We present a model for professional development of instructional faculty. Though initially conceived for accreditation compliance as a credentialing process for adjunct faculty, this project led to increases in participants' collaboration on lesson design, investment in curricular decisions, and adoption of active learning methods. In this paper,…

This article describes the first implementation of the Future Educators Learning Community, and particularly, the impact of three linked courses and instructor collaboration. With supporting literature and the context and background of this learning community as the foundation, our experiences are structured into three distinct categories:…

"Teacher-Powered Practices: How teacher teams collaboratively lead and create student-centered schools" focuses on how innovative teachers are radically changing the ways schools are designed and run. The how here are the common practices, structures, and processes teacher-powered teams design and use daily. The guide identifies nine…

We report on the scaling up of a high school content literacy framework, Reading Apprenticeship, over a period of four years as part of the independent evaluation of an Investing in Innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Education to WestEd's Strategic Literacy Institute (SLI). Our goal was to understand the school processes that support…

The idea of teachers working together to improve teaching and learning seems so sensible that few would argue against it. However, some schools do not provide regular and ample opportunities for teachers to collaborate on their practice mainly because they do not know how to find new ways of using existing resources, such as time and personnel. In…

By pairing up core-subject teachers with traditional vocational education instructors, a Michigan district tries to show that rigor can be built into vocational programs. One teacher own contracting business, and still makes cabinets and renovates houses in his spare time. The other teacher's passion is math and science. He is certified in both of…

A study examined the practices of 121 school-based intervention teams from Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Findings revealed several positive practices by teams from all states; however, teams from Illinois displayed consistent superiority across several measures. Discussion focuses on implications for practice and educational and legal reform.…

This study examined teacher empowerment through the development of individual and collective teacher efficacy. A content-centered staff development program implemented in a Michigan school district by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and Oakland University helped teachers develop efficacy in the teaching of mathematics and in the ability to…