Inclusion has been increasingly recognised as a global common goal in education. In China, inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities is currently practised as 'Learning in Regular Classrooms' (LRC). However, not only has the inclusion policy frequently been criticised as failing to provide clear, systematic,…

The logic behind "continuous improvement" sounds simple--but it takes a skillful leader to make the process pay off. While the logic behind the popular "continuous improvement" process seems simple, the authors' study of schools using approaches based on continuous improvement revealed that skilled leadership is as important as…

Once lauded for its potential to increase the quality of novice educators entering the teaching profession by representing a performance-based assessment akin to professional licensure examinations in other fields, edTPA was discontinued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) as a required credential for professional educator…

In this paper, we focus on the design of assessments of mathematics teachers' knowledge by emphasizing the importance of identifying the purpose for the assessment, defining the specific construct to be measured, and considering the affordances of particular psychometric models on the development of assessments as well as how they are able to…

In response to research demonstrating that Tennessee Extension agents desired a performance appraisal system that better reflected their jobs and provided for appraisers' professional development, a committee of University of Tennessee and Tennessee State University personnel undertook a 2-year initiative to revise the performance appraisal…

As states are continuing to refine teacher evaluation models, there are opportunities for student learning in the arts to be documented and connected with teacher evaluation. The Tennessee Portfolio of Student Growth in the Arts ("the Portfolio") has provided a new perspective on documenting the relationship between student growth and…

This joint statement, representing the collective position of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), the Two-Year College English Association (TYCA), the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA), and the College Section of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), aims to: (1) Outline collective…

Effective teaching practice focused on encouraging deep engagement helps all students learn and succeed. Considerable work by researchers and change agents, encouraged by national organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Research Council, has promoted greater use of evidence-based educational practices, such as…

Meadowbrook Primary School has explored the use of The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) to support transition, initially for transfer to secondary school and now for transition from Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) into Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7). This article will consider an example of a secondary transition project and discuss the…

Feedback influences students' achievement more than almost any other factor. As obvious as this may be from a research standpoint, there is still no consensus among practitioners about the importance of one very powerful form of feedback--from students to teachers.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, recognizes the important role educators play in improving education outcomes for students of color and students from low-income families--groups that historically have included large numbers of English learners (ELs). ESSA requires state…

This research summary provides the key findings and interpretive summary--chapters 3 and 4--from the full report, "Reaching for Improvement: Teacher Evaluation and its Role in Instructional Improvement." The full report contains additional details on the context, methodology, and findings of this study. This document has minor…

Teacher performance assessments are positioned as a high stakes assessment that are aimed to ensure that preservice teachers are ready for professional practice in education contexts. The move to incorporate them in institutions has its origins in concerns that teacher education is a policy problem with varying standards of preparation across the…

Music educators have experience working in education environments governed by shifting policies and mandates. How can music educators become agents empowered to shape, interpret, and design mechanisms for putting policy into practice? This article describes ways to understand policy and options for responding and contributing to its development…

Student ratings have long been used by many institutions of higher education as a primary form of summative evaluation of teaching. In recent years, studies have brought into question the validity of student ratings, highlighting the need for more effective evaluation methods that recognize and reward evidence-based teaching practices. To begin to…