based outreach activities associated with a large-scale, interdisciplinary project, Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice (ICASP), which focuses on the social and pedagogical implications of improvised musical practices. Working from the premise that musical improvisation…

This qualitative study explored 8 urban mentor teachers' experiences and perceptions of mentoring in a yearlong field placement in an Urban Teacher Residency program. Results indicate mentors' and preservice teachers' joint work provided a context conducive for professional learning and contributing to a larger social justice mission. However,…

Since the onset of No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) schools have been focusing on raising test scores in reading and mathematics, while at the same time feeling pressured to reduce subjects such as physical education and health. It seems for many educators finding time in the school day for students' physical activity has become increasingly…