"When compared with high-achieving countries around the world, the U.S. appears to be significantly behind in providing certain kinds of professional learning opportunities" (Wei, Darling-Hammond, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009, p. 39). The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between sustained, targeted…

The focus on the achievement gap for minority students is an issue facing many school districts across the county. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation highlighted the fact that many minority students are not achieving at or above expected levels in classrooms across America. Teacher quality is found to be an important ingredient of a…

This case study of one middle school focuses on improving teachers' skills in data-driven decision making through analysis of student work and their own professional practice. The expectation that schools will make adequate yearly progress has pushed evaluation practice down to the teacher level, where teachers are asked to analyze and…