The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Early College High School (ECHS) adjunct instructors teaching dual enrollment courses in a southern region school district. Through interviews with ten ECHS adjunct instructors, the researcher examined the factors contributing to their success, their professional…

This study investigated physical education teacher candidate perceptions on feedback received from cooperating teachers and university supervisors during their student teaching experience. We used a basic qualitative research design (Merriam, 2009) to determine the perceptions of five teacher candidates from a public university in Puerto Rico.…

This single intrinsic case study utilized complexity theory to explore a complicated narrative of in-service professional learning for teachers undergoing improvement plans in underperforming schools. This study is bounded within a master's level online graduate course. We focused on the literacy learning of one student in the course, a U.S. Army…

The study traced the assimilation of new administrative software in an Arab school, assisted by collaboration between the school and an Arab academic teacher-training college in Israel. The research used a mixed-method paradigm. A questionnaire consisting of 81 items was administered to 55 of the school's teachers in two stages to elicit their…

Background: Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an interaction of several knowledge bases upon which the teacher makes decisions about what and how to teach. To date, there are no studies in physical education directly documenting relationships between specialized content knowledge (SCK) and PCK. Such relationships have not been empirically…

This dissertation is comprised of three studies investigating the teaching practices of a cohort of pre-service teachers in a university-based teacher education program. The first manuscript characterizes the improvements of a cohort of eight pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) over the course of an academic year in the year prior…

In this study, we examined changes in levels of pre service teachers' reflective writing and tried to identify links between these changes and pre service teachers' success in teaching. Participants were two groups of pre-service special education teachers that taught in two different special education settings: learning difficulties classes and…

The present study was an attempt to understand how a process of reflection helped five foreign language student teachers throughout their first teaching experience. This study was conducted in the classrooms of five public schools in Colombia where English was taught to high school students. Data were collected through classroom observations,…

The history between Cheektowaga Central and the University at Buffalo illustrates the benefits of forming long-term collaborative relationships between teacher education programs and local schools. In 1998, the author was approached by Suzanne Miller regarding the possibility of Meg Callahan, then a doctoral student at the University at Buffalo,…

Purdue University recently received $1.2M in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the development of educational programs for high school teachers, high school counselors, and high school students. The purpose of these intervention programs is to show that women (and men) can have interesting, useful, and society-impacting…

The Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative (PAHSCI) seeks to improve student achievement in high-need high schools across Pennsylvania by enhancing the teaching of literacy skills across subject areas. It is ambitious in its scope as a statewide initiative and distinctive in its direct focus on instruction as the pathway to improving…

The No Child Left Behind Act's requirements for scientifically based research and new accountability standards will affect how professional development leaders do their work. Meeting the new requirements means leaders must more carefully evaluate new programs of professional learning and assess the results. Evaluation must become a given, not an…

In this article we address the "highly qualified teacher" provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. We argue that the provisions' intent is important and achievable, and we outline critical research on the issue of which teacher qualifications matter for student learning. Three questions frame the discussion: Does…

Teacher educators need to remain current regarding the challenges that prospective teachers are going to face in their classrooms. One way to maintain this currency is for teacher educators periodically to spend some time in the K-12 classroom testing the theories they teach. This paper will discuss the benefits both teacher educators and…

One of our greatest educational challenges continues to be improving the education of English language learners (ELLs). Because many new teachers are underprepared and many veteran teachers wholly unprepared for teaching ELLs, school districts nationwide have initiated professional development programs for inservice teachers. In this article, the…