The rationale for the introduction of standards in the United States in the late 1980s was that the quality of education would improve. Assessment instruments in the form of written tests were constructed in order to perform a monitoring function. The introduction of standards and the associated monitoring have been replicated in South Africa. It…

This article considers a secondary science department that has, since 2000, developed distributed leadership as a form of human capacity building. Using a longitudinal ethnographic case study allowed us to consider how distributed leadership can be nurtured and developed in a department. Our analysis centres on two key issues: the nature and…

This study aims to fill an empirical void in our understanding of how doctoral students, both domestic and international, cope with loneliness and isolation, and what types of tactic they use during different phases of their doctoral studies to overcome such issues. Data gathered through a netnographic study show that loneliness is a major problem…

Purpose: This article aims to explore the concept of amateurism as a form of critique and addition to the concepts of professionalism, professional work and education. Design/methodology/approach: This is a theoretically driven article based upon a review of the historical and sociological literature on amateur-professional relations in various…

An individualized education program is a legal document that details information regarding the special education program of a student with a disability. For parents to determine whether they agree with the individualized education program that is proposed by the school, they must first be able to read and comprehend the document. This study aimed…

In 2010, the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation launched a 3-year national training and development programme to develop and deliver a model of diagnostic and therapeutic services aimed at promoting social inclusion for children and young people with autism spectrum disorders. The project adopted a number of strategies aimed at developing knowledge…

As students prepare to enter college and the workforce, there has been a demand for them to be more independent, critical thinkers, innovative designers, and thoughtful collaborators. This preliminary study describes how a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership, between a middle school and a university, provides a more authentic…

The purpose of this study was to compare elementary classroom teachers' actual practice and perceived importance of English Language Arts professional development in five professional development dimensions: alignment, content and modeling, active learning, collaboration, and follow-up, in high and low mastery, low needs schools. The schools…

A wealth of research, primarily in high income countries, has accumulated in recent years evaluating teacher effectiveness and the processes through which teachers' performance and job satisfaction can be improved (e.g., Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre & Justice, 2008; Ross, 1992; 1995). Much less is known about how these processes operate for…

Teacher leadership is a key to school reform (Fullan, 2005), yet it is not a widely practiced educational application (Crowther, 2009). Collay (2006) called for education faculty to assist teachers in developing powerful professional identities, but in order for university faculty to become partners in preparing teacher leaders, programs must…

As information and communication technology (ICT) continues to develop, it is essential for teachers to acquire ability for teaching with ICT. In China, new higher education (HE) teachers often lack teaching experience because there are limited teaching opportunities during their postgraduate studies. This status quo may compromise the quality of…

Professional development (PD) "for diversity" aims to prepare teachers to support students from varying backgrounds to succeed, often in under-resourced contexts. Although many teachers invite such inquiry as part of learning to teach, others resist "diversity" inquiry as extra to teaching, saying they cannot "do it…

Within Aotearoa/New Zealand primary schools, External Providers (EPs) have steadily increased their influence on physical education. The purpose of this study was to explore and interpret classroom teachers' perspectives of EPs in their primary school. The research team obtained questionnaire responses from 487 classroom teachers from 133…

This qualitative multiple case study explored the sources of emotional stress experienced by 12 female Zimbabwean primary heads leading in socio-economic disadvantaged schools in Masvingo District and their attempts to alleviate the challenges that the children from these disadvantaged contexts presented them with. Data was generated through…

This article fills in the knowledge gap in the student-centered practices of generalist music and art teachers to prepare 21st century learners. The study shows that generalists, after completing a specialist professional development program, struggle the most in connecting subject matter knowledge to pedagogical knowledge, specifically…