In the state of New Jersey and nationally, teacher evaluation is a current focus of education reform efforts (Hallinger et al., 2014; Schulman, 2014). A well-executed teacher evaluation system produces data regarding educator effectiveness. It is the intention of the 2012 AchieveNJ teacher evaluation reform law that teacher evaluation data be used…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a two-hour professional development workshop g focused on content knowledge (CK) utilizing an upper elementary knowledge packet on the task selection and instruction (PCK) of a teacher delivering a three-day tennis unit to 4th and 5 th grade students. A secondary purpose was to examine student…

Coaching is a way to support teachers in assessing and improving their practice. By engaging in rich, rigorous, and reflective professional conversations with colleagues, teachers can continue to develop and grow as they construct meaning, reinvest their cognitive resources, and apply new learning. Calibrating conversations are a way to foster…

Although researchers and educators have suggested teaching prospective teachers (PTs) to investigate and learn from their own teaching over time, little research has investigated PTs' beliefs about such an approach. This qualitative study examines prospective elementary teachers' conceptions and values about systematically studying and…

Since Mishra and Koehler's (2006) description of technological pedagogical content knowledge (also known as TPACK), scholars have analyzed the various paths preservice and in-service teachers can take to develop their knowledge in each of the subdomains. However, the model of the overall framework can be confusing to teachers, as Venn diagrams are…

Professional learning "should be a joy," the authors write, "not an affliction." Feedback experts Brookhart and Moss show how professional feedback can best motivate educators to learn. Professional conversations should be dialogs between the teacher and the principal, and feedback should feed teacher professional learning…

Lesson study, a teacher-led vehicle for inquiring into teacher practice through creating, enacting, and reflecting on collaboratively designed research lessons, has been shown to improve mathematics teacher practice in the United States, such as improving knowledge about mathematics, changing teacher practice, and developing communities of…

This special issue is a timely initiative in developing more knowledge and deeper understanding of assessment of, as, and for teaching. The alert reader might have noticed that the title of this author's contribution is not "Formative Assessment of Teachers", but "Formative Assessment of Teacher Learning". In her opinion…

Like any profession or talent, mastering teaching takes thousands of hours of deliberate practice (Ericsson, Prietula, & Cokely, 2007). Here, "deliberate" means having a coach or mentor to provide feedback on key skills and strategies for practicing to develop them. If this is true--that mastering the practices of great teaching…

This paper reports the outcomes of a "lesson study" project conducted in a mathematics department with four serving teachers in a secondary school in England. Using Dudley's lesson study framework and drawing on Hargreaves and Fullan's notion of professional capital, the feasibility and value of collaborative lesson study as a vehicle…

Professional development training raises many concerns in today's U.S. education system. Each year, education systems change. Understanding these change efforts provides school districts the opportunity to be successful in their efforts. Today's students no longer seem to benefit from one instructional approach and need an enhancement in their…

This study explored the use of scaffolded lesson study to develop professional teaching knowledge for problem-based historical inquiry (PBHI). Using mixed methods including extensive classroom observations, the study examined six 4th grade social studies teachers' adoption of problem-based historical inquiry in their classroom teaching following…

Studies have shown that clinical supervisory practices result in implementation of new skills in teachers' classroom performance. This study examines the impact of two clinical supervisory cycles on teachers' performance in classroom management. Multiple data collection tools were used to determine the impact of clinical supervisory interventions…

Language is widely recognized as an inescapable mediating tool for professional learning, and with this text we want to contribute to a better understanding of the particular role that guided writing can play in in-service professional reflective learning. We analysed one pre-school teacher's written portfolio, the construction of which was guided…

As part of a larger effort to improve teacher capacity for high-quality mathematics instruction, we investigated the factors that are associated with different enactment patterns at three levels: contextual (e.g., type and quality of textbook), individual (e.g., teacher knowledge), and teachers' opportunity-to-learn (e.g., professional development…