This study examined whether or not teacher collaboration in professional learning communities, which is a form of professional development, affected student learning in third-grade mathematics. The sample for the study consisted of 120 students (i.e., 60 students for the experimental group and 60 students for the control group). Both schools were…

This study reports how teachers at one suburban elementary school in the United States launched, organized, and structured lesson study, as well as how participants interpreted and perceived the lesson study experience. Additionally, it examines how lesson study supports teachers' professional learning and the development of collaborative teacher…

This article draws on the analysis of 26 interviews with newly qualified primary teachers (NQTs) in one multilingual city in England, towards the end of their induction year. Interview analysis focused on three themes: developments in pedagogic practice, collaboration with colleagues, resolutions for change or development. Detailed thematic…

In this essay, I remind readers of the importance of using SoTL work in a range of ways and settings at different levels to increase our impact on student learning as well as institutional and disciplinary cultures. I briefly discuss and illustrate six strategies already in use on which we can build. (Contains 3 footnotes.)

Transition plans for students with special needs provide support for social and academic success while giving students an accurate picture of what to expect in high school. The Texas Comprehensive Center recommends that schools develop a comprehensive transition plan district-wide. This district plan must include the cooperation of staff from the…

Tenure demands for scholarship and publication are increasing, with relatively little research on mentoring junior faculty and less on mentoring to craft journal articles. This qualitative self-study of mentoring experiences of three junior faculty members and their experienced mentor used portraiture methodology to address the research question,…

Co-teaching has recently gained popularity and attention as a viable service delivery option for students with disabilities and other special needs. Although co-teaching includes the three components of co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing, the professional literature has primarily focused on co-planning and co-instructing. Co-assessment,…

This study describes how a community-based interprofessional education approach designed to engage preservice teachers with community members and human services professionals contributes to preservice teachers' inquiry skills and their understanding of interprofessional collaboration. Preservice teachers were enrolled in a research methods course…

Drawing on the theoretical lens of organizational learning, and utilizing the methodological approaches of social network and case-study analyses, our exploratory study examines whether schools under sanction exhibit the necessary processes, relationships, and social climates that support organizational learning and improvement. We also…

This report is the second part of a three-phase research study of teacher professional learning opportunities in the United States. In the first report, "Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad" (Wei, Darling-Hammond, Richardson, Andree, & Orphanos,…

Teacher professional development is essential to education reform. In this study, professional development was viewed as a method for increasing teachers' social capital - the resources that they can access through peer collaboration to support their ongoing learning. This study compared the social capital generated during two different types of…

Educative mentoring is an idea developed by Feiman-Nemser [Feiman-Nemser, S. (1998). Teachers as teacher educators. "European Journal of Teacher Education," 21(1), 63-74; (2001). Helping novices learn to teach: Lessons from an exemplary support teacher. "Journal of Teacher Education," 52(1), 17-30] to reflect current conceptions of mentoring that…

Integrating writing into the social studies curriculum ought to be easy. After all, within any rich unit of study, there are endless possibilities for students to record, synthesize, and respond to new content with written words. Learning is enhanced by multiple opportunities to write, and what better way to teach composition than in the vivid…

Expert-run training does not often result in long-lasting changes in instruction. True professional development results when teachers have ongoing support as they rehearse new skills and incorporate them into classroom practices. Staff members are often the most effective coaches for their peers when building those new skills. This article…

The promise, potential, and problems associated with school-university partnerships interested in better preparing teachers for the challenges they face teaching in today's schools rest in educators' ability to actualize transformative practices within partnership contexts. To date, most partnerships have focused on less complex forms of…