In early November 2013, the authors started talking about visiting the Hurley School, a dual-language school in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hurley School had spent considerable time transitioning to the Common Core State Standards on literacy, but little time addressing the shifts in math. They worried that math classes were no longer rigorous…

Recent state legislation in Michigan mandates that all graduating seniors successfully pass algebra I and II. Numerous initiatives have been enacted to help mathematics teachers meet this challenge, yet school principals have had little preparation for the necessary curricular and instructional changes. To address this unmet need, university-based…

The best science teachers are not only experts in teaching and knowledgeable about science content, but they are also great at teaching science. They have specialized teaching knowledge, including knowledge of effective pedagogical practices in science, student difficulties with understanding content, and curricular purposes. As a result,…

This article discusses the combination of two professional development strategies--lesson study and the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)--which gave teachers in Freeport Public Schools, a district on Long Island, New York, new tools for improving instruction for ELLs in mainstream classrooms. The unique combination of the two…

A mathematics staff development program engaged kindergarten through twelfth grade Georgia teachers in a constructivist approach to learning for use in the classroom. The Problem-Solving and Thinking Project emphasized that teacher and student learning is not done passively and that teachers must be taught as it is hoped they will teach. (SM)

When Prince George's County Public Schools created a teacher mentor program, administrators also created a system for evaluating it with clear expectations and goals at the outset. Precisely defining objectives enabled leaders to see their progress, determine what needed to change along the way, and build support for the program.