School reform policies and school administrators are increasingly positioning teacher leaders (TLs) with the responsibility to facilitate professional learning for their colleagues. Although ample evidence exists to suggest the need for facilitators to be highly skilled for teachers' learning to be optimized, there is a dearth of research…

Four programs, two for preservice graduate students and two for inservice teachers, in which teachers were encouraged to analyze their teaching with a partner, are presented. The sessions to support teacher partnerships, how new patterns of teaching were demonstrated, and the extent to which teachers conducted cooperative projects are described.…

Since Fall 2001, the faculty and leaders of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, have participated in a collaborative inquiry project. This five-year research endeavor provides opportunities for teacher educators, assisted by university researchers, to study their own practice. This paper presents an…

Examines California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program, which facilitates cooperative work between a university, county education offices, and school districts. Teacher portfolios assessed program components. Program participants completed surveys examining support strategies for effectiveness. All participants (new teachers,…

Describes a model used in Santa Cruz (California) for supporting and assessing beginning teachers that moves away from traditional inservice education and staff development into ongoing teacher development. The program's emphasis on collegial partnerships, personal inquiry and reflection, and ongoing self-assessment is described in relationship to…

This study examined the quantity and quality of teacher recruitment programs for K-12 public school students, highlighting the need for minority group teachers. Surveys of 380 California schools in northern California indicated that 96% had no opportunities for students at any grade level to learn in a systematic manner about becoming a teacher.…

Over the past decade many university-based teacher education programs and school districts have forged partnerships creating restructured, collaborative programs aimed at improving teaching and learning for credential candidates, as well as the children that they serve. According to data from the California Department of Education, progress is…

Discusses preservice and inservice beginning-teacher preparation, identifying areas of teaching that challenge the cultural deficit model by examining the role of teaching standards in addressing second-language learners' needs. Describes demographic changes within the classroom; reviews literature on effective teaching practices; and identifies a…