Teaching evaluation is a central process across institutions for faculty retention, promotion, and tenure. While there is a rich literature on methods for evaluating teaching, there is less scholarship on the goals and processes for reforming systems of teaching evaluation. Surprisingly, there is little to no information on teaching criteria at…

Traditional teacher evaluations -- full-lesson observations, write-ups, and debriefs -- are time-consuming and largely ineffective. As a principal, Kim Marshall found that mini-observations -- short, frequent, unannounced classroom visits, each followed by a face-to-face coaching conversation and brief narrative summary -- actually improved…

The field of mathematics education has engaged in perennial debate about whether transmission-oriented or constructivist approaches to teaching will best help students learn. Yet, both fluency, learned through step-by-step procedural instruction, and the mathematical flexibility that comes from constructivist methods play an important role in…

A collaboration between campus partners including the center for teaching and learning and a fee-based student learning support program set out to engage faculty in an educational campaign aimed at designing inclusive classrooms for neurodiverse students. The Neurodiversity Institute, a two-day interactive experience, provides faculty with tools…

With the ever-expanding role of technology in schools, many teachers have participated in one-time, stand-alone workshops to learn how to use a new program, app, or other tool. While that may provide a helpful introduction to the basics and highlight inspirational examples of what the tool can do, it doesn't often translate into teachers applying…

Background: Many education systems internationally expect schools to participate in continuous instructional improvement programmes. One tool used within these processes is the structured, rubric-based classroom observation, focused on the evaluation of teaching. Such observations are a common feature of formative evaluation systems, teacher…

As of April 2024, 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have laws or policies related to evidence-based reading instruction (Schwartz, 2024). To ensure the success of these efforts, educators need and deserve multifaceted support that involves professional learning, curriculum resources, ongoing support from leaders and coaches, and a…

Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice that can be applied across multiple populations of students. Despite extensive research support for FCT, its use can be impractical or ineffective if utilized with students who are from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. That is because cultural…

Peer coaching involves two or more professionals collaborating to reflect on and refine current skills and practices (Yee, 2016). The peer coaching model described in this article focused on grades K-2, a critical time for the development of students' reading skills. In the 2022-23 school year, a small pilot study was conducted of a program based…