A team of former middle school teachers have been hosting weeklong professional development workshops with students as the stars. The results have made great--and lasting--change in schools.

Although literature emphasizes the value of recursive reflection on problems of practice to facilitate teacher learning and change, few studies investigate teachers' iterative, evolving reflections on problems that emerge in their efforts to change their practice over time. This case study provides an in-depth, longitudinal analysis of one…

Intervention research indicates that historical inquiry curricula call for different tasks, materials, and methods of teaching compared to those focused solely on content. Inquiry curricula require teachers to shift from the methods, materials, and assessments to which they are accustomed. As a result, despite intervention research efforts that…

The teaching profession, at its core, is relational. Professional development of teachers is provided in many ways: one day seminars, professional learning communities, mentoring, etc. However, there has been little attention to the interaction between the teachers involved in the process and what influence this interaction has on their…

Research shows that effective teachers are one of the most important in-school contributors to student learning. To improve low-income minority students' access to effective teaching, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching (IP) initiative in the 2009-2010 school year. The program was…

In 2018, The RAND Corporation and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) published an evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching (IP) initiative, which was designed to improve achievement among low-income minority (LIM) students. The initiative provided support for several reforms that…

This article describes the case of a Japanese junior high school that experienced a turn-around in three years from one of the worst schools to one of the best by utilizing lesson study for learning community (LSLC) as a managerial tool. It will focus on how the principal: (i) established a vision of reform, (ii) organized LSLC to involve the…

Models of professional development for teachers have been criticized for not being embedded in the context in which teachers are familiar, namely their own classrooms. This paper discusses an adapted-Continuous Practice Improvement model, which qualitative findings indicate was effective in facilitating the transfer of creative and innovative…

Recent research has emphasised educating children about positive behaviours to overcome delinquency issues, but there is little clarification of what factors lead to positive behaviours. This study analyses factors that led to children's positive behaviours at a junior high school in Japan, which experienced a dramatic turnaround after…

Fueled by the proliferation of new technologies, teachers are being asked to rethink their own practice and deliver instruction designed to help students succeed in the 21st century. The aim is to extend students' intellectual capacity through the use of contemporary tools and to create powerful learning situations which can extend their…

This qualitative case study investigated middle grades literacy coaches' perspectives on their efforts to facilitate teacher change and impact classroom practice. Data were collected from three coaches as they worked with a variety of teachers in middle school settings, using field observation and interviews with coaches, teachers, and principals.…

Originally drawing from a "country club" community in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Creekland Middle School has undergone significant changes in the past decade. The percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch has risen--and continues to do so. This year, 46% of its student population is economically disadvantaged, up 20%…

This study examined patterns of change in the science teaching practice, beliefs, and content knowledge of 15 upper-elementary teachers from three Title I schools during their participation in a yearlong, reform-based science professional development program and during the year following the program. Further, this study sought to understand the…

Observation measures of instructional quality tend to fall into two broad categories--those for use across subject areas and those intended for use in specific subject areas. The move toward content-specific measures is a result of research suggesting that effective teaching looks different across subject areas and that both content knowledge and…

In September 2009, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) awarded $8 million in new Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grants to institutions of higher education for the purpose of assisting K-12 teachers to enhance teaching and learning in their classrooms. In addition to the new grants, the ITQ program has 14 individual grants and…