In 2011, AISD worked with the nationally recognized New Teacher Center (NTC) to create a comprehensive survey to help the district to better understand how teachers and school staff feel about critical issues that can influence educator retention and effectiveness. This report provides a district summary of staff survey results. A separate report…

A current trend in education is that small teacher groups, called professional learning communities (PLC), are being advocated as a tool to help teachers reach struggling students. Educators planning to use PLC as an intervention strategy can benefit from research-based information about PLC best practices. This multiple case study addressed the…

In this article we investigate educational leadership as a site of practice, utilising the notion of "practice architectures" as our lens. The latter shifts Etienne Wenger's more individualising notion of 'learning architectures' to a broader study of the systems and organisations that prefigure educational practices and potentially,…

Teachers play a critical role in improving teaching, learning, teacher-student relationships, and school climate, and teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare teachers to work with every student in their classroom. Kosciw, Diaz, and Greytak (2008) reported that, between 2001 and 2007, although library resources on lesbian, gay,…

Background: Professional commitment from teachers requires more than contractual compliance as personal and professional values are integral to teaching practice. Secondary school teachers are expected to act as role models and demonstrate positive attributes and attitudes in an evolving educational context. Little is known about how they…

We consider that children with autism are invisible in contemporary Romanian society; there is even a lack of statistical data regarding children with autism in Romania. In this paper we emphasize how important it is for the education of children with autism to integrate in the school community. First we present the characteristics of children…

"Teachers Teaching Teachers" ("T3") focuses on coaches' roles in the professional development of teachers. Each issue also explores the challenges and rewards that teacher leaders encounter. This issue includes: (1) Weekend Wisdom: Stimulus Funds Boost Professional Learning and Add Saturday Option (Valerie von Frank); (2) Lessons from a Coach:…

"Teachers Teaching Teachers" ("T3") focuses on coaches' roles in the professional development of teachers. Each issue also explores the challenges and rewards that teacher leaders encounter. This issue includes: (1) Tackling Behavior from All Sides (Valerie von Frank); (2) Tools: Effective Behavior Support Self-Assessment Survey; (3) Lessons from…

This article offers description and interpretation for understanding the exercise of leadership in teacher collaboration. Data gathered in two urban high schools through observations and interviews were coded and categorized following Miles and Huberman's modified analytic induction technique. The analysis contributes to emerging theory on…

This article examines and critiques the leadership capacity of department leaders in a high school and attempts to gain a deeper understanding of how department leaders perceive their role as teacher leaders, making a distinction between what an individual department leader does in his or her position and teacher leadership as a form of continuous…

One of the most important things school systems can do to promote student achievement is to ensure that all students have effective teachers. Effective teachers may be particularly important for the most disadvantaged students. The U.S. Department of Education commissioned the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to create this report as a…

"Teachers Teaching Teachers" ("T3") focuses on coaches' role in the professional development of teachers, exploring challenges and rewards that teacher leaders encounter. This issue includes: (1) Making a Serious Study of Classroom Scenes: High School Faculty Develops Away to Observe and Learn from Each Other (Valerie von Frank); (2) Tools for…

In addition to identifying and developing superior classroom teaching, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process is intended to identify and cultivate teachers who are more engaged in their schools. Here the authors ask, "Does NBPTS certification affect the number of colleagues a teacher helps with…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning of teacher leadership from teachers' perspectives. The authors examine teachers' practice of and talk about legitimate sources of power and influence in the context of an urban high school reform. Design: This is an interpretive study of teacher leadership situated in one small high…

This study investigates why teachers, identified by their school principal as being leaders or having leadership potential, chose not to become school principals. At a time in which the literature is reporting a shortage of qualified applicants for school administrative positions the identified reasons most cited by teacher leaders include…