This report offers an insider's perspective into the world-leading Shanghai education system. After more than 40 years of reconstruction and reform, education in Shanghai has achieved remarkable results. In the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 2009 and 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA),…

During the 21st century Great Recession, college enrollments increased as displaced workers trained to advance their skills (Baum & Ma, 2012). At the same time, state funding to community colleges declined (Baum & Ma, 2012; Ehrenberg, 2012). Although higher enrollments increased tuition revenues, they were insufficient to cover the gap…

The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a multiyear effort to improve student outcomes--particularly high school graduation and college attendance among low-income minority students--by increasing student access to effective teaching. The RAND Corporation worked…

This case study investigated practicum experiences of pre-service teachers by focusing on their evaluation of mentor teachers, school experiences, and theory-practice relationships. Interviews were conducted with six teacher candidates, and observations in the participants' practice schools were made. The results revealed that mentor teachers had…

Educator Excellence Innovation Program (EEIP) is a Texas Education Agency (TEA) grant program that funds innovation in teacher supports and leadership opportunities. This report describes feedback from teachers at the six EEIP schools and summarizes implementation in the third year of the program.

The Alhambra district, along with 11 other districts in Maricopa County, have forged an alliance to implement a performance-based evaluation system that supports teachers in attaining, maintaining, and enhancing core competencies aligned to a common vision of instructional improvement. At the heart of the system is the Learning Observation…

For years, researchers and part-time faculty advocacy organizations have addressed the distinctive circumstances surrounding the inequitable workforce situation that continues to plague higher education. Regardless of the vast research that focuses on how and why the situation remains unchanged, few institutions have been proactive in seeking a…

In light of an international policy movement to increase focus on students' academic achievement, the question of how to improve schools has become an important issue at all levels in the school system. Substantial resources have been invested in reforms to improve conditions for pupils' learning. Great expectations and responsibility are often…

Richard DuFour, a leading advocate for creating professional learning communities in schools, shares his insights on why teaching has become an "embattled profession" and the steps teachers and school leaders can take to enhance teachers' practice and their working lives. DuFour explains how recent reforms aimed at educators themselves…

This study aims at establishing whether primary schools in the Saudi education system conform to the characteristics of what are referred to as "good schools" in the British education system. The findings established through this study show that only 43.75% of primary schools in Saudi conform to the characteristics of what are referred…

Assessment is a cyclical process within which educators construct outcomes, implement programs, assess constructs such as learning, evaluate results, and utilize results to craft stronger programs and services. Within educational and faculty development, assessment measures program impact on faculty, students, and/or institutional culture.…

Policymakers and researchers increasingly recommend aligning educator evaluations and professional development to improve instruction and student learning. However, few empirical studies have examined the relationship between new educator evaluation systems and the professional development in which teachers engage following their evaluation. This…

This brief describes findings from a study of teachers who were rated less than proficient on one or more standards on a large urban district's newly developed educator evaluation system. Evaluators prescribed professional development activities, such as courses, workshops, coaching, and mentoring, and professional practice activities, such as the…

This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of the AITSL Performance and Development Framework (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2012b) as a vehicle for authentic teacher professional learning. It suggests that the Framework offers a range of implementation possibilities, from surveillance of teaching practice at…

One of the failings of teacher evaluation systems in the United States has been their reliance on the school principal alone as the person expected to observe teachers, mentor those who struggle, document concerns and processes, and make the final call on whether to recommend dismissal. Given the enormous scope of their duties, it's simply…