Three instructional coaches share more than 200 of the most helpful problem-solving strategies they've used in their decades-long work with teachers, administrators, and coaches. "The Instructional Coaching Handbook" is not a new model of coaching. It addresses common hiccups that prevent productive coaching conversations from happening…

We live in an age rife with evaluations. Everyone is busy evaluating everyone. Teachers evaluate students; administrators evaluate teachers; the public evaluates administrators. Testing agencies are having a field day creating instruments for evaluating everyone and everything. The circle feeds on itself. In my 45 years of teaching experience, my…

Every teacher seeks to be an "effective" teacher. Every teacher wants to have a positive, remarkable, and lasting influence on students' lives. But what makes for an effective teacher? What role does teacher preparation play in teacher effectiveness? What do effective teachers do during planning, instruction, and assessment? How do they…

Professional development for tertiary teachers in Pakistan is problematic. In most cases, it does not exist; and if it does, it is very brief, sporadic and traditional, and is conveyed off-site through top-down teacher training strategies. The Pakistani tertiary education sector is predominantly public in nature and consists of two main wings: the…

Much has been written about the characteristics of effective college teachers. However, skill sets have not yet been defined with any level of specificity. Also, instructors at community colleges have unique working conditions and challenges that influence how they teach. This paper illustrates the use of three studies conducted to build and…

This article examines relationships between various dimensions of teachers' professionalism, that is, pedagogical content knowledge and personal characteristics. Using Shulman's notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) we explored the practical knowledge of twenty sex education teachers using in-depth interviews. It appeared that both core…

This article is concerned first with identifying teacher characteristics connected with excellence. It then analyses the results of a survey conducted among primary school teachers in one local authority area in Scotland. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which asked them to rate in importance 44 characteristics of excellence. The findings…

Recent reforms of initial teacher education (ITE) in the learning and skills sector (LSS) in England are standards based and emphasise subject specialism. The reforms are underpinned by objectivist epistemological assumptions which are incompatible with socio-cultural theories of professional knowledge, and ignore the diverse teaching roles and…

Teacher preparation programs are required by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to assess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher candidates. Dispositions and the personal values that support them are defined differently by NCATE and other experts in the fields of education and business. In order to…

Team-based learning (TBL) is a unique student-centered instructional strategy that emphasizes learning to use concepts rather than merely learning about them. As such, TBL requires students to become active participants who are accountable and responsible for their learning. This does not occur, however, unless teachers transform their primary…

Inclusive education is defined as educating students with disabilities in general education programmes with their non-disabled peers. In order to create a successful learning environment for all children, general and special educators must be responsive to all students' needs. Although inclusive education practices were developed over 15 years…

Recent research indicates that self-monitoring is a common practice of expert teachers. Through self-monitoring, experts identify their strengths and weaknesses in teaching and devise strategies that help them to continue on a path of professional excellence. The purpose of this article is to propose effective self-monitoring practices for…

Teacher quality has become a hot topic. Everyone wants to measure it, reward it, or improve it. One reason for this interest is the evidence that teachers differ dramatically in their ability to raise student test scores. Another reason for the current interest in teacher quality is that recent No Child Left Behind requirements focus on highly…

The aim of the present study was to evaluate six characteristics of effective special pre-school teachers, similar to those used in the relevant literature. The study participants were all special teachers (n = 226), serving in Greek state and community pre-primary educational institutions (i.e. kindergartens and day nurseries) for children with…

"A Guide to Better Teaching" is a self-help book that provides anyone teaching a college course with a thorough understanding of what it takes to be an effective teacher. Derived from the authors' extensive research, several interactive assessment tools are included that measure levels of effectiveness according to learner preferences. Each…