This descriptive study examined observational data collected in inclusive classrooms from six schools that were operating schoolwide inclusive policies and practices. Illustrative evidence of classroom practices supporting learning and participation of all students, including students with significant disabilities, adds to an understanding of…

Teacher training and teacher quality are an important part of the education system, therefore there is a need for new training programs for teachers to gain new knowledge and skills and to support their professional development. In recent years, new programs have been developed to offer knowledge and experience to teachers, and different methods…

Three video/web conferencing technologies (Pocket Camcorder, Skype, Adobe Connect) were used in regional schools in Australia to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers with regard to practicum teaching placements. Findings revealed that Pocket…

The importance of daily child observation and documentation in early childhood programs has been well established. Observing and documenting children's ongoing learning and development provides rich information about how they view, process, and interact with their world. This information, in turn, guides curricular planning, implementation, and…

This group of commentaries on teaching human rights in Turkey includes: (1) Reflection on Turkish Human Rights Lesson from Turkey (Alper Kesten)--A lesson on human rights in Turkey is analyzed for its representativity and methodology within the Turkish teaching culture from the viewpoint of a Turkish researcher; (2) Commentary on a Turkish Lesson…

This study aims at investigating the demotivating factors that discourage Preparatory Year Program (PYP) students from learning the English language. It also proposes and tests the effectiveness of a set of academic and administrative approaches on enhancing English language acquisition of 102 Saudi PYP Students taking an EFL summer course in the…

This paper explores the many and diverse factors that have driven changes to the field-based component of a program of teacher education in a large Canadian university over the past 10 years. We look at key contexts of influence to any work in program change; that of internal and external bodies at the institutional level, the operational or…

In this study, researchers operated from cognitive and situated perspectives to understand how individual qualities and contextual factors influenced elementary special education teachers' learning in a multifaceted professional development (PD) project, Literacy Learning Cohort, focused on word study and fluency instruction. Grounded theory…

This paper demonstrates the need for taking a design perspective on teaching and learning in the study of the uptake and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. It argues for the identification and scrutiny of designs for teaching and learning at the institutional level to overcome the contradictions that often arise…

In this study, we examined how the relationships between one observation protocol, the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO), and value-added measures shift when different tests are used to assess student achievement. Using data from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project, we found that PLATO was more strongly related to the…

This article explores how individualized teaching methods, such as the use of work plans, create new student strategies in Norwegian lower secondary classrooms. Work plans, which are frequently set up as instructional tools in Norwegian classrooms, outline different types of tasks and requirements that the students are supposed to do during a…

The use of formal observation in primary mathematics classrooms is supported in the literature as a viable method of determining effective teaching strategies and appropriate tasks for inclusion in the early years of mathematics learning. The twofold aim of this study was to (a) investigate predictive relationships between primary mathematics…

In the wake of national educational reform, the author discovered a secondary education style where all students were taught through centrally aired TV-lessons beaming from a studio in the capital city. In order to understand the motive behind the reform and its impacts on teaching, the author collected qualitative data for critical analysis.…

This article examines the challenges of teacher development strategies in post-1994 South Africa by arguing that school-based development initiatives address teachers' specific development needs and that it is imperative to understand the conditions under which these initiatives can have a positive impact on teachers. A framework is developed…

The purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts to improve methods for gathering and analyzing data from classroom observations in early literacy. The methodological approach addresses current problems of reliability and validity of classroom observations by taking into account differences in teachers' uses of instructional actions (e.g.,…