Teachers are required to work with data on a daily basis to assess the effectiveness of their teaching strategies, but may not approach it as research. This paper presents a reflective discussion of how and when a professional development team used an action research project to help 12 K-6 teachers explore the effectiveness of reform based Nature…

Critical pedagogy, combined with partnerships with adults at school, enabled the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) advisor to create the foundation for reflective, activist-oriented learning at one Midwestern high school. Underreported in current literature, the use of critical pedagogy in school clubs and/or organizations has broad implications for…

Training and technical assistance programs for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have emerged in many states as educators, administrators, and institutions of higher education attempt to address the increasing needs for enhancing the knowledge and skills of educators and disseminating the ever-growing knowledge of educational practices. This report…

In today's school reform discussions, the teaching profession is often mistakenly viewed as a singular activity. Evaluating teachers for their performance in the classroom assumes that the focus should be on each individual teacher. Merit pay and performance pay both assume that student achievement is the result of only the individual teacher. But…

One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that has gained prominence as a policy focus only in the last several years is the requirement that poor and minority children be served by highly qualified teachers to no less a degree than other, more affluent children. Under the Obama administration, the focus on "highly qualified"…

This article explores elements of the professional development of a pre-tenured teacher education professor. I am that professor and I trace my journey of growth, which was aided by peer mentoring. First, I present a brief discussion on literature associated with mentoring that I found pertinent, followed by how mentoring has emerged as I…

This study was conducted in order to examine how and to what extent the implementation of the performance-based bonus program in South Korean schools has motivated teachers to improve their behavior, as well as to identify any other positive or negative effects of the program. Interviews with teachers indicated that a large percentage of teachers…

International Trade Practice is a professional basic course for specialty of International Economy and Trade. As the core of International Trade Practice, it is extremely related to foreign affairs and needs much practical experience. This paper puts forward some suggestions on how to improve the performance of teaching in order to educate the…

With an increasing number of colleges and universities turning to part-time instructors to teach courses at their institutions, developmental education professionals are faced with the task of finding appropriate ways to train, serve, and evaluate these instructors. Unfortunately, there is little published information on how to accomplish these…

The Swan Valley Cluster of Schools for the Make it Count project identified the professional learning of teachers as a key factor in improving the numeracy outcomes of urban Indigenous children. Two mentor teachers were assigned to support cluster teachers in planning and teaching mathematics during 2011. This paper reports on the initiative and…

Neither experimental nor design research in education is as well developed in Japan as in the United States. Yet Japanese educational practice employs a type of educational research called "lesson study" that is credited for instructional improvements, including the shift from "teaching as telling" to "teaching for…

Created by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) represents the first federal initiative targeted directly at state and district efforts to introduce performance measures into educator compensation. TIF responds to a growing body of evidence that existing pay structures do not respond to labor force realities or adequately…

With a growing awareness of the limitations of a transmissive mode of education and a one-size-fits-all approach to teacher education, teachers' active involvement is increasingly recognized as a crucial component of their continuous professional development (CPD). In many EFL (English as a foreign language) contexts, however, CPD is still largely…

Based on a detailed literature review and longitudinal analysis, this paper explores the possible underlying causes of the decline in the number of hours per week graduating business seniors indicated they studied during their senior year. The study was conducted at an AACSB accredited college of business at a regional university. The study…

In the 2008-2009 school year, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) partnered with Denver Public Schools (DPS) and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) to assess the effectiveness of current teacher performance management policies and practices. DPS and the DCTA have been national leaders in their willingness to examine the difficult issues…