Interscholastic coaches have unique needs relative to how they learn their practice and progress toward higher levels of professional comfort and competence. The purpose of this article is to review the professional development needs of interscholastic coaches and suggest the use of social-learning techniques, specifically communities of practice,…

There are basically two types of educators in the educational community: those that have become embittered and unable to remain effective, and those that continue to remain passionate learners. The scholar-practitioner model offers an opportunity for self-renewal, as experienced by one doctoral student finding herself at a point where she had to…

The author looks at school reform in light of his experiences documenting effective public education in classrooms across the United States. Observing in an inner-city 1st grade classroom, he sees a teacher who is knowledgeable, resourceful, and particularly effective with her students. He notes that none of the current high-profile reform ideas…

A closer look at the dynamics of school organisation, culture and ethos in respect to the support and management of teaching assistants (TAs) can help to develop more effective ways of using their energy, skills and talent. Focusing on the UK System, this author has found promising practices that can be built on. Where schools have begun to look…

There have been many changes over the years; no organization could expect to succeed if it didn't evolve. And while Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) will continue to adapt to changing conditions and needs, some things will--and should--stay the same. This paper focuses on research, networking, professional development…

Continuing education is a defining characteristic of work in the professions. Yet the approach various professional groups take to continuing professional development (CPD) differs widely in terms of regulatory frameworks and requirements, modes of delivery and funding. Importantly, little is understood about how CPD impacts on practice. This…

This application brief describes the exploratory assessment of a mentoring program between current students and alumni of a leadership studies minor program. We connect leadership education research and practice in two ways: first, we describe a process of qualitative program evaluation to inform program best practices and improvement. In doing…

In this paper, I use Levin and McEwan's (2001) cost feasibility approach and personnel data obtained from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate the cost of providing coaching support to every newly hired principal in Washington State. Based on this descriptive analysis, I estimate that the cost to provide leadership coaching to…

This mixed methods study examined the relationship between school districts' principal evaluation practices and their impact on student achievement in mathematics and reading. School achievement data were collected from a sample of 41 campuses representing 27 Texas school districts. Data were also solicited from a convenience sample of campus…

Professional development school partnerships can improve teaching and learning in our schools. To support these partnerships, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) developed standards for professional development schools. In this article, we address the questions, "What NCATE standards work from the point of…

The Graduate and Professional Skills (GradProSkills) program is an initiative developed and run by Concordia University's School of Graduate Studies and the university's Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies. This paper presents a case study in which we describe the development, implementation, and evaluative components of…

This paper describes a global professional development program called 21st Century Learning Design (21CLD), which helps teachers design academic lessons that integrate opportunities for students to develop 21st Century competencies in a variety of dimensions such as collaboration, knowledge construction, and the powerful use of ICT for learning.…

Because of their highly intensive and variable learning needs, learners with severe intellectual disability present significant challenges to special educators and other stakeholders in terms of selecting and implementing effective instructional practices. Although scholars have made considerable progress in conducting and synthesizing research…

Cloudworks (Cloudworks.ac.uk) is a social networking site designed for sharing, finding and discussing learning and teaching ideas and experiences. Design and development of the site has been based on an iterative analysis, development and implementation approach, underpinned by ongoing research and evaluation. To this end, we have been seeking to…

The importance of educational practices based on evidence is well-supported in the literature, however barriers to their implementation in classrooms still exist. This paper examines the phenomenon of evidence-based practice in education highlighting enablers and barriers to their implementation with particular reference to RTLB practice.