We present teacher-researcher partnership (TRP) as a way of fostering teachers' professional learning. Teachers' participation as research group members is an essential aspect of the partnership. Teachers and researchers share the same goal, which is to improve their understanding of and enhance students' engagement in science. Project-based…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) put forth an aspiring call for science educators to enact instructional experiences that enable all students to participate in the real-world practices of science. To achieve this, teachers need to create classroom environments that will attract all students to science learning and support and sustain…

This research aims to develop ECARsites, an online site designed to support data-related activities in science learning and to facilitate the implementation of data, computational thinking (CT), and self-directed learning (SRL) practices in a more contextualized and relevant way for students. The approach used design-based research (DBR) methods,…

In this dissertation, I K-8 mathematics teacher agency and learning within a research-practice partnership (RPP) context. I asked three primary research questions: (a) How is teacher agency enacted within the RPP?; (b) what do teachers perceive they are learning from their participation in the RPP?; and (c) how is teacher agency connected to…

This was a qualitative study of the influence of Research Experiences for STEM Educators and Teachers (RESET) on a teachers' classroom practices and identities. RESET is a year-long professional development and research experience for teachers supported through the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP). This research study inductively analyzed…

Many national reports call for K-12 teachers to increase their content knowledge, expertise in student-centered learning methods, and skills in working with an increasingly diverse student population. Historically, most teacher professional development (PD) has not addressed these multiple challenges. We evaluated two PD models--research…

Teacher action research has been shown to both promote professional growth in teachers as well as produce gains for students. However, to date, little research has examined how action research might contribute to systemic changes in schools and school districts. This qualitative study of six teachers from various districts, subject areas, and…

There is growing attention to the potential for developing professional learning experiences for content area teachers to infuse computational thinking (CT), which refers to the set of problem-solving practices related to the computer science discipline, into their classrooms. Although research has begun to document professional learning models…

Two broad categories of instructional practices, (a) explicitly attending to concepts and (b) fostering students' opportunities to struggle, have been consistently linked to improving students' mathematical learning and achievement. In this article, we describe an effort to build these practices into a framework that is useful for a diverse set of…

Student-Question-Based Inquiry (SQBI) represents a form of inquiry where pupils design their research questions, hypotheses, and protocols. The "Savanturiers" program aims at helping teachers overcome their potential apprehension of SQBI by matching hundreds of elementary and middle school teachers with mentors. These mentors are usually…

This study examined sources of inconsistency between teachers' and researchers' interpretations of survey items. We analyzed cognitive interview data from 12 middle school mathematics teachers to understand their interpretations of survey items focused on one aspect of their practice: the content of their advice-seeking interactions. Through this…

This study explores how structured reflective practice by teachers in a Reform congregational school contributes to relational growth and the development of an inquiry stance in teaching. Analysis of teachers' responses to weekly prompts about their classroom experiences reveals three prominent themes: classroom management as inquiry, the tension…

This article explores a research partnership between a university-based researcher and a middle school science teacher. Our partnership began with project-based inquiry and continued with unstructured thought-partner spaces: meetings with no agenda where we wrestled with problems of practice. Framed as incubation periods, these meetings allowed us…

The central focus of this multilayered educational action research project was three-fold: (1) to provide opportunities for public school student leadership activities grounded in participatory and youth participatory action research; (2) to support a group of teacher-researchers in practicing and innovating in participatory action research…

This study used action research to help improve technology use in teachers' classrooms through the use of information gained from research of technology use in the classroom. The teachers were asked to be responsible for development and implementation of their own learning through the use of personal professional development. Throughout the study…