Despite the critical role of mentors in the preparation of preservice teachers, very little causal quantitative research has explored the effects of offering mentors professional development (PD) around how to coach and support their candidates. We conduct an experimental evaluation of a PD opportunity randomly offered to mentors within six…

New studies show that the instructional effectiveness of preservice candidates and their cooperating teachers are positively related. However, we neither know if these relationships are causal nor, assuming they are, if it is possible to significantly increase the instructional effectiveness of the cooperating teacher pool. In this study, we…

Research consistently shows that among young children, poor social skills and problem behaviors can lead to poor relationships with teachers and peers (Boivin et al., 1995), higher risk of academic failure (Buhs et al., 2006), and higher school dropout (Gilliam, 2005). Moreover, prekindergarten (PreK) and kindergarten (K) teachers report feeling…

Attempts to scale up instructional interventions confront implementation challenges that mitigate their ultimate impact on teaching and learning. In this article, we argue that learning about adaptation during the design and implementation phases of reform is critical to the development of interventions that can be implemented with integrity at…