Implementing teacher evaluation systems across the United States has created both challenges and opportunities to improving teacher quality. Lessons learned at the state level illustrate a wide range of challenges with system implementation, including value-added growth scores, implementation timetables, and human capital demands (McGuinn, 2012),…

Since the mid-1990s, teacher professional community has achieved increasing influence as a strategy for facilitating productive change in schools. This study investigates the impact of principal quality and leadership on the development of teacher professional community in Hong Kong primary schools. More specifically, we examine the means by which…

Eva Moskowitz (the founder and CEO of the Success Charter Network in Harlem) and Arin Lavinia offer practical, classroom-tested ideas for dramatically improving teaching and learning. Moskowitz and Lavinia reveal how a charter school in the middle of Harlem, enrolling neighborhood children selected at random, emerged as one of the top schools in…

A rural university and an urban school district developed a professional partnership that focused on promoting quality teaching by improving the skills, knowledge, and disposition of teachers. The major goals of this professional development initiative including the following objectives: first, establish a quality environment for teaching and…

This study was primarily undertaken by teachers for teachers, and focuses on the potential contribution of global learning and development education (DE) methodologies to a core aspect of curriculum provision, namely writing. The aim of the study is to explore whether using global learning and DE methodologies can have an impact on pupils'…

Intended to promote the innovative use of technology in education and promote educational advances all over the world, this volume brings together 16 best-practice cases on technology-enhanced educational innovations. Experts from Turkey, Tunisia, Cyprus, Italy, Malaysia, China, India and Finland have contributed to these cases, highlighting the…

As the concept of distributed leadership and its concomitant organizational structures become more prevalent in schools, studying how teacher capacity can be enhanced and can be used as a catalyst for reform is important. This article documents the nature of how the implementation of a research-validated reform influenced what teachers thought…

Improving teacher quality is arguably the most effective way to improve student achievement. Online professional development (OPD) has great potential to improve teacher quality. There is a dearth of scientific research, however, on whether changes in teachers' knowledge and instructional practices resulting from OPD are linked to changes in…

Teacher quality has received increasing focus over the past decade, yet, by some measures, teachers rarely improve after their first few years of teaching, and not all teachers seem driven to improve. Traditional models of professional learning have emphasized the processes that teachers take part in as a facilitator of their improvement. Research…

Quality teacher training and continued learning is essential to providing the high quality education that yields adequate levels of student success. Though called by many different names, academic coaches appear to be the answer to the continuing problem of creating a positive learning environment that meets the challenges of educating students…

During the past five years, the authors have collaborated to provide elementary school teachers with professional development that focuses on both mathematical content and pedagogy. All the professional development was created in keeping with the best practices. Many conversations evolved around the role of a coach and the most effective ways to…

During the last decade, "Lesson Study", a Japanese professional development model involving a community of learners, has been spreading to countries around the world. "Lesson Study" is a systematic process of inquiry into classroom practices where teachers collaborate in planning, implementing, observing and revising lessons.…

In Zambia, continuous assessment (CA) is defined as an on-going, diagnostic, classroom-based process that uses a variety of assessment tools to measure learner performance (MOE, 2005:5). Over the years, examinations have been used for selection and certification, without formal considerations on school-based continuous assessment as a component in…

This article focuses on the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Training (IY TCM) intervention as an example of an evidence-based program that embeds coaching within its design. First, the core features of the IY TCM program are described. Second, the IY TCM coaching model and processes utilized to facilitate high fidelity of…

The Global Writes (GW) model is a well-designed performing arts integrated literacy program that builds local and global support among students, teachers, and arts partners through the use of innovative technologies. Through local partnerships between schools and arts organizations forged by GW, classroom teachers and local teaching artists build…