Materials development is increasingly recognized as a valuable venue for narrowing the research-practice gap. This qualitative case study explores how four middle school teachers and three university researchers collaborated in a community of practice (CoP) to write textbooks by highlighting the interplay between their collaborative relationships…

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…

"Lesson study" has garnered considerable attention from educational researchers and practitioners as a promising method for improving instruction. At its core, lesson study reflects a collaborative inquiry process, grounded in cycles of planning, enacting, and reflecting, that promotes teacher learning through active engagement in lesson…

The pressure on schools to improve student performance in middle school mathematics combined with the movement towards standards-based instruction leaves teachers searching for the most effective instructional practice and administration examining their role in improvement efforts. This study examines the effect on student achievement in middle…

There is growing interest in the value of teacher-learning communities for practice improvement. Lesson Study is an approach to build capacity, strengthen professional communities among teachers, and improve teaching. This article explores the function of leadership in LS. Literature searches were conducted in social science and education…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore middle and secondary mathematics preservice teachers' (PST) perceptions of the benefits, challenges and impacts of implementing lesson study. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a single case study in the university context. Embedded units of analysis included a group of middle and a…

Veteran secondary teachers are becoming complacent and isolating themselves because of changes in teacher professional development; however, continuing to learn and update instructional practices is part of teacher professional development. To better understand veteran secondary teachers, their views and experiences must be understood. The problem…

Designing tasks to foster students' learning is challenging for teachers. In this article, we aim to understand how designing, enacting, and reflecting on tasks promotes the development of in-service and prospective teachers' didactical knowledge during lesson study. Data was collected through participant observation with audio recordings and…

At City Academies Neighborhood Middle School, there is a gap in student achievement. Over the course of two years, our lowest performing students did not grow at the rate of their peers. This problem has several consequences, including over classification of students with disabilities and a widening achievement gap. The purpose of my research was…

Purpose: Drawing from Occupational Socialization Theory, the purpose of this study was to examine a middle school physical education team's perceptions and experiences piloting standards-based teaching and grading within an organizational professional learning community (PLC). Method: Using an instrumental case study design, (n = 3) teachers and…

A student's middle school science experience strongly impacts their future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics interest. The Japanese lesson study (JLS) model strengthens the student's experience through a research-based, collaborative, multistep, teaching-centered process focused on transforming local instructional practices. The…

With the increasing demand for improved student achievement in mathematics, few studies have been conducted examining teacher efficacy when continuously supported through a collaborative professional learning community (PLC) structure. This study examined teacher efficacy within PLC activities in a middle school. Both the belief that mathematics…

Lesson Study (LS) is a teaching improvement and knowledge-building process that has origins in Japanese elementary education. In Japanese LS, teachers work in small teams to plan, teach, observe, analyse and refine individual lessons called research lessons. This study examined a small sample of primary school teachers' perceptions of LS as a…

The purpose of this two-phased, mixed-method action research study was to investigate the impact of a professional learning community's collective teacher efficacy and their practice of collective inquiry in closing the achievement gap of eighth-grade social studies English language learners. The research questions guiding this research: 1. How…

This study explores how teachers' communities of practice facilitated the transition to emergency remote teaching after school closures in South Korea during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We also investigate whether and how teachers' online education experiences in times of crisis continue to influence face-to-face teaching…