This paper examines how Lesson Study (Lewis, 2002) was used in an elementary mathematics methods course held at a Professional Development School and intended to support pre-service teachers to become reflective practitioners while working alongside clinical faculty. Attention is given to detailing the features of Lesson Study that situates the…

Schools and districts invest a great deal of time and money in professional development for teachers through instructional coaching. With this effort comes the responsibility to design coaching programs that have the greatest potential to improve classroom instruction and, in turn, increase student learning. What research is available to help…

Campus supervision is a craft that must be learned. It requires both knowledge and skill to be effective. Supervisors need a baseline knowledge of the school. They also need to understand the students they are to supervise--their cultural backgrounds, group dynamics, unique behaviors, issues, normal hangouts, and communication styles, as well as…

This article considers the unique supervision needs of graduate students in practicum and internship in the state of Georgia where, in addition to guidelines from national initiatives, the Board of Regents institutions are utilizing new standards for the preparation of school counselors incorporating roles as both counselors and educators.

This article describes the transformations that took place as two veteran teachers grappled with the insertion of video-mediated videoconferencing (VMC) for practicums during an initial study that focused on teacher candidates. Through their stories, the following themes were identified: teacher as risk-taker, VMC as a motivating device to…

Periodic reexamination of existing professional development school forms is good practice to ascertain whether goals are being met. Such an assessment was sparked by a request from a superintendent in a 14-year-old professional development school structure at a public college in the Northeast. This assessment revealed that although the…

This article considers another group of educators involved with the adoption of model-based instruction (MBI)--the cooperating teachers, who supervise physical education teacher education (PETE) student teachers in the Georgia State University (GSU) program. The university spends several semesters educating preservice teachers about the skills and…

Educational researchers have recently suggested that Schon's influential model of the "reflective practitioner" lacks a prospective, or future, dimension. In this study, we examine instances of future-oriented talk produced by novice English as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers during mentoring meetings in one North American university…

This case, which was inspired by actual events, describes the efforts of a district to create a culture of accountability for professional employee practice and behavior. In the midst of new district leaders and a shift in district priorities, numerous situations test the fortitude, organizational knowledge, ethical commitments, and political…

Regardless of where you are in your school improvement process, here's a book that helps you make sure you have all the right elements working for you in the right way. The authors take you through the core processes that are essential for all school improvement efforts--from establishing your mission to differentiating your supervision based on…

School counselors acknowledge the need for supervision but rarely receive it. This article describes the counselor performance improvement system in one school district. Supervision is embedded in a process that assesses counselors' levels of professionalism on a matrix of competence and commitment. Administrative and clinical supervisors…

In this article, the author presents Kathy B. Cox, Georgia state schools' superintendent. She has been very conscientious about the needs of teachers and the needs of principals. She has shown creativity by establishing a position at the department to work specifically on raising SAT scores in the state--which ranks last in national comparisons on…

This is the 36th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," 2014. Section 664(d) of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA") (P.L. 108-446), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress…

This is the 33rd Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," 2011. Section 664(d) of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the…

This is the 32nd Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2010. Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (P.L. 108-446), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free…