NCLB requires states to provide highly qualified educators for all students. Highly qualified educators should have content knowledge in the areas they teach and the pedagogical expertise to produce student educational gains. In this study, researchers examined the effects of an online mathematics methods class on preservice teachers' knowledge of…

Key characteristics of an efficient and effective English language teacher are fundamental pedagogical knowledge and understanding, awareness of meaningful classroom practices, linguistic capabilities, and positive attitudes and skills. Nurturing these traits among preservice teachers is difficult, especially when preservice teachers are working…

Site-based professional development is an important component of instructional leadership in every school, yet many schools struggle to define and maintain a systematic approach to staff development. The need to stay informed about current strategies and research that relates to effective instruction is not new to education leaders, but they are…

Wishing to explore the complexity of the conceptual, didactic and institutional aspects of learning a scientifically defined object of knowledge, we chose to study the link between the personal relation to numeration developed by six-year-old pupils in first grade ("cours preparatoire" the first level of primary school in France), and…

In this experimental study, prospective elementary school teachers enrolled in a mathematics course were randomly assigned to (a) concurrently learn about children's mathematical thinking by watching children on video or working directly with children, (b) concurrently visit elementary school classrooms of conveniently located or specially…

The specification of various categories of knowledge that teachers should possess has been a historically consistent feature of moves to professionalize school teaching and to argue for individual teachers' professional autonomy. In this article, I suggest that the ways in which subject knowledge has been treated in research-based recipes for…

This paper is concerned with the process of how subject and pedagogic knowledge emerge through teachers' learning in science. It suggests that problematizing subject knowledge through direct experience of learning in science, particularly in those areas that are known to be difficult, constitutes a productive way of turning a deficit model of…

Drawing upon two research projects, this paper analyses changes affecting the in-service training of adult literacy, numeracy and teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages in England. There are many issues raised in this paper, particularly how in-service teacher education programmes in England can meet the diversity of learner need, how…

This paper highlights digitally literate, in-service teachers in leading edge schools in Norway and focuses on how they, in their professional development, adapt digital literacy. Today we find a consensus among policy-makers, researchers, teacher-educators and teachers that digital literacy must be given high priority and needs to be explored…

Preparing prospective teachers to work effectively with culturally diverse students remains an ongoing challenge for literacy teacher educators. Current teacher education practices help prospective literacy teachers to enhance their cultural awareness and sensitivity, but they do not necessarily enable teachers to translate their cultural…

Since 2002, adult numeracy specifications have been introduced for the first time in England. This article investigates the relevance of Bernstein and Shulman's theoretical frameworks to teacher training using the new Level 4 adult numeracy teacher training programmes as an example. The article discusses Bernstein's theories relating to pedagogic…

This article describes the efforts of a combinatorial approach of Schools Around the World (SAW) and Understanding by Design (UbD) to create a foundation for lesson study efforts based on the Japanese model. UbD provides a framework for study units rich in essential content, assessment practices and well-crafted activities. SAW and lesson study…

This study reports on a science professional development initiative with elementary school teachers in Canada. Grades 4 and 5 teachers were involved in the implementation and modification of science kits, together with corresponding professional development activities. Each kit was aligned to specific outcomes in the curriculum and provided a…

This report summarizes survey results from 2007-2008 staff surveys on the professional development needs reported by Austin Independent School District teachers and campus administrators.

In this second study of education schools, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) examines the mathematics preparation of America's elementary teachers. The impetus is the mediocre performance of American students in mathematics compared with their counterparts around the world. Mathematics relies heavily on cumulative knowledge. The link…