Purpose: This study evaluated the impact of 1-day workshops on teachers' knowledge, practices, and dispositions using known characteristics of quality professional development and Guskey's five levels of professional development evaluation. Method: Eight workshops were evaluated over a 2-year period using pre/post surveys, end-of-workshop surveys,…

The discretion provided to states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers new possibilities for policymakers to determine how best to allocate resources and support policies to provide students with a well-rounded education. As states begin to examine new strategies for improving student outcomes and developing the next generation of…

In response to the need for a scalable, institutionally supported model of educational change, the Science Education Initiative (SEI) was created as an experiment in transforming course materials and faculty practices at two institutions--University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and University of British Columbia. We find that this departmentally…

Over a decade ago, Borko (2004) raised the awareness of the education research community to the critical need for studies of teacher professional development (PD) programs. She states on page 13: "My challenge to the educational research community is this: We have much work to do and many questions to answer in order to provide high-quality…

We posit that professional development (PD) models fall on a continuum from highly adaptive to highly specified, and that these constructs provide a productive way to characterize and distinguish among models. The study reported here examines the impact of an adaptive mathematics PD model on teachers' knowledge and instructional practices as well…

The Colorado Learning Assistant (LA) Model has demonstrated that it is successful in helping to meet multiple goals including enhancing student learning in LA-supported courses, increasing conceptual understanding of physics among LAs, and improving the teaching practices of former LAs in K-12 schools. The research reported here investigated the…

This study responds to regional and national needs by examining the impact on students' English language proficiency of a particular set of ELL-specific classroom materials in combination with a specific teacher professional development program. The classroom materials used in this study, entitled On Our Way to English (OWE), were authored by…

This article discusses an innovative program, Smart-Girl, developed in collaboration among feminist scholars, educators, and business women concerned with intervening in and improving the lives of adolescent girls in their community. This program is unique not only in its success, but also in the social and emotional impact it has had on the high…

Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year's curriculum. Both tools target the "instructional core." A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found…

A teacher's sense of self-efficacy has been consistently recognized as an important attribute of effective teaching and has been positively correlated to teacher and student outcomes. A number of studies show the impact of teachers with high levels of efficacy. Students of these teachers have outperformed students who had teachers with lower…

Underserved youths are affected by a variety of circumstances such as poverty, poor nutrition, and low physical activity levels. While many extended-day physical activity programs exist, few focus on the importance of health and wellness. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an extended-day program for underserved youths…

Because of the substantial impact on outcomes for children, states and school districts across the country are addressing issues surrounding early learning opportunities and school readiness for young children. Full-day kindergarten plays an important role in both. Colorado has made significant investments in full-day kindergarten as a means of…

Nationwide, school district administrators are puzzling about how to increase the number of high quality principal candidates. Some districts have started programs to grow their own administrators. These districts, sometimes in conjunction with university programs, are providing training and mentoring for future school leaders. Some districts are…

Evaluation of the 1974-77 INREAL (INclass REActive Language) demonstration model project, initially serving 518 children (aged 3-5 years), focused on the Colorado program's objectives of increasing language handicapped and bilingual (Spanish) children's language development significantly and preventing later language-related learning problems in…

This review of research is part of a larger project which identified exemplary community college programs that employ innovative curriculum and instructional practices in order to help low-skilled adults attain a family sustainable wage. The project goal was to identify best practices that are replicable at other community colleges. These programs…