This article reports the development and application of two instruments for assessing science teachers' pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher-order thinking: a Likert-type research instrument, and an instrument that analyzes classroom observations. The rationale for developing these instruments and their main categories is…

Implementing best practices like cooperative learning, using concrete manipulatives, problem solving, technology, active learning, multi-age grouping, and team teaching have shown benefits for students when learning mathematics concepts within the curriculum (Zemelman, Daniels & Hyde, 1998; NCTM, 2000). What started as a professional development…

Objective: To identify reinvestment strategies of 11 senior health-education faculty from 3 degree programs. Methods: Data from individual, in-depth interviews were inductively analyzed for content. Results: The identified strategies grouped around 6 themes: growth and success in work, realization of an optimal fit into profession, investment into…

This study explores novice teachers' experiences as team leaders for school-community partnerships. Six focal teachers who were enrolled in an MA program in teacher development and leadership were recruited for the study. The focal teachers volunteered to serve as leaders of a reading-focused community involvement activity as members of their…

This indicator of the month summarizes data from the National Center for Education Statistics School and Staffing Survey, 1993-94 (Teacher Questionnaire) regarding teacher participation in professional development (including seminars offered by schools or school districts and courses affiliated with institutions of higher education). Some findings…

Paradigm Case Analysis (PCA) is a method of increasing instructor effectiveness through the gathering of narratives of critical teaching incidents and experiences from proficient instructors and their analysis in group discussions. Critical Incidents (CI's) may include those in which the instructor's intervention made a significant difference in…

A teacher support network, established at the University of North Florida to help first-year special education teachers solve classroom problems and also attended by preservice and veteran teachers as well as university instructors, features telephone consultation, forums, and discussion groups. (CB)

This book describes a system for fostering effective teacher development. It is designed to assist principals and mentors in helping teachers broaden their instructional repertoire and developing a stronger professional identity. The book includes: descriptions and examples of the four basic styles of teaching; tips for matching administrator…

In this exploratory study, researchers compared characteristics and teaching practices of teachers, perceived by themselves to be exemplary technology-users, with characteristics and teaching practices of exemplary users described in the literature. Using a qualitative case-study design, the researchers examined the pedagogical beliefs and…

Concerns about the quality of the nation's public education system have drawn attention to key elements of teacher effectiveness (Darling-Hammond 2000; Lewis et al. 1999; Mayer, Mullens, and Moore 2001; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future 1996). While there is little consensus on what constitutes high-quality teachers, past…

This study investigated relationships among teacher experience, efficacy, and attitude toward implementation of instructional innovation. Surveys immediately following a staff development program on cooperative learning indicated that experience was negatively correlated, personal teaching efficacy positively correlated, and general teaching…

Finland's Reformative In-Service Education for Teachers was a one-year program that joined experienced and novice teachers in promoting change. Research on the resulting development of teachers' cognitions and on factors crucial to that development highlighted changes in beginners' craft knowledge concerning students, learning, knowledge, and…

We study the effects of various types of education and training on the ability of teachers to promote student achievement. Previous studies on the subject have been hampered by inadequate measures of teacher training and difficulties addressing the non-random selection of teachers to students and of teachers to training. We address these issues by…

In spring 1991, a teacher exchange/mentor program was developed between Kansas' Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and the University of Kansas to attract young educators to community college teaching careers, give educators firsthand experience teaching at a community college while being mentored by a seasoned JCCC faculty member, and…

This paper looks at six mentoring programs in Wisconsin for beginning teachers. Four of the programs (Beloit, Kenosha, Plattesville, and West Allis-West Milwaukee) are district programs in which teachers assume mentoring responsibilities in addition to teaching. In the Milwaukee School District program, veteran teachers serve as full-time mentors,…