Teacher action research has been shown to both promote professional growth in teachers as well as produce gains for students. However, to date, little research has examined how action research might contribute to systemic changes in schools and school districts. This qualitative study of six teachers from various districts, subject areas, and…

Long-standing calls have been initiated to attend to equity in student achievement in and through science. Science teacher educators can aid these efforts by identifying effective science teaching strategies and supporting K-12 science teachers in integrating those into their practice. Scholars argue for an equity-driven lens to be central in…

Recent policy and scholarly reports, accreditation agencies' guidelines, and professional association efforts have called for teacher preparation programs to incorporate more frequent and rigorous clinical experiences. Directing three elementary and secondary education programs in two states, we recognized that one reason they--and perhaps other…

Vocabulary is important to reading achievement and overall school success; however, in spite of the research in support of vocabulary instruction, robust vocabulary instruction is lacking in many schools. The purpose of this study was to provide a team of three grade five teachers and an instructional coach with professional development on…

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education is gaining popularity in schools across the United States and in parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia. Despite its popularity little empirical data exists to guide effective instructional practices, and even less is known about the challenges associated with instruction.…

Effective professional development occurs in learning communities where teachers co-construct knowledge with peers about teaching and learning by engaging in meaningful activities. However, only a few studies have examined the complex nature of discourse, participation, and learning in professional development contexts. Grounded in the notion of…

As schools and teachers utilize data-driven decision-making processes to identify and remediate struggling students, systemic conditions that contribute to students' learning opportunities are often ignored. This longitudinal mixed-methods study examines the use of an equity audit as a critical data-driven decision-making tool in a graduate course…

Facilitating classroom discussion requires preparation and improvisation. How might learning improvisational theatre affect teachers' verbal moves while facilitating discussion? This article explores this question through a single-subject case study of a high school history teacher who took a 10-week improv course. Data sources include…

A critical issue in teacher education is the ongoing support and professional development of novice teachers. This study explores a professional development project, "Reconnect and Recharge," for newly inducted teachers. Participants met three to four times during the school year from 2009 to 2013 to explore their teaching successes and…

Teacher reflection has been at the core of teacher development efforts for almost 100 years, yet inconsistency in the literature results from a lack of clarity on how reflection is conceptualized--from its purpose to processes, and how they relate to refining teacher practice. This article draws from research in cognitive science to explain how…

Developing preservice and inservice teachers' sociopolitical consciousness remains an important part of supporting the success of P-12 student experiences. The authors recognize that one way to enhance the sociopolitical consciousness aspect of culturally responsive pedagogy/teaching is through experiential opportunities that support teacher…

As beginning teachers encounter their first classrooms, they struggle to enact curriculum and negotiate expectations of local context with their visions of "good teaching." This article is a qualitative research design utilizing interview data and narrative analysis to examine the storied experiences of beginning teacher participants…

With the emergence of new academic demands created by curricular reforms such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), policy makers and educators have recognized that the linguistic complexity of new curricula requires greater coordination of instructional efforts in teaching English language learners (ELLs). However, the literature has yet to…

In this study, the authors sought to uncover the characteristics of professional development (PD) that were identified by teacher-participants as being important to their implementation of project ideas. Using phenomenological interviewing, the authors talked with nine teacher-participants about changes to their teaching practices after they…

The study explores English as a second language (ESL) and bilingual teachers' narratives within a learning community as they collectively engage in reflecting on practices to more effectively support English learners. This longitudinal qualitative study integrates narrative inquiry approach and critical incident methodology. Participants were…