In the current era of mathematics standards, whether they are Common Core State Standards or other state standards, effective vertical mathematics teams offer an opportunity for teachers to grow professionally through shared experiences, for leadership to grow among the faculty, and for the school to change its perspective on the teaching and…

The author has worked as a language teacher, teacher educator, and second language acquisition (SLA) researcher for over forty years. During this time grammar has figured largely in his thinking, in part because it has traditionally been so central to language pedagogy and in part because he became fascinated with how the human mind grapples with…

Transition from face-to-face to the online classroom is an enlightening journey. This is the cutting edge of a paradigm shift in K-12 education, and it is important for teachers to understand it. Many teachers may not receive a formal training program and should realize that it is not always an easy transition. Anything can happen, and never…

Since 1999, the authors have written numerous articles and books, given hundreds of presentations, served on national eLearning groups, and created new international online programs, all while paying careful attention to the trends, issues, and best practices in the effective use of technology tools and distance learning methods. In this article,…

When asked by a principal to design a workshop for ELA and ESL teachers on addressing new ESL regulations, the author suggested that they offer professional development that might inspire teachers to try new practices that could help their students grow as writers. The author decided to devote a workshop not to rules and regulations, but to…

For an educational reform to succeed, teachers need to adjust their perceptions to the reform's new curricula and strategies and cope with new content, as well as new teaching and assessment strategies. Developing students' scientific literacy through context-based chemistry and higher order thinking skills was the framework for establishing a new…

The view that vocational education and training is central to economic prosperity and social well-being is one that is widely held by policy-makers in many countries. Delivering this agenda requires skilled and professional teachers. Ensuring that vocational teachers are able to maintain and develop both their "craft" skills and…

This paper explores teacher beliefs that influence the ways Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are used in learning contexts. Much has been written about the impact of teachers' beliefs and attitudes to ICT as "barriers" to ICT integration (Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, & York, 2007; Higgins & Moseley, 2001;…

This paper examines the role of technology in the professional development of teaching assistants, and specifically, it addresses how applications of technology to teaching can provide continuity for the L2 curriculum beyond the basic levels. After a discussion about the importance of grounding instructional practice in research and theory, the…

Many teachers do not have a working knowledge of body image or weight issues. This pilot project examined body image satisfaction and eating/weight-related behaviours before and after a professional in-service with physical education pre-service teachers (N = 16). At the three-month follow-up, measures were repeated and qualitative data (critical…

This paper examines the effects of negligence toward diversity issues on campus racial climate, describes how exclusionary practices affect minority students' (i.e., Asian American, Hispanic, Black, and Native American) educational experiences, and addresses faculty issues relevant to diversity. In addition, the paper identifies the factors that…

The purpose of this study is to outline a partnership program that involved a local elementary school district, an institution of higher education, the local business community, and a state economic education advocacy group to integrate economics into math in grades K-5. The "Economics: Math in Real Life" program was provided in…

Despite the complexity of teaching, learning to teach in universities is often "learning by doing". To provide novice university teachers with pedagogic teaching knowledge and to help them develop specific teaching objectives, we created a structured, video-based, one-year training program. In focusing on the core features of…

This article focused on a deeper analysis of pre-service teachers' observations of video lessons based on the authentic classrooms across three stages in eight sessions in order to reveal their changes in the abilities to understand pedagogical content knowledge and the effects of specific observation frameworks introduced in the observation…

This policy brief is the first in a series of in-depth case studies exploring how top-performing charter schools have incorporated civic learning in their school curriculum and school culture. This paper introduces Democracy Prep, a network of seven public charter schools with a civic mission at its core. Democracy Prep's founder and…