This article reports on a qualitative case study investigating a multi-year, professional development as a form of community of practice (CoP). Data were collected over 4 years and included pre-post surveys, field notes, and archival data. Findings suggest a refinement of the CoP framework to include the existence of micro-communities of practice…

Co-teaching provides the opportunity for two licensed professionals to share their expertise and differentiate instruction for a wide range of learners in a general education class. The authors describe four effective types of co-teaching partnerships and offer tips for pairing co-teachers.

This study focused on elements of measurement and feedback for teacher reflective practice. The measurement component examined the use of the "Survey of Reflective Practice: A Tool for Assessing Development as a Reflective Practitioner" (Larrivee, 2008) to measure reflective practice and promote reflection, and compared educator…

As initial teacher education students transition to the profession, the experiences offered by the university and partner institutions require intentional, careful, and strategic planning, to ensure positive relational, organisational, and pedagogical experiences for all stakeholders (Lynch & Smith, 2012; Moss, 2008). To minimise the tensions…

"What is happening in education today?" and "What is most needed for the future of teaching, learning and leading?" This article presents a developmental approach to learning, leadership and advancing professional learning--one that takes into account adults' diverse meaning making processes--that can help educators build the…

This study employed conventional and reverse mentoring to form the theoretical basis for bidirectional mentoring. Using the analytic hierarchy process, the relative weights of bidirectional mentoring functions were measured and analyzed. A focus group method was employed to plan a structured on-the-job training course framework for bidirectional…

This embedded case study examines the leadership practices of eleven teacher leaders in three urban schools to identify how these teacher leaders attempt to change the teaching practice of their colleagues while working as professional learning community leaders and as mentors for new teachers. Using a theoretical framework integrating complex…

This study takes a grounded theory approach as a basis for a case study examining a cross-disciplinary artistic and academic collaborative project involving faculty from the areas of English, music, dance, theatre, design, and visual journalism resulting in the creation of research, scholarly, and creative activity that fosters student engagement…

The purpose of this article is to identify the various reasons that teacher mentoring within schools is beneficial for schools, teachers, and students. Mentoring within schools promotes teacher retention and consistency among educators. Mentoring programs not only increase job satisfaction and help teachers to emerge as leaders within their…

In this webinar, Dr. Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director of Learning Forward, presented the research on effective PLCs and shared her experiences in creating, assessing, and leading PLCs. This Q&A addressed questions participants had for Dr. Hirsh following the webinar. The webinar recording and PowerPoint presentation are also available.

Schools rise and fall based on the quality of the teamwork that occurs within their walls. Well-functioning leadership and teaching teams are essential to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning. That is particularly true when schools have clearly articulated, stretching aspirations for the learning of all their students. Effective…

This study explores how teacher educators involved in developing collaborative teacher research teams of pre-service and in-service teachers perceive their new role. Ten teacher educators in 9 teams were involved in a 1-year teacher research cycle. Thematic analysis was performed on the transcriptions of audio-taped group sessions, video diaries…

Purpose: Findings from a multi-year project entitled, Teachers Working Together to develop and implement culturally and linguistically responsive practices (TWT-CLRP) conducted at a large urban 6-12 school that predominantly served Latino emerging bilingual learners will be shared. All teachers shifted practices and adopted an ethos that all…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify principal actions and strategies that support teachers in the development of social capital as perceived by teachers in high performing Dallas County elementary schools. This study addressed the following research questions: 1. What principal actions or strategies help teachers develop…

Rachel Malchow Lloyd describes the wonderful and quite natural potential for a team of teachers, through their professional conversations and routine planning, to model for less experienced teachers how to prepare for instruction, how to assess its effect, and how to assume a professional stance consistently in the daily execution of…