As curricular development in Scotland espoused the importance of pupil participation, the extent to which this has been embedded across teachers' pedagogy into assessment and reporting practices warranted investigation. This article reports a mixed-methods study with parents, pupils and teachers from three Scottish primary schools that…

This article presents a case study of a primary school that engaged with the Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools (IDEAS) Project, and moved to the sustaining phase over a period of three years. It reports how the students, who were 98 percent English as a second language, improved their reading and numeracy during this time and…

Much has been written about what constitutes effective literacy teaching and learning, the power of effective "teacher talk" and the impact on student learning outcomes. There is a growing body of research into pedagogical change to improve literacy outcomes and the implementation of schoolwide approaches to teaching and learning,…

Recent shifts in the conceptualization of effective literacy teaching have focused on the need for teachers to make teaching explicit (Edwards-Groves, 2010; Purcell-Gates, Duke, & Martineau, 2007; Rosenshine, 1986) or in Hattie's (2005) terms, learning "visible". Research has shown that the analysis of classroom interactive…

The article presents a cross-domain inquiry into schoolwide professional learning community. It examines tensions in how professional learning community is conceptualized and how it is enacted in the processes of teacher groups. Drawing on a study of contemporary theatre arts practices, it proposes a model of collective creation that highlights…

In the light of wide recognition that the traffic between home and school is traditionally one-way, this article reports on a deliberately counter-cultural project that involved teachers in researching children's everyday literacy practices and "funds of knowledge" (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) over a year. Eighteen primary teachers from 10…

This mixed-methods study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of teacher-student bullying. Grounded in previous research on peer bullying, the study posed several questions: to what extent did teachers perceive bullying of students by other teachers as a serious matter requiring intervention? Did they perceive teacher bullying as more serious…

This article explores several professional development models currently being used in the US and in other countries to support teacher learning, including coaching, mentoring and communities of practice. While in some contexts the activities of the participants are informed by social constructivist views of learning, the authors argue that…

Mentoring in classrooms allows teachers the opportunity to be motivational tools in the lives of students while operating as role models. The current research shows that mentoring in the art classroom provides stimulation and the momentum to students who are less motivated with creative assignments. The first part of this study looks at the…

This article tries to respond to a basic question: "can in-service teachers of public sectors in Pakistan be reformed?" The authors' response to this question is: "yes, public teachers can be reformed, if contextual possibilities are exploited efficiently". Although a straightforward and simplistic response to the question, this was felt necessary…

Family involvement contributes to student success, and family-school communication (FSC) is intended to promote parent involvement; however, little is known about the communication processes that enlist that involvement. There are unanswered questions about how elementary educators perceive, prepare for, and engage in communication with families.…

This article reports a study of support for pupils with autism in a Scottish education authority. The pupils attend mainstream classes in primary schools but receive additional support from an outreach service. The study aimed to understand the nature of outreach support from a mainstream teacher's point of view. The principal data of the project…