This report presents findings from Phase 2 of a three-year teacher evaluation pilot conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Principals evaluated the teaching practices of teachers using The Framework for Teaching, a rubric that includes 22 components grouped into four broad teaching practice domains: (1) planning and preparation,…

The purpose of the authors in this study was to develop an instrument to assess fourth and fifth grade students' attitudes toward physical education. The methods for validation included (a) an elicitation study and instrument question development, (b) a pilot study, and (c) a series of analyses to assess, construct, and content validity and to…

Profiling adolescent students' intentional use of science news reports can inform science news-infused instruction. This study reports on the development and validation of a Views of Science News Instruction Questionnaire (VSNIQ) designed to explore Grade 7 (12-13 years old) students' views of reasoning with respect to science news. Forty items…

This article describes a pilot study following on from a curriculum development activity with teachers and children in primary school classrooms, using a framework for group discussion developed by Huthwaite International. The Centre for Science Education at Sheffield Hallam University and Huthwaite International worked with teachers from three…

The focus of this article is a school-based respectful relationships (RRs) pilot project involving grade 8 and 9 students. The project sought to develop a primary prevention approach to gender-based violence (GBV) in Australia. Of particular concern is the curriculum delivery component of a whole school approach that was piloted over a 10-week…

This article reports on a school improvement initiative undertaken by a private university in Pakistan. The Whole School Improvement Programme, designed with the purpose to improve the quality of education appropriate to children and teachers of poor communities, is being implemented in selected elementary schools. Central to the program is…

The potential of computer-based assessments for capturing complex learning outcomes has been discussed; however, relatively little is understood about how to leverage such potential for summative and accountability purposes. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a multimedia-based assessment of scientific inquiry abilities (MASIA) to…

Plan Ceibal is an interinstitutional undertaking which has distributed XO laptops and Internet connectivity among primary school learners and teachers across Uruguay and developed a wide range of educational programmes. Ceibal administration believes that it is imperative to introduce English as a Foreign Language in primary education through the…

With roots in community development and the work of Dewey, a compelling case has been made for universities to be involved in urban school reform. Further, with increasing demands placed on universities to become responsive to community needs, university partnerships with K-12 schools are one means by which institutions of higher education have…

The objective of this research is to explore comprehensively the effect of induction on new teachers. Through a mixed-method design, the authors examine both the inputs of induction (i.e., the types of support provided for new teachers, its content, and frequency) and a variety of outcomes (i.e., teacher efficacy, teacher-reported growth, teacher…

Background: This article considers the impact of differential task difficulty on student engagement and progression within an Irish primary school context. Gaining and maintaining student engagement during learning tasks such as homework is a significant and understandable on-going challenge for teachers. The findings of this study hold the…

This exploratory study seeks for understanding the relationship between Turkish elementary school English teachers' espoused beliefs about the effective ways of teaching English and their self-reported practices. 6 teachers, who were working at different state schools in a town located in the Northwestern part of Turkey, were interviewed.…

The fact that research has shown that fractions are among the most difficult mathematical concepts for elementary school students to master (Behr, Harel, Post, & Lesh, 1992; Bezuk & Cramer, 1989; Moss & Case, 1999) provides a compelling motivation for research and innovation focused on improving the available assessment and…

Proficiency-based or competency-based approaches to education are undergoing a resurgence in both K-12 and higher education settings, spurred in part by advances in digital learning technologies. These approaches allow students to progress at their own pace through a diverse range of personalized learning experiences aligned to students'…

This paper reports on the findings of a pilot school-based professional development programme for Tanzanian primary school teachers launched in February 2011 and evaluated in December 2012 by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training with the support of UNICEF. The study set out to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of the pilot…