This investigation focused on the different forms of online collaboration used by current novice teachers in rural districts in Illinois. Two main research questions guided this study: 1) How do novice teachers use online collaboration? and 2) How does online collaboration affect their teaching practice? This study consisted of four qualitative…

The goal of professional learning communities (PLC) is for teachers to come together to discuss and examine student learning and ultimately to make instructional changes that can lead to improved student learning. The formative use of assessments that are commonly agreed upon by this community of teachers is believed to enhance their improvement…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore whether and to what degree community development of teacher teams takes place and how community development comes about, that is, what community-building efforts teacher teams undertake. Design/methodology/approach: Using a multi method approach, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from…

This article describes how a literacy learning community model was developed between two high school partnership sites and a large southern public university, and how teacher collaboration and shared learning across content areas in the first year impacted teachers' learning about literacy instruction and their school's vision for literacy.…

This qualitative case study investigated middle grades literacy coaches' perspectives on their efforts to facilitate teacher change and impact classroom practice. Data were collected from three coaches as they worked with a variety of teachers in middle school settings, using field observation and interviews with coaches, teachers, and principals.…

Few models of professional development (PD) are designed to bring about the fundamental shifts in thinking about student behaviour that can support the inclusion of students labelled as having emotional/behavioural disabilities within general education classrooms. In this paper, we seek to accomplish two goals: (1) we briefly delineate the…

This narrative case study describes the collaborative processes employed by a midwestern university as it designed and implemented a clinically based, postbaccalaureate teacher preparation program for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates committed to teaching in high need secondary schools. The program development…

In the past 35-45 years, college and university faculties have changed considerably and there is no longer a single profile that fits all professors in U.S. higher education. These demographic changes within the professoriate suggest that research is needed to understand faculty work life and careers. This study explores one particular aspect of…

This qualitative case study examined how educators collaborate and coteach within an inclusive classroom. The reauthorization of the original federal disabilities education law, Public Law 94-142, known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as well as the No Child Left Behind…

Through the lens of Schegloff's (1996) Action Theory, this study examined the dynamics of four groups of fifth-grade students as they learned to talk about academic mathematical reasoning over the course of a school year using Freeze Frame Analysis (Leander & Rowe, 2006) to help map "talking spaces" and Critical Discourse Analysis to understand…

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional learning community dimensions of a focus on learning, shared vision, collaborative culture, supportive structures and their impact on student achievement. Additionally, this study explored training in professional learning community principles as a moderating variable and the practice of…

Learning to interact with other adults in a positive and productive manner is an important dimension of learning to teach. Novice special education teachers rely on others for support as they navigate the school culture, learn policies and procedures, and work to solve problems. Although interactions with adults can be helpful, they also can be…

Good observations are often fundamental to good science, and drawing has long been recognized as a tool to develop students' observation skills. Yet when drawing in illustrated journals was introduced into botany laboratories in an undergraduate, teaching-focused university, students reported feeling uncomfortable and intimidated by the required…

In the realm of teacher education, the conversation among teacher educators across the nation invariably leans toward better understandings of the experiences that seem to foster the development of effective teachers. Experience has certainly had a significant influence on the author, a teacher educator committed to teaching for social justice.…

With all the current discussion on teacher effectiveness, this author believes that superintendents are compelled to think more deeply about the supports teachers need to be effective in successfully fulfilling their responsibilities. Given the increased and competing demands on their time to meet school- and district-level priorities while…