There is a defined need to provide accessible and effective professional development for 4-H educators. Lesson study is a Community of Practice-based approach to educator professional development. Prior research has shown lesson study to be effective with 4-H staff, adult volunteers, and teen volunteers. This inquiry, a multisite case study, was…

In the United States, the K-12 education sector too often exists in silos, separated from meaningful connections with community and innovation. But in Tucson, Pittsburgh, and other regions around the country, communities are working to break down those walls. They are building ecosystems that bring together educators, researchers, funders, edtech…

Utilizing technology to connect three geographically separate institutions within the same state and drawing on Bhabba, and Zeichner's notions of third space, four teacher educators developed an opportunity for the middle-level teacher candidates from each university to simultaneously observe a live classroom teaching event virtually while…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an effective way for faculty to learn about pedagogical topics and tactics. However, less is known about how effective they are at changing the teaching practices of the faculty participants and ultimately student learning. This article describes a mixed-method study of such a transfer of knowledge. In…

With states and districts across the country implementing the Common Core State Standards, teachers have more opportunities than ever to collaborate around the shared goals of strengthening curriculum design, classroom practices, and student learning. Building from this premise, the Common Assignment Study (CAS) has brought together teams of…

Mentoring is a common form of support for beginning teachers. State and district mentoring policies vary along a number of dimensions, yet policymakers have little evidence to draw on in designing effective mentoring programs. We use quantitative and qualitative data from a study of beginning middle school mathematics teachers in 10 districts to…

This article reports the findings of the 2011 results of 'very rural' Kentucky high schools on the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Survey to determine whether differences existed between high and low performing rural schools across specific survey items. Schools with ACT scores one standard deviation (or more) above their…

As an institution built on the foundation of a Normal School, collaboration among faculty members and across program areas and academic units has been part of Western Kentucky University's (WKU) heritage since 1906. In addition to the various collaborative initiatives across campus, there are a variety of initiatives that involve various agencies…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call on science and social studies teachers to engage in literacy instruction that prepares students for the academic rigors of college. The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) designed a framework to address the challenge of literacy-content integration. At the heart of the intervention are fill-in-the-blank…

In twenty years of teaching, the author has never been involved in a project that sparked as much enthusiasm from students, parents, the administration, and other teachers as the Entrepreneur Fair. In an effort to challenge students to become entrepreneurs, the author developed a one-day market called the Entrepreneur Fair at Stonewall Elementary…

"Framework for K-12 Science Education" states that "children are natural engineers … they spontaneously build sand castles, dollhouses, and hamster enclosures and use a variety of tools and materials for their own playful purposes" (NRC 2012, p. 70). The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") also…

School leadership has been shown to exert a positive but mostly indirect influence on school and student outcomes. Currently, there is great interest in how quality leadership preparation is related to leadership practice and improved teacher outcomes. The purpose of the study was to understand the moderating influence of leadership preparation on…

Teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities must possess the skills and knowledge to address a unique set of needs and challenges. These may include, but are not limited to, management of challenging behaviors, performance of health-related procedures, use of assistive technology, and instruction using evidence-based strategies.…

Middle school, which is generally thought of as sixth to eighth grades, is not easy for anybody. It is a rough time to be a student, and a tough age to teach. Teachers are expected to ease the transition of students from elementary to middle school. However, if you are an elementary teacher, you may not know what kids will be facing in middle…

The authors examined peer coaching in the context of the Mentored Implementation Program developed in the Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership. The experimental design contained 6 teachers receiving peer coaching with their 202 students and 5 teachers in the control group with their 105 students. Teachers considered peer coaching a…