The pressure on schools to improve student performance in middle school mathematics combined with the movement towards standards-based instruction leaves teachers searching for the most effective instructional practice and administration examining their role in improvement efforts. This study examines the effect on student achievement in middle…

Designing tasks to foster students' learning is challenging for teachers. In this article, we aim to understand how designing, enacting, and reflecting on tasks promotes the development of in-service and prospective teachers' didactical knowledge during lesson study. Data was collected through participant observation with audio recordings and…

A student's middle school science experience strongly impacts their future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics interest. The Japanese lesson study (JLS) model strengthens the student's experience through a research-based, collaborative, multistep, teaching-centered process focused on transforming local instructional practices. The…

Schools are expected to be sites of caring, but there is evidence that both students and adults often experience them as uncaring places. One reason is that a sustained and heavy policy emphasis on accountability and demonstrations of effectiveness has placed pressure on educators to perform in certain ways, and to care about things other than…

Conceptualizing lesson study as an encounter at the boundaries of research and practice, this study examined teacher-academic collaboration for its potential to shape teacher research identity. We report here a case study of a school where the teachers have been able to present their lesson study works in conferences. Documents produced by the…

Research, conducted universally over two decades, suggests there is a significant disproportionality of achievement of housing displaced and highly mobile students (HDHM) compared to students who are in stable housing. HDHM students not only present with learning gaps but exhibit greater challenges in math. The purpose of this critical case study…

This study focused on a problem of practice at Mystic River School (MRS), a kindergarten through eighth grade school in an urban district in New England. Schoolwide diagnostic data showed a significant gap between multilingual learners (MLs) and their native English speaking peers in literacy. An analysis of this data, interviews with staff and…

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to examine mathematics teachers' abilities in developing formative assessments when teaching algebraic reasoning after utilizing two innovations: lesson study and open approach. Methodology: A single group quasi-experimental research design was employed in two mathematics classes in a school in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among middle school teachers' beliefs about collaboration, their rationale for using common formative assessments, and teacher characteristics that can explain these relationships. Seventy-six middle school teachers from two middle schools participated in the study. Findings indicate that…

This study addresses gaps in the research about the effect of professional development (PD) quality on effective instruction by taking a broad perspective when defining professional learning of teachers and by providing a theory-based explanation for effective instruction. Using a large-scale data set, Teaching and Learning International Survey…

Teacher collaboration has received international research attention and has emerged as an effective way for teachers to engage in professional growth opportunities (Dove & Honigsfeld, 2018; Rao & Chen, 2020). An examination of teacher collaboration can shed light on the process by which teachers work together and illuminate further…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the conditions and challenges that facilitate teacher professional learning through the implementation of pedagogical mentoring (PM) within the Chilean school context. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a qualitative methods approach, utilizing an instrumental case study. As the…

Research suggests that academically gifted students are often underserved when it comes to the school setting. Academically gifted students require specialized instruction to challenge them. Several successful strategies exist for creating an educational environment that appropriately challenges and helps these students achieve academic growth;…

Inclusive education policies thin the boundaries of special and regular education as well as teachers' roles and competencies. The present study, using data from TALIS 2018, aims to find out whether Portuguese teachers working in classes directed entirely or mainly to special education needs students (SENS) differ from teachers working in classes…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the processes that make teachers learn in a collaborative arrangement similar to lesson study (LS) and learning study (LearS). The teachers in this collaboration wanted to enhance teaching and student learning (grades 4-7) about decimal numbers.…