This article investigates how the goals of participants in a video club evolved and became more shared over time. A video club brings groups of teachers together to analyze video from one another's classrooms (Sherin, 2004). The purpose of the video club the author investigates was to bring teachers together to analyze student thinking, an…

Based on a statewide survey of professional learning activities among 577 middle school mathematics teachers in Missouri, this study examined two questions: 1) What professional learning activities do middle school math teachers participate in and how much time do they spend in these activities?, and 2) How are teacher qualifications and…

The effectiveness of outside experts in professional development in Jewish schools has been questioned in light of scholarly critique of this approach. This case study examines the sociocultural context of one such long-term project aimed at school improvement through early childhood (EC) curriculum development. The research identifies cultural…

The goal of this 4-year study was to investigate the implementation of a secondary science professional development school at a midsized, publicly funded 4-year institution with a large college of education. The study focuses on the preparation of secondary science teachers because improving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)…

This study examines teacher efficacy within the context of professional development to understand the relationship between teacher efficacy and teacher collaboration. Two theoretical frameworks framed this teacher efficacy study based on "locus of control" and "social cognitive theory." A 29-item questionnaire was e-mailed to…

Much of the literature around the notions of discourse and identity explores how education (particularly higher education) might develop academic discourses and identities in students. There is however a dearth of work relating to what the development of academic discourses and identities in students might mean for the lecturers who teach them.…

Teacher quality has been the focus for much of the past decade as scholars and practitioners debate the differences between teacher quality and teacher effectiveness. What is a highly qualified teacher? Is it a person that possesses a degree in the subject area they teach or one with a set of skills and knowledge to engage learners to think and…

Throughout the day, students interact with and receive a myriad of services from librarians, school secretaries, custodians, school nurses and security personnel. Everyone inside and outside the building has a role to play in ensuring that students are safe and ready to learn. In many schools, paraprofessionals assist teachers and students in the…

Teaching children to write successfully is an area of great concern to educators in the 21 st century. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, the writing skills of two-thirds of the students in elementary, middle, and high school are below grade level proficiency (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). In 2003, the…

Although reflection is seen as a means to improve teacher professionalism, its practice in Indonesia has a scant regard until the lesson study program was implemented around the year 2005. In Indonesian context, lesson study is a process by which teachers and teacher educators work together to critically improve the quality of classroom practice…

"The Eight-Step Process" is a continuous improvement model that focuses on collaboration by disaggregating and analyzing data, developing a common instructional calendar, assessing mastery with common formative and summative assessments, building in time daily for interventions and enrichments for each student on the standards being…

Much is written about teacher leaders and the impact they have in promoting and influencing change. This is a reflection from four teacher leaders from four secondary high schools of a rural, non-government system of schools as they seek to build a capacity in the learning and teaching of mathematics and science within their schools. The original…

This qualitative study examined general education teachers' beliefs and attitudes about current mainstreaming practices. Data were collected using focus groups and individual interviews. The following research questions were the basis for the interviews and observations: 1) What are teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward mainstreaming? The…

The Menominee Indian School District is a K-12 public school district with 1,000 students that is located almost entirely on tribal lands in Wisconsin. This uniqueness has led the district and, in turn, the schools to recognize the cultural importance of the Menominee Nation and American Indians. To do this, Menominee culture is infused into daily…

As educational leaders continue to struggle with the "Highly Qualified Teacher" mandate of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, many are turning to co-teaching models that are designed to incorporate regular education and special education teachers into the same classroom to deliver instruction. This model appears to address the…