This document reports on the proceedings of a meeting held June 16-17, 2016 in Arlington Virginia to identify key opportunities and challenges around the creation and use of open educational resources (OER). The meeting brought together different groups within the community of education researchers and practitioners to discuss the opportunities…

The U.S. National Educational Technology Plan recommends the need to have a common set of technology competencies specifically for teacher educators who prepare teacher candidates to teach with technology (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2017). This study facilitated the co-creation of the Teacher Educator…

Data and the use of data to make educational decisions have attained new-found prominence in K-12 education following the inception of high-stakes testing and subsequent linking of teacher evaluations and teacher-performance pay to students' outcomes on standardized assessments. Although the research literature suggested students' academic…

Federal initiatives and other research have led states across the nation to sharpen their focus on teacher evaluation in recent years. In 2009 a seminal report, "The Widget Effect," from The New Teacher Project revealed that in districts using a binary rating system to evaluate teachers, less than 1 percent of teachers received an…

In recent years, federal education programs and policies have increasingly focused on teacher quality as a means for closing achievement gaps, in part by directing states to measure teacher qualifications and performance and to promote equitable access to qualified and effective teachers among schools within a district. Federal policy now…

This study aimed to improve science teaching in a practical way by activating teachers' potential teaching expertise or professional knowledge. We developed an alternative in-service approach, the Practical On-site Cooperation Model (POCoM), according to the following principles: (1) the "bottom-up" approach, where observed problems in…

"The Wiley Handbook of Educational Supervision" offers a comprehensive resource that explores the evolution of supervision through contributions from a panel of noted experts. The text explores a wealth of topics including recent and dramatic changes in the complex context of today's schools. This important resource: (1) Describes…

The TAP System stands out because of its more than two-decade-long track record of growth and success in improving educator effectiveness and raising student achievement in high-need schools. This summary includes a recap of some of the most important results that have emerged from the research to date and highlights newer studies documenting…

Bill Frisell's new album ("Big Sur") was heralded with a short documentary about its impulse and inception: Frisell's retreat to an isolated coastal ranch in Central California. In the video, he describes the influence of the place, the dramatic and evocative landscape, and how it ultimately became the subject and theme for the…

Recording technologies have been used in teaching practices. The emphasis on the quality of teachers and teaching in a recent White Paper in England and the need to optimise teaching resources due to the current global recession have prompted a re-assessment of recording technologies in pedagogic practices. In this article, the application of…

The use of data-driven practices to improve classroom instruction and student learning is part of public education accountability today. Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavioral Supports (PBIS), and the use of reading assessments (e.g., Dibels, running records) are examples of current initiatives that require teachers to collect and use…

Family engagement in a student's education can lead to improved student academic achievement, attendance, and behavior. Yet many districts and schools still struggle to form strong partnerships with the families they serve. Having a supportive district-level infrastructure is key to the success and sustainability of family engagement initiatives.…

Purpose: New teacher evaluation systems have expanded the role of principals as instructional leaders, but little is known about principals' ability to promote teacher development through the evaluation process. We conducted a case study of principals' perspectives on evaluation and their experiences implementing observation and feedback cycles to…

Post-secondary educational institutions use various means to evaluate the teaching performance of faculty members. There are benefits to effective faculty evaluation, including advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as improving the functionality and innovation of courses, curriculum, departments, and ultimately the broader…

Casting special education teacher development as an avatar living in a virtual and changing landscape is a creative way to consider the current state of the field and project possible futures. In this commentary, the authors consider areas that may help strengthen the Avatar, including conceptualizing and identifying the outcomes of teacher…