This chapter describes a locally developed model for professional learning, whose purpose is to facilitate faculty participants' implementation of UDL. The model is grounded in attributes of long-term, job-embedded professional learning and principles of adult learning theory. Recommendations for scaling-up faculty professional learning programs…

This article utilises complexity thinking to further develop a heuristic model for teacher professional growth as a continuous, recursive and adaptive process. Conversations with six case teachers are drawn upon in a phenomenographic study, seeking variation in ways of experiencing learning and development, together comprising professional growth.…

The practice of using teacher leaders to support and develop teachers from within the educational organization is gaining support from research. The Trainer of Trainers (TOT) model of professional development is one practice used to develop educators. This study focused on the perceptions of teacher leaders within the TOT model. Teachers'…

Quality out-of-school time (OST) programs for youth are limited by a lack of professional learning opportunities for staff and volunteers that are based upon solid learning theory, affordable, and scalable for a diverse field. The Click2Science project is an innovative model for professional learning experiences that support staff and volunteers…

As technologies have become ubiquitous in society and within higher education, institutions have begun to invest in the development of faculty to leverage digital technologies during their instruction. This has been especially true in teacher education programs where standalone educational technology courses have been eliminated in favor of an…

Current higher education practices do not sufficiently address the needs of international adult learners. With higher education's emphasis on pedagogical assumptions, adult learners are both isolated and oppressed by higher education. This article focuses on the following: assumptions of pedagogy versus andragogy, oppression of adult learners…

While there has been a surge in the number of adults entering accelerated academic programs at colleges and universities over the last decade, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of adult learners in these programs who persist and achieve their degrees. This work sought to develop a detailed model for helping faculty and…

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) of the State Board of Education are working on a new teacher licensure pathways proposal, Pathways to Excellence for Teaching Professionals (Model). This proposal, if enacted, would restructure the state's system…

This paper explores the professional development literature in the educational setting. The different literature pieces are aligned to a framework that requires effective professional development to focus on three concepts: content, context, and process. The content focuses on the "what" question in the programs while the context aims to…

An Investigation of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and its Influence on Beginning Teacher Retention: A Companion Dissertation. Shook, Anna, 2015. Dissertation, Gardner-Webb University, Adult Learning Theory/Adult Developmental Theory/Professional Development/Beginning Teacher/North Carolina Center for the Advancement of…

The purpose of this companion, qualitative case study was to examine the degree to which the residential professional development model at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) possibly influenced the retention of experienced teachers. The researcher sought to discover the ways and to what degree NCCAT had discharged…

This program description presents a unique, radically simple mentoring model for post-secondary institutions. The Faculty Peer Support Program invites all faculty members, regardless of rank, to connect for personalized professional development support. Participants self-select partner(s), meeting times, places, and topics. They also self-direct…

Distance learning programs in higher education are evolving into the preferred model for how we educate learners in the 21st century. The traditional role of an instructor was focused on creating an effective learning environment based in a physical classroom setting. In this decade, institutions are educating and training online instructors to a…

"The Excellent Online Instructor" is a guide for new and seasoned faculty who teach online, those responsible for training and developing online instructors, and administrators who must evaluate online faculty performance. This comprehensive resource describes the qualities of and explains how one can become an excellent online instructor. Written…

Despite well-intentioned professional development programs designed to improve teachers' effectiveness in the use of instructional practices that have the potential to enhance student achievement (e.g., differentiated instruction), a discrepancy exists between the promise these practices hold and their actual use by teachers in classrooms. To…