Following a massive wave of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators found the need to be hyper-critical of how they spend their instructional time with students. Almost all students are expected to return nearly a full grade-level behind and would likely have to learn to navigate a completely new school environment. As a result,…

This study explored how two professional development approaches to reforming math instruction with different mechanisms for fostering change might have valuable synergies when used in tandem to support take-up, i.e., teachers' acceptance, adoption, and incorporation of ideas into practice. This investigation of Practice-Based Professional…

The Impact of Teaching for Artistic Behavior in a Post-Pandemic Urban Art Classroom explores the effects of a choice-based art curriculum on students in an urban K-8 setting, with a focus on the post-pandemic context. The study examines the behavioral and academic outcomes of students in an underserved community and investigates how a TAB approach…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

This 13th report in WestEd's evaluation of the K-8 Early Implementers Initiative for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provides an extensive response to the following question: What does NGSS science teaching look like in the classroom? The report first discusses Initiative teachers' experiences with four instructional practices that…

Background: English language learners (ELLs) are dramatically increasing in U.S. schools: by 2025, 25% of public school students will be ELLs (NEA, 2018). In one teacher education program in the Southeastern U.S., all students earning teacher certification must complete a course in second language methodology. This study seeks to understand…

Whether or not we are teachers, all of us must make sense of language. In doing so, we encounter representations of language, implicit or explicit descriptions which shift over time and are always tied to social and political interests. Teachers' work necessarily depends on these descriptions, which are deeply embedded within their…

Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners and teachers alike. Therefore, it is essential that educators be given practical strategies for improving their critical thinking skills as well as methods to effectively provide critical thinking skills to their students. The "Handbook of Research on Critical Thinking and Teacher Education…

This book reflects on the continuing development of teacher noticing through an exploration of the latest research. The authors and editors seek to clarify the construct of teacher noticing and its related branches and respond to challenges brought forth in earlier research. The authors also investigate teacher noticing in multiple contexts and…

This article forms part of a larger study aimed at supporting teachers in understanding their practice and improving it. Students' tests, an examination of students' mathematical work, teachers' lessons plans and reports of the lessons' instructions are the base data for this article. The analysis indicated that the teachers were unable to…