Among all in-school factors that impact student learning, teachers carry the most weight -- but school leaders are not far behind. Decades of research have proven the positive influence principals can have on student achievement, school climate and teaching quality. New evidence suggests that their impact may be even greater than previously…

State policymakers and the public at large have a vested interest in the successful governance of their higher education institutions. The citizens who are appointed or elected to serve as board members of a state's colleges and universities oversee valuable public assets that they hold in trust for the state and for current and future…

This dissertation in practice will focus on gaining insights into the relationship between money spent on professional development and the Standards Assessment Inventory Scores. The Standards Assessment Inventory is an assessment tool aligned with the Standards of Professional Learning that provides insight into the perceptions of professional…

The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) reviewed data on 21 states' principal licensure requirements, conducted structured interviews with experts on principal preparation and professional development in 7 states, and spoke with staff at the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Institute for School…

Humic substances (HS) are the humified portions of totally decomposed soil organic matter that are ubiquitous in nature. Although these substances have been studied for more than 200 years, neither their metabolic capabilities nor a specific chemical structure has yet to be determined. HS have been studied as a carbon source in many environments…

Youth with disabilities receiving transition from services from State/Federal VR agencies accounted for more than one quarter of closed cases within in FY 2010 (RSA, 2010). This unique population of clients, however, has received little attention in empirical studies, scholarly journals, and as a focus within training programs. By investing in…

The use of data to inform instructional and educational decisions is an increasingly important facet of teachers' professional practice. However, little is presently known about the best teacher learning mechanisms by which to promote data use. This study (N = 329) examined the nature and distribution of both Illinois public teacher data use…

This paper describes a method of analysing teacher growth in the context of science education. It focuses on the identification of pathways in the development of secondary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by the use of the interconnected model of teachers' professional growth (IMTPG).The teachers (n = 12) participated in a…

Dr. Edward White, Hillsborough High School principal, has decided to allocate faculty in-service time to address an unproductive chasm between academic and career and technical education programming within the school, which has created tensions among the faculty. On returning to his office after the professional development session, which was…

Examines relationships among the levels of pre-service and inservice teacher preparation in various topic areas within environmental education (EE) and the levels of implementation of those topic areas in public high school science and social studies classrooms in Illinois. Measures teacher attitudes toward EE. Findings indicate that teachers who…

More than half of all school-age children in the United States read below grade level (NCES, 2012a). Seventy-five percent of all special education referrals are due to poor reading skills (NCES, 2012b). The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services reports that 50% or more of students with disabilities score at or below the 20th…

Over a decade ago, Bredekamp asserted (1996) that the field of early childhood education lacked a research base to document the effectiveness of approaches to producing highly skilled and effective early educators. The National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education's (NCRECE) Course and MyTeachingPartner (MTP) Coaching were developed to…

Background: Manuscript written for the Adult Education Research Conference based on dissertation research completed at National Louis University. Purpose: To increase knowledge base of art based learning as a mode of anti-racist pedagogy and the use of an Africentric framework for continuing and professional education. Setting: African Centered…

In the current study characteristics of the teacher and classroom that influence teacher responsiveness to the course or consultancy are explored. If classroom quality or characteristics of teachers, such as anxiety levels or efficacy in teaching prior to intervention participation are predictive of responsiveness, then future programs will be…

This study looks deeply inside 17 schools that stand at the vanguard of the current revolution in teaching. This new National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) report reveals the substantive ways in which these schools are providing their teachers with more time to reflect on, develop, and hone their craft, by very explicitly leveraging an…