In this article, the authors consider what can be learned from limited forms of evidence, for purposes of accountability and improvement of teacher education programs. They begin with a review of recent research on how evidence has been used to examine the effectiveness of teacher preparation and development. Using empirical evidence from a state…

In this paper, we report on 2 studies developing, testing, and using an observation tool for measuring primary literacy instruction, the Developing Language and Literacy Teaching (DLLT) rubrics. In Study 1 (an instrumentation study), we show that the DLLT has a high level of internal consistency, that there are high levels of inter-rater…

Effective teachers are critical to raising achievement and closing long-standing gaps among student subgroups. Research on this point has become absolutely clear: Students who have three or four strong teachers in a row will soar academically, regardless of racial or economic background, while those who have a sequence of weak teachers will fall…

The improvement of schools has been a central discussion among educators, legislators, and stakeholders, with professional development being acknowledged as a fundamental topic for the success of the education system. Studying the alignment of professional development programs provided at Title I Achieving schools to NCLB research based…

The main variable in classroom performance is not students. It's not parents. It's not the principal or the board of education. It is the teacher. Numerous studies confirm that the most important factor contributing to student success is the effectiveness of instruction. And though school quality is largely determined by teacher quality, that…

Research suggests that many substitute teachers do not have the educational pedagogy or teacher certification necessary to be considered highly qualified by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. To address that concern, professional development training for substitute teachers who lack proper certification and educational pedagogy has become an…

The Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Programme (TEEP) is a CPD programme that aims to improve teachers' classroom practice. TEEP training is offered as a whole-school approach by the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT). All staff in a school received three days of training over a period of two terms. A smaller cohort of teachers, chosen…

A vast gulf in academic achievement separates public schools in Washington, D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods from those in its most affluent. Achievement Prep, which serves 4th-8th graders in D.C.'s impoverished 8th Ward, is an outlier. Yet in 2011, 60% of Achievement Prep's "scholars" scored proficient or advanced in reading on the DC-CAS…

Professional Development Units (PDUs) were new to the AISD REACH program in 2010-2011. This report summarizes participants' experiences with PDUs and the influence of PDUs on student performance on the state academic tests (TAKS) and Student Learning Objectives.

In the past 3 decades, the concept of professional community has gained considerable momentum in the theoretical and empirical studies in this field. At the same time, the concept has faced conceptual and methodological difficulties in that as yet no universal definition has been formulated and that its operationalization differs in the various…

Teachers tend to leave schools where they feel ineffective. At the same time, it's harder to be effective in schools with the lowest levels of student performance, schools that are most in need of effective teaching. There is a pressing need to improve the quality of instruction in urban schools to reduce long-standing inequities in educational…

Today's education policy places a high priority on improving teacher quality and teaching effectiveness in U.S. schools. Standards-based professional learning requires teachers to have deep subject knowledge and the most effective pedagogy for teaching the subject. States and school districts are charged with establishing teacher professional…

Teachers today are expected to meet the diverse needs of all of their students and know an array of instructional methods, which requires continual professional development (Darling-Hammond 1998). Darling-Hammond (1998, 7) stated that the "strongest predictor of student achievement is the percentage of well-qualified teachers in a school,…

In this report, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), in collaboration with National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from North Carolina, offer a set of TeacherSolutions on how to improve practices and policies for teaching and learning in 21st century schools. This cadre of classroom experts offer their best thinking on some of today's most…

This study investigated the effects of a classroom intervention on prospective elementary teachers' ability to evaluate evidence of student achievement of mathematical learning goals. The intervention was informed by a framework for teacher education which aims to provide prospective teachers (PTs) with the skills needed to systematically learn…