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This article explores the use of classroom video as a tool for fostering productive discussions about teaching and learning. The setting for our research is a 2-year mathematics professional development program, based on the Problem-Solving Cycle model. This model relies on video from the teachers’ own classrooms and emphasizes creating a community in which members feel comfortable learning from video. We describe our experiences carrying out the Problem-Solving Cycle model, focusing on our...

A strong base of research is needed to guide investments in teacher professional development (PD). This article considers the status of research on PD and articulates a particular direction for future work. Little is known about whether PD can have a positive impact on achievement when a program is delivered across a range of typical settings and when its delivery depends on multiple trainers. Despite a consensus in the literature on the features of effective PD, there is limited evidence on...

This paper explores a case of teacher professional development in Botswana, where a blended learning solution was attempted. The analysis of the implementation environment reveals deficiencies in policy, schools (workplaces), and training providers. The paper concludes with three recommendations: 1) Schools should support on-going teacher learning in the workplace and should manage ICT resources for use by both teachers and students; 2) Government should support participatory and localised...

This article is based on an educational innovation, the creation of a cadre of teacher educators, in the developing world. Professional development teachers (PDT) were trained in an in-service two-year teacher education programme leading to a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) degree. The PDTs were expected to play three roles in their home schools upon completion of the degree programme: (a) exemplary teachers; (b) teacher educators; and (c) change agents within their home schools to effect...

As investments in K–12 math and science professional development programs expanded over the past decade, researchers and policymakers have questioned whether and how such programs work to improve student learning. This article summarizes the current knowledge-base and offers a theoretical framework researchers can use to design studies that explore mechanisms through which professional development programs influence teacher knowledge, teacher practices, and ultimately student achievement. We...

This study uses a national probability sample of 1,027 mathematics and science teachers to provide the first large-scale empirical comparison of effects of different characteristics of professional development on teachers’ learning. Results, based on ordinary least squares regression, indicate three core features of professional development activities that have significant, positive effects on teachers’ self-reported increases in knowledge and skills and changes in classroom practice: (a)...

Treating curriculum studies as an educational field in its own right, this critical resource gives teachers the power to control the focus and direction their classes take by revealing the variety of benefits gained from rigorous curriculum planning. Stressing the importance of a teacher’s own involvement in the creation of curriculum, the guide shows teachers how to deal with the constant changes they face. For educators looking to contribute responsibly and dynamically to the content of...

This article describes a model of teacher change originally presented nearly two decades ago (Guskey, 1986) that began my long and warm friendship with Michael Huberman. The model portrays the temporal sequence of events from professional development experiences to enduring change in teachers’ attitudes and perceptions. Research evidence supporting the model is summarized and the conditions under which change might be facilitated are described. The development and presentation of this model...

The literature on training approaches for both pre-service and in-service teacher training has been dominated since the 1980s by reflective approaches. This has undoubtedly influenced the relatively recent introduction of reflective approaches in developing countries. This article explores efforts, within an action research study of a 3-year (1995–1997) In-service Education and Training (INSET) programme, to implement reflective approaches in the training of unqualified and underqualified primary...

About the PLC series: Welcome to an adventure! If you are a teacher who is interested in developing a professional learning community to develop your classroom repertoire and increase your students achievement and motivation, you are in for a treat. A professional learning community (PLC) is a small group of teachers or administrators that meets regularly and works between meetings to accomplish shared goals. PLCs are vehicles for connecting teacher practice and student outcomes, improving...

A pair of papers re-examined the evidence from a national initiative to train all teachers in England to bring them up to the level of newly qualified teachers, who are required to know when to use and when not to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their professional practice. The first paper confirmed that multilevel evaluation of professional development was robust for ICT teacher training. This second paper contrasts the highest and lowest rated designs for ICT...

The use of ICT and distance education in the delivery of professional developmentprogrammers for in-service teachers to improve access to educational opportunitiesis explored in this article. Further, the link between teacher development and thedevelopment of human capital to aid educational and national development isdiscussed. The role of ICT and distance education is highlighted in enabling thisventure which eventually leads to overall educational and national development.

This paper was written to stimulate discussions and debate about what a professional learning continuum from initial preparation through the early years of teaching could be like. Drawing on a broad base of literature, the author proposes a framework for thinking about a curriculum for teacher learning over time. The paper also considers the fit (or misfit) between conventional approaches to teacher preparation, induction and professional development and the challenges of learning to teach...

This research explores the deployment of model lessons through digital video as part of an in-service effort to engage teachers in government and private rural Indian schools and non-formal educational settings. Our mixed method design combined tests of skills in English and math with participant observation and videotaping of English and math instruction for 100 children in 3 rural schools and 1 non-formal setting over eight months. In this paper we present analyses of test score data and...

This research explores the deployment of model lessons through digital video as part of an in-service effort to engage teachers in government and private rural Indian schools and non-formal educational settings. Our mixed method design combined tests of skills in English and math with participant observation and videotaping of English and math instruction for 100 children in 3 rural schools and 1 non-formal setting over eight months. In this paper we present analyses of test score data and...

This research explores the deployment of model lessons through digital video as part of an in-service effort to engage teachers in government and private rural Indian schools and non-formal educational settings. Our mixed method design combined tests of skills in English and math with participant observation and videotaping of English and math instruction for 100 children in 3 rural schools and 1 non-formal setting over eight months. In this paper we present analyses of test score data and...