Purpose: This study aims to understand how to develop, support and utilize professional learning community (PLCs) to build organizational capacity to support teacher learning and collaboration. Although literature highlights the importance of leadership in creating a PLC, there is little research on specific actions leaders can take to create an…

This action research emphasizes the need to implement curricula to engage marginalized students as well as promote literacy and high levels of academic achievement. Marginalized students include minority students who perform far below their White peers on state assessments. In Chapter I, the action research problem of practice is explored. The…

Purpose: This practitioner-focused article highlights a collaborative, school-wide project at a PDS that showcased elementary students' strengths and talents. Based on the children's book, The Smart Cookie (John, 2021), teachers and the university professor-in-residence developed professional learning communities, which inspired the creation of a…

This explanatory design was used to develop and implement effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at Target Elementary School (TES). The theoretical framework for this study began with the assumption that there was a direct link between PLCs, student data, and self-efficacy of educator collaboration. It should be the goal of every…

The purpose of this mixed-methods phenomenological study was to investigate the relationship between professional learning community (PLC) implementation and teachers' perceptions of engagement, professional collaboration, professional growth, and ultimately collective teacher efficacy. This research study collected data from elementary school…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to illuminate the perceptions of the essential factors for sustaining Learning Study of the curriculum leaders who have led Learning Study in schools over a sustained period. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a case study research approach to explore the perspectives of the curriculum leaders…

This primary school teachers' (1CEB) community of practice started its activity in the school year 2020/2021, being organized around three main goals: (i) implement a small community of practice with 1CEB teachers, focusing on issues related to the curricular integration of Digital Technologies (DT); (ii) create lesson plans and other materials…

Purpose: A growing number of school districts have recently added a position to the superintendent's cabinet, often titled chief equity officer. While the chief equity officer position is still in its early stages, we have an opportunity to examine insights from this work in the higher education context--both to support the adoption and…

It is critical to provide inservice elementary teachers the opportunity to advance their science instruction, which in turn can positively impact not only their practice but also their perceptions towards science teaching and learning. Too often, science-specific professional development (PD) programs are scarcely provided as a result of an…

Purpose: This study explores how lesson study (LS) can promote elementary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers' professional development (TPD) in terms of new pedagogical practices, attitudes and beliefs in the maker education (ME) context. Design/methodology/approach: This is a case study of a LS conducted in China…

Using data from a 2-year empirical project in an urban school within the United States, this article describes how educators of preschool, transitional-kindergarten and kindergarten (PreK-TK-K) altered perceptions and practices as a result of participating in a purposefully crafted professional learning community using collaborative enquiry.…

Despite the increasing number of elementary and secondary school students with language and learning disabilities and federal laws mandating ongoing collaboration among diverse school professionals, the implementation and maintenance of Interprofessional Collaborative Practices (ICP) and classroom-based therapy services among teachers and…

Since 2015, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has provided schools across the state with access to highly skilled instructional coaches. Primarily working in rural settings, these coaches provide a voluntary, integrated coaching model that focuses on building sustainable systems. Coaches provide a range of services, including systems…

Purpose: Physical education teacher education programs prepare preservice teachers to lead Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs. Through the coordination of a university's physical education teacher education program and an elementary school, the purpose of this study was to examine preservice and in-service teachers' perspectives in…

The framework of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) was adopted and implemented in Guam schools to foster a system of collaborative practice to improve teaching and learning. The problem addressed in this study was how teacher isolation affected the implementation and effectiveness of PLCs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to…