In this paper, we explore the notion of school improvement through the lens of praxis as it relates to equity, inclusion, and transformation, with a particular focus on inquiry-based school and teacher development. We argue that authentic improvement is a consequence of praxis, and highlight, through examples, key ways that authentic school…

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 addresses preschool education as an integral part of the general education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This article describes problems related to preschool and certain areas of school development, such as early childhood development, communication, socialisation, creative thinking and leadership. The three studies described…

Background: Data-based decision-making (DBDM) and research-informed teaching practice (RITP) are key to teacher and school improvement. Currently, however, DBDM and RITP represent two distinct approaches to developing evidence-informed practice (EIP) and do not correspond to the all-encompassing notion of EIP envisaged by many academics and…

This paper examines how one primary school in the East Midlands region has worked to establish a culture of teacher-led, evidence-based teacher inquiry. It reports on a pilot year of research when the senior leadership team (SLT) decided to implement a strategic focus on evidence-based teaching, which would generate their own school knowledge,…

In the state of New Jersey and nationally, teacher evaluation is a current focus of education reform efforts (Hallinger et al., 2014; Schulman, 2014). A well-executed teacher evaluation system produces data regarding educator effectiveness. It is the intention of the 2012 AchieveNJ teacher evaluation reform law that teacher evaluation data be used…

This article describes a case study in which Our Lady of Hungary Catholic School (OLH) principal Kevin Goralczyk and the parish's pastor, Reverend Kevin Bauman, faced educators' universal challenge: Knowing what students need to learn but wondering how to evaluate if they were really successfully taking in the information rather than simply…

This article is excerpted from Marshall Project staff writer and author, Dana Goldstein's 2014 book, "The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession." It begins by describing Goldstein's experience traveling as an education reporter in the late 2000s and the incredible amount of political scrutiny under which the…

Over the last decade, Denver Public Schools (DPS) became one of the fastest-improving large districts in the country--achieving significant improvement across all student subgroups. Unlike many city districts, DPS included charter and innovation schools as integral parts of their system and improvement strategy. DPS' journey demonstrates how much…

This chapter reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of undergraduate research as a student, faculty, and institutional success pathway, and provides the context for the Council on Undergraduate Research's support for developing and enhancing undergraduate research in systems and consortia. The chapter also provides brief introductions to each…

The paper reports on a study undertaken in Nairobi, Kenya with school leaders. We examined their perceptions of the adequacy of their preparation experiences and what aspects remained problematic. This paper only reports on the survey findings which included rating-type and open-ended responses. Principals conceptualized their…

On December 5, 2014, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's DC office hosted an invitation-only gathering of fifteen federal, state, and local education policy experts in both the public and nonprofit sectors. The goal of the meeting was to explore strategies to improve Title II, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary…

Background/Context: School districts are increasingly expected to support students in meeting ambitious mathematical learning goals. Many schools and districts are investing significant resources in the provision of time for teacher collaboration in the hope that this will help teachers improve their instruction in ways that support students in…

For excellent teachers and those aspiring to excellence, and for administrative or education policy leaders, this brief provides an overview of how an Opportunity Culture can help teachers have the well-paid, empowered profession they deserve--while helping many more students succeed. [For the full report, see ED560179; for the summary, see…

Professional development programs are based on different theories of how students learn and different theories of how teachers learn. Reviewers often sort programs according to design features such as program duration, intensity, or the use of specific techniques such as coaches or online lessons, but these categories do not illuminate the…