Child Friendly School (CFS) is a democratic environment based on children's rights, where all students are accepted, teaching-learning processes are organized according to children's interest needs, health, safety and protective measures are taken for children and gender-based discrimination is not provided. Preschool education institutions, which…

Current uses of value-added modeling largely ignore or assume away the potential for teachers to be more effective with one type of student than another or in one subject than another. This paper explores the stability of value-added measures across different subgroups and subjects using administrative data from a large urban school district. For…

Strong school leaders play a vital role in accelerating student achievement across a state. Research has found that principals account for 25 percent of a school's total impact on student achievement, and an above-average principal can raise student achievement by as much as 20 percentage points more than an average principal--equivalent to seven…

This paper presents the major findings and recommendations from a formative evaluation of the first of a 2-year in-service training program. This program was designed for the professional development of math teachers. It was developed following an educational reform, which was meant to enhance the teachers' ability to generate changes in their…

Professional development workshops are one of the primary mechanisms used to help faculty improve their teaching, and draw in many STEM instructors every year. Although workshops serve a critical role in changing instructional practices within our community, we rarely assess workshops through careful consideration of how they engage faculty.…

The challenges of teaching elementary mathematics and science, particularly in urban settings, have been well documented. While evidence exists that sustained professional development in mathematics and science can promote inquiry-oriented instruction and bolster student achievement, little has been written about the particular challenges…

Since the late 1980s there has been an increase of "second career teachers" (SCTs), professionals that switch careers to become teachers. Little is known about SCTs and their sense of professional identity. Building from Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of power and cultural capital, the professional identities of teachers were examined…

The research reported here uses a pre/post-test model and stimulated recall interviews to assess teachers' statistical reasoning about comparing distributions, when enrolled in a graduate-level statistics education course. We discuss key aspects of the course design aimed at improving teachers' learning and teaching of statistics, and the…

The purpose of this action research study was to conduct a professional development activity to provide content-area teachers with academic vocabulary strategies to be implemented during instruction on a daily basis. Professional development is essential for teachers to gain new knowledge and skills in order to hone their craft to improve student…

The Teacher Data Use Survey can be used to query teachers, administrators, and instructional support staff about how teachers use data to support instruction, their attitudes toward data, and the supports that help teachers use data. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to help district and school planners implement the survey. The…

Starting in August 2014, all registered teachers in Scotland are now required to engage in a process of Professional Update (PU) managed by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). The aim is to ensure that teachers at every stage of their careers participate in worthwhile professional learning, which can take a variety of forms. PU is,…

Changes in American education require that teachers are evaluated more often, and expectations increasingly include teaching to develop critical thinking skills. This article uses Bloom's taxonomy in describing ways physical educators can include critical thinking in their lessons, both to enhance their teaching and to meet expectations of…

This study examined how adventure educators could use systematic feedback to improve their teaching skills. Evaluative instruments demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in teaching skills when applied at an outdoor education center in Western Canada. Concurrent focus group interviews enabled instructors to reflect on student…

Research indicates that modifying teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching (i.e. teaching orientation) may be a prerequisite to changing their teaching practices. This mixed methods study quantitized data from interviews with 65 graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to assess…

Teaching in today's changing society requires teachers' independent judgement and development. One way of fostering professional development is action research; described, however, as a challenging and time-consuming process. This qualitative study asks whether action research is worthwhile already in pre-service teacher education, or whether the…