Numerous nations implement Student Perception Surveys (SPS) in their schools to assess teaching for student learning improvement. However, research suggests no significant change in teachers' practices following such student voice-based assessment initiatives, noting their struggle to act upon it. Utilizing the "pyramid of student voice"…

Data-based decision making (DBDM) is an important element of educational policy in many countries, as it is assumed that student achievement will improve if teachers worked in a data-based way. However, studies that evaluate rigorously the effects of DBDM on student achievement are scarce. In this study, the effects of an intensive…

The state of Florida has taken an unprecedented approach to teacher professional development in its Race to the Top (RTTT) Program application by proposing to promote an international innovation that originates in Japan, "lesson study," as a statewide teacher professional development model. Since winning the US$700 million RTTT funding…

Providing opportunities for learning through professional development requires the examination of facilitation of sessions with teachers. This study investigates facilitation of professional development to promote teacher learning when using animations and videos in a study group with five teachers. We ask: "What practices (and moves within…

The rapid turnover of novice teachers is a stubborn challenge plaguing schools across the country. The field has come to some consensus about key elements of effective novice teacher support that have potential to ameliorate this problem, although this knowledge has been applied in an inconsistent fashion. Beginning teacher support is a complex…

This study assessed the effectiveness of the Alliance Summer Geography Institute's model in promoting teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher surveys and evaluations of subsequent inservices indicated the institute enhanced both types of knowledge. Resulting inservices allowed teachers to pass knowledge along to a…

Documented an elementary school that implemented student portfolios as port of a comprehensive school reform effort. Findings indicated that portfolios were an important mechanism through which teachers came to deeper understanding of their professional practices. Teachers began to recognize changes in classroom practice and school-wide…

Describes a two-year, collaborative, university-school district teacher induction program in which beginning teachers' classroom performance was assessed using a behavioral observation instrument. Participants made significant gains, with first-year gains resulting from improvements in classroom organization and second-year gains related to…

Examined how fifth-year teachers from an innovative preservice program resolved significant issues during their first teaching year. Interviews in their first and fifth years produced case studies that described teachers, contexts, interactions between teachers and contexts, and teacher beliefs and practices, providing important information for…

Describes the PEERS (Promoting Educational Excellence Regionally and Statewide) academy, a series of two-week professional development workshops to model best practices in K-12 science and mathematics teaching and to encourage more constructivist teaching approaches. Participants completed program evaluations and a followup study involving…

Evaluated a professional development program for helping middle school teachers respond to changes resulting from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Standards. Surveys indicated that teachers who completed the two graduate courses combining content and pedagogy had a large increase in their understanding of and beliefs in…

Describes a study of a staff development project in multicultural education involving teachers from two contiguous school districts, highlighting structural constraints to change. Interviews and observations indicated staff development for multicultural education should be part of a whole-school reorganization rather than a separate activity to…