One strategy used by Project CREATES to enhance the fusion of social studies with the arts was to provide various forms of professional development to artists and teachers (Montgomery, Otto, & Hull, 2007), including seminars, book clubs, and on-site Arts Resource Coaches. The purpose of this study was to describe the role of the coaches as…

This article describes a case study of a faculty member who wanted to change his introductory astronomy course for non-science majors to include more learner-centered pedagogy. To help him achieve this goal, he was assisted by an instructional specialist and the author. The professor approached the overhaul of instructional style as a scientific…

One of the greatest challenges for those who study schools and their success in educating students is defining the characteristics of those organizations that are successful, and recognizing the variables that exist to support the actions of the members of the organization. In this era of assessment and accountability, school districts struggle to…

The intent of this action research study was to determine the effect peer coaching had on transfer of skills and content in the secondary arts classroom. Incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, the study took place in two public high schools, one a suburban high school and the other a first ring suburban high school (close to an…

A semester-long ethnography study was carried out to investigate project-based learning in a graduate software engineering course through the implementation of an Open-Source Software Development (OSSD) learning environment, which featured authentic projects, learning community, cognitive apprenticeship, and technology affordances. The study…

The PD program evaluated in this study is designed to address the problem of low student achievement in topics in rational numbers. The study focuses on seventh grade, the culminating year for teaching those topics. The study randomly assigned 77 mid- and high-poverty schools from 12 districts to treatment and control conditions and collected…

What role must principals play in order to effectively support literacy coaching efforts? This is a question that many educators have begun to ask (Burkins, 2007; Casey, 2006; Kral, 2007; Shanklin, 2007; Steiner & Kowal, 2007; Toll, 2008). Some suggest that principals can establish close relationships with literacy coaches by offering a number…

Researchers have argued that "job-embedded" professional learning is the most valuable model for teachers (Joyce & Showers, 2002). But there is little or no corresponding literature regarding job-embedded professional learning for literacy coaches. In this paper, the authors offer an example of one such model, the Coach-to-Coach…

There is so much more that goes into literacy coaching that we do not think about when working with colleagues. When we think about literacy coaching, we think about someone who comes into our classrooms and provides support for our instruction. High-quality literacy coaching requires that there be superior levels of overt assessment and covert…

In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 30 teaching residency programs received funding through one of 28 Teacher Quality partnership grants awarded to establish or expand residency programs. These programs follow a model of teacher preparation in which prospective teachers complete graduate-level coursework alongside a year-long fieldwork experience in the…

In Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 30 teaching residency programs received funding through one of 28 Teacher Quality partnership grants awarded to establish or expand residency programs. These programs follow a model of teacher preparation in which prospective teachers complete graduate-level coursework alongside a year-long fieldwork experience in the…

The need to make trainee teachers more prepared to coach collaborative learning effectively is increasing, as collaborative learning is becoming more important. One complication in this training process is that it is hard for the teacher trainer to hear and understand the students' utterances and those of the coaching trainee teacher. Besides, it…

Education programs have fostered advanced levels of graphic representation ability in young children but have not detailed the specific mechanisms responsible for the accelerated growth. Research suggests that between 6 and 8 years of age children begin to observe more carefully before drawing and that observation prompts aid children's…

This report describes the design and implementation of the three interventions tested in Project Upgrade, one of four experiments conducted as part of the Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies. The evaluation was a multi-site, multi-year effort to determine whether and how different child care subsidy policies and procedures and quality…

Taking on the role of literacy coach can be a daunting task for even seasoned educators. In this article, the author examines her experiences in this role as work for a university class she was taking. In a sense, she "tries on" the coaching role in order to discover if it is a job she would truly be willing to take. She discusses the…