This study compares the views of teachers and professional development facilitators about effective professional development (PD). We analyzed interviews with 72 teacher participants and 23 PD facilitators involved in nine science and mathematics PD projects. The teachers' themes for characterizing effective PD included classroom application,…

This study explored the potential acceptability of performance pay to new teachers by investigating attitudes toward performance pay of students preparing to be teachers. Focus groups and a survey of students preparing to be teachers at a large U.S. university were conducted. Most students expressed a preference for some form of performance pay…

Although nearly every college offers a major in computer science, many computer science teachers at the secondary level have received little formal training. This paper presents details of a project that could make a significant contribution to national efforts to improve computer science education by combining teacher education and professional…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to Western Oregon University (WOU) on November 17-18, 2008, to conduct interviews with individuals who play important roles in the university's teacher preparation program. These interviews, along with additional materials provided by WOU and identified by the AED research team,…

The study of narrative is an interdisciplinary enterprise actively pursued within literary criticism, semiotics, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, cognitive psychology, and psychiatry. Within education, narratives have found their practical application in two areas. In the curriculum field, narratives seem an obvious choice as organizing…

In this paper, which draws on a dissertation in process, one of the issues central to the role of content knowledge for teaching, "pedagogical content knowledge," is examined. This body of knowledge is an amalgam of pedagogy and content and makes teachers different from scholars in a field. General pedagogical knowledge is the teacher's knowledge…

The purpose of this study was to examine the induction process for beginning teachers in Catholic schools. Data were collected from 100 teachers using a survey that addressed teachers' level of confidence in the pedagogical, religious, and managerial dimensions of teaching. The results of the study indicated that the induction experiences of…

This small exploratory case study describes an attempt to integrate the academic and practical aspects of a teacher education course in order to promote deep understanding of children's ways of understanding mathematics. The assessment regime of the course was used as a strategic tool for engaging students, and the assessment tasks themselves were…

The integration of knowledge of technology, content, and pedagogy is a model to prepare preservice teachers to integrate technology in teaching mathematics, known as Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) (Pierson, 1999; Niess, 2005). The question in the study is "What components in program that integrate technology throughout the program…

This research is part of a systematic, longer-term effort to study changes in the conceptions and beliefs of prospective teachers while teaming to teach science in a preservice teacher education program. This paper focuses on the impact of a project to reframe the theoretical underpinnings and pedagogical practices in a portion of the secondary…

Teachers play a major role in the creation of student learning experiences. Conventional wisdom suggests that teachers' knowledge, beliefs and values influence their instructional choices. However, attempts to describe the decision-making process have yielded inconclusive results. Analysis of the beliefs, intentions, and actions of two exemplary…

Discusses the expected knowledge base of British Victorian elementary teachers in the rational and scientific study of pedagogy and didactics. Concludes comparative research has revealed prevalence of similar pedagogic discourse in Great Britain and North American schools. (KDR)

Connects Daryl Siedentop's speech, "Content Knowledge for Physical Education," with two others: "Curriculum Innovation: Toward the 21st Century" and "Physical Activity Cultures for Children and Youth: Redefining Physical Education," responding to seven issues: the nature of content knowledge; status, professional…

During a summer program that focused on conceptual change teaching in primary science, the subject matter knowledge and beliefs of 10 teachers were analyzed. Data from the summer program and school year follow-up indicated improvements in substantive and pedagogical content knowledge as well as changes in teaching orientation. (IAH)

Explains pedagogical content knowledge as a narrative way of knowing. Describes how narratives serve as a means of explaining that understanding to others. Discusses two San Francisco (California) high school teachers' use of narrative in teaching. Concludes that, because teaching is like writing a story, understanding teaching is like…