Teacher evaluation has been closely tied to professional development. In special education, professional development experiences are meant to promote special educator learning and implementation of high leverage practices. Yet, the connection between teacher evaluation outcomes and professional development decisions of special educators is largely…

While we know that professionalization improves outcomes for teachers, education policy has effectively "deprofessionalized" teachers, especially those who serve immigrant English Learners. Based on a three-year case study, this paper explores how teachers in an immigrant-serving school exercised autonomy and authority over their…

Relying on a teacher-level randomized experiment with a sample of 87 middle and high school teachers, this study was designed to examine the implementation and impact of MyTeachingPartner-Secondary delivered by local coaches who were trained and supported by the program provider. Due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation…

The use of modern technological advances to aid with agricultural production has led to many new career opportunities in the agricultural industry especially for those with strong science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) training. However, limited exposure to agricultural content in middle and high school education may affect how many…

For three weeks each June, the authors' PDS hosts a summer program called the Academy for Future Teachers (AFT), serving high school students interested in a teaching career. Partners across the PDS convene to support high-school AFT participants, including master teachers (P-12 teachers from local school districts and university faculty) and PDS…

The authors describe Pathways2Teaching, a grow-your-own-teacher program operating in high schools in six Colorado school districts that focuses on getting students of color interested in going into K-12 teaching.

If a programme were to be devised for the early-career development of science teachers, what might such a programme look like? This was the focus of a meeting of science educators interested in developing such a structure, from the start of initial teacher training onwards. The contributions, modified and written up here, include a suggested…

In education, professional development (PD) is the continuing education of teachers and administrators. Many studies have described PD as a conventional, top-down type of training that teachers experience in schools. Commonly known as the "institutional model," this type of PD is isolated from classroom practice and occurs as mandatory…

Borrowing her title from Parker Palmer's "Courage to Teach", Kathy Egawa revisits her own professional learning journey and contrasts traditional, one-size-fits-all professional development with her own more meaningful learning from teaching. Her stories and research from the field focus on 1) learning from students, 2) learning among colleagues,…

While publishing has not typically been part of the official job description of teachers in the same way it has been for university scholars, a significant portion of articles in journals like "Voices from the Middle" are written by practicing teachers. Writing about your teaching practice or classroom inquiry for an audience of fellow teachers…

This study looks closely at the work of five teacher leaders within a grant designed to promote middle- and high school-level content area literacy teaching and learning. Drawing from research on teacher career cycles, teacher compensation, and distributed leadership, the five teacher leaders' motivations, meanings, and approaches to teacher…

There is growing consensus that the single most important factor in determining student performance is the quality of the teacher. Therefore, if the national goal of providing an equitable education to children across this nation is to be met, it is critical that efforts be concentrated on developing and retaining high-quality teachers in every…

Researchers, policymakers, and education leaders agree that teacher quality is a vital factor in improving student achievement. Therefore, it is imperative that states and districts recruit, develop, and retain high-quality teachers to ensure that all children are provided with an adequate education. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initially required…

In this report, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) takes a close look at the governance of the teaching profession and finds that state legislators and other state-level policymakers crafting state laws and regulation, not those bargaining at the local level, decide some of the most important rules governing the teaching profession.…