One of the greatest challenges for schools is to identify effective and ineffective teachers in a classroom. Teacher evaluation is an expensive process in both time and resources. It is important that evaluations provide data to improve teaching and learning. Therefore, each evaluation needs to communicate opportunities for growth. This…

This qualitative case study investigates how faculty members in a Title I middle school engage in collaborative practices to enhance professional growth without formal professional learning. Framed within a descriptive lens (Merriam, 1998) and informed by Brown and Duguid's Community of Practice (CoP) framework (1991), the study addresses two…

Teaching quality has long been a critical issue concerned by both educators and researchers in higher education. Many studies have proved that peer review of teaching (PRT), as one subtype of educational evaluation, can be an effective means to improve faculty teaching practices. This study aims to examine how PRT works to improve teaching quality…

This research examines what educational administrators can do to help secondary teachers effectively use data to inform their instruction and improve their practice. This qualitative study focused on the interviews of principals and teachers in 14 secondary schools that have used data to improve their school's accountability measures markedly in…

School districts across the nation are employing coaching for teachers as a means to improve teacher quality and increase student achievement. Looking specifically at instructional coaching as an intervention for teacher support, this study considers the literacy growth data of coached teachers compared to the literacy growth data of uncoached…

A critical component of school systems that contributes to impactful student outcomes is teacher retention and the support structures designed to improve teacher retention. There has been substantial research into teacher attrition and retention rates in the K-12 public-school sector (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Ingersoll, 2012; Ingersoll &…

The purpose of this study was to explore how literacy coaches can provide job-embedded professional development for content-area teachers to support their efforts in the implementation of disciplinary literacy practices. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this qualitative methods study: 1) How do…

Many special education teachers experience low self-efficacy when it comes to supporting the problematic behavior of their students. Low self-efficacy not only results in emotional exhaustion, burnout, and decreased retention, but also directly impacts the success of students in the classroom. The problem this qualitative descriptive study sought…

Professional development and learning are vital components of the educational system due to their dynamic impact on teachers (Bayar, 2014; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Guskey, 2002). Despite the importance of teacher development and the impact of student learning outcomes, professional development and learning often rely on traditional…

Designing professional development (PD) that helps teachers enact more ambitious math instruction that is responsive to emergent student thinking is challenging work. Two approaches to this sort of PD, practice-based professional development and lesson study, have different mechanisms for fostering change and choose different focus points for…

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent that contingent faculty from Michigan's 15 public universities engage with on and off-campus professional development (PD) to improve their teaching practice. Addressing a spectrum of research questions, this study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative…

Many countries around the world are implementing changes to their systems of teacher education in an effort to improve the way teachers teach and how much children learn in school. This dissertation uses the case of Ghana to examine how a suite of ambitious reforms--including the upgrading of teacher education to university education, a new…

Low performing schools remain an issue within Louisiana. The problem addressed by this study was low student performance in underperforming schools due to lack of understanding in pedagogy by teachers. The use of master teachers as instructional coaches is one way this school district sought to improve student achievement. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this action research study was to explore and develop collective teacher efficacy (CTE) for the faculty and staff at a preschool through Grade 2 elementary school. During Cycle 1 data collection, 10 teachers were interviewed using a semistructured interview protocol. Action steps for Cycle 2 were designed based on the Cycle 1…

High-quality teachers have been shown to be a foundational component in the success of students in k-12 education. High-quality teacher recruitment, selection, and retention become a cornerstone of a high quality school. The problem, of identifying, hiring, and retaining high quality teachers, is addressed in this dissertation. The school had to…