This article examines the development, delivery, and outcomes of a year-long, collaborative, professional development (PD) program for 33 K-16 world language educators who taught in the State of Delaware. This work was prompted (in part) by Delaware's publication of its World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Delaware Department of…

Teacher professional development (PD) programs ideally evaluate how professional learning experiences empower teachers to be effective change agents in their disciplines and communities. The Khbrat ["experiences" in Arabic] program is a year-long, global teacher PD initiative launched by the Saudi Ministry of Education. The goal is to…

This report explores the premise that there's nothing more powerful than great teachers skillfully using great instructional materials to motivate and engage students in their learning. Three real-world examples illustrate how schools and school systems are working to support teachers to skillfully use high-quality, standards-aligned curricula, by…

In the context of a weeklong summer professional development program focused on climate change education, we conducted a qualitative case study investigating how science educators' understandings of learning progressions (LPs) informed their ideas about climate change teaching practice. Participants (N = 27) in the Climate Academy were middle…

The practice of a dialogic pedagogy inspired by the writings of Bakhtin is increasingly popular in different parts of the world. This article is an account produced in the spirit of such pedagogy. Two professors (one from Brazil, the other from the United States), both members of an international dialogic pedagogy study group, write together to…

Teachers hold the greatest potential impact on student achievement compared to every other in-school factor. Yet schools with the greatest needs, those with a high percentage of low-income students and students of color, face the greatest teacher and leader turnover. They also often have less experienced and less effective teachers, according to…

The purpose of this article is to identify how principals shape the adoption and implementation of professional learning communities. The study employed a sequential mixed-methods approach in which interviews, observations, and document analysis informed survey design. Teachers were surveyed in four elementary schools about the practices and…

Education is a $600 billion-a-year enterprise, but the investments states make in education will not benefit students unless they are physically and mentally present in the classroom. Too many students are not. In this report, the National Association of State Boards of Education asks policymakers to promote student engagement through a suite of…

Researchers have found that middle school students undergo developmental changes that require unique educational structures and support. As a result, experts have suggested a number of specific strategies for organizing middle schools in order to best meet students' needs. This Information Capsule summarizes middle school redesign initiatives that…

If veteran teachers made a list of resolutions for what they'd do next school year to better support new teachers in their schools, what actions and approaches should top those lists? The question has high stakes because half of all new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Researchers have identified "support from the…

Teachers creating instruction for inclusive classrooms prepare for a wide variety of student achievement levels, student preferred learning styles, and personal student emotional needs. Differentiated instruction and formative assessments allow teachers to tailor instruction of state standardized objectives to individual student needs to raising…

This study attempts to explain the substantial differences in mathematical achievement of elementary students in a Delaware school district by analyzing the level of content and pedagogical knowledge of elementary math teachers. I examined tenth graders' longitudinal state test results in mathematics and found that performance in the primary years…

Recently, federal legislation has been implemented requiring that public school students meet a specified performance level of academic proficiency by the 2013/2014 school year. This reform movement, known as "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), was passed by Congress and incorporates many of President Bush's educational reform proposals…

The Delaware Education Research and Development Center (DERDC) conducted a two-part study to determine the impacts of this program on participating schools in the state. In the first part, DERDC interviewed a sample of administrators and teachers from 6 of the 15 participating schools. Their responses helped design a survey that was administered…

The investigation identified Delaware public and charter middle schools across the state which outperformed other Delaware middle schools with similar student demographic profiles. Teachers and administrators at six of these "Beating the Odds" schools and at six comparison middle schools were surveyed regarding their schools…