The article shows the need to update the subject literacy of a teacher to improve his professional competence. The concept of subject literacy, its role and place in improving the professional competence of both a teacher and improving the quality of teaching schoolchildren are revealed.

The four zone professional learning model is a practical, comprehensive approach to striving toward equity through professional learning within gifted education programs. Grounded in equity literacy and funds of knowledge frameworks and based in best practices in culturally responsive gifted professional learning, the zones address the knowledge…

Research advances in neuroscience and the developmental and learning sciences have provided us with important insights about how people learn and develop. The knowledge we now have points to important transformations in teaching practice, which in turn require transformations in educator development in order to support all educators in developing…

A considerable body of research suggests that knowledgeable and skilled educators are key to the quality of early childhood services. However, the skills and knowledge of educators is subject to being underestimated and contested. In response, the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work Study has been designed to bring to light the distinctive…

In this article we present five trends that are impacting physical education teacher education (PETE). The trends are (a) practice-based teacher education that refines the knowledge base for teacher education, (b) core teaching practices that define the critical teaching practices for successful lifelong teaching, (c) pedagogies of practice that…

In many countries, just as in the United States, the pressure is on to raise the quality of the teaching force; the bar is being raised for what teachers should be able to do. Drawing on her experiences organizing the International Summit on the Teaching Profession and leading delegations of educators to various nations, Stewart describes how some…

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) recognizes the positive influence that a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework can have on improving the education of all children, the roles of special educators, and the special education system, by providing a structure to organize practices based on data, evidence and research. The MTSS…

As interest in teacher leadership has grown, many leading organizations have developed tools and guidance to support schools, districts, and teacher leaders themselves. In collaboration and consultation with the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance, REL Midwest and the Center on Great Teachers and…

Every teacher seeks to be an "effective" teacher. Every teacher wants to have a positive, remarkable, and lasting influence on students' lives. But what makes for an effective teacher? What role does teacher preparation play in teacher effectiveness? What do effective teachers do during planning, instruction, and assessment? How do they…

Rather than merely dusting and polishing the old comfy stuff, these authors have spent 35 years trying to find out how people can learn to use new curriculums and ways of teaching. They have done some studies that would meet high standards of design, learned from peering at correlations, and stumbled on important things while teaching kids and…

What kinds of knowledge, skills, and dispositions are needed in order to prepare social studies teachers for twenty-first century learners? Answering this question is the core pursuit of the latest revision of the "National Standards for the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers." For several decades, the National Council for the Social…

In the past decade, there has been important progress in the development and validation of video-based instruments that enable the systematic assessment of teaching competence with large samples of teachers, across multiple settings and populations, and by researchers other than the developers. This commentary focuses on the methodological…

Thriving in the digital age workplace requires, in part, professionals who think differently about how they prepare the next generation workforce. Teachers and teacher educators are no exception. When reflecting on how today's teacher educators prepare teacher candidates for the multitude of roles and responsibilities they will shoulder, including…

Teaching, irrespective of its geographical location, is fundamentally a relational practice in which unique ethically complex situations arise to which teachers need to respond at different levels of ethical decision-making. These range from "big" abstract questions about whether or not what they teach is inherently good, through to…

In early childhood teacher education programs, the reality of educational systems must be understood and teacher candidates must be ready to deal with the current challenges schools face. The rationale and application of the principles of practice based teacher education are presented in this article. Practice-based teacher education programs…