This report presents information provided by New Jersey public schools for the 2016-17 school year on incidents of violence; vandalism; weapon offenses; substance offenses; and harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB). The information is presented annually by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to the Governor and Legislature to…

One way to provide high quality instruction for underserved English Language Learners around the world is to combine Task-Based English Language Learning with Computer- Assisted Instruction. As part of an ongoing project, "Bridges to Swaziland," these approaches have been implemented in a determined effort to improve the ESL program for…

A survey of 691 Georgia teachers suggested that their students generally were not prepared for severe weather. Teachers also were somewhat dissatisfied with the quality of the teaching resources on weather and weather safety. Only 46 (7%) of the teachers were aware of the American Red Cross Masters of Disaster (MoD) weather science and safety…

The purpose of this article is to describe the development of elementary school teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching as they participated in a Modeling Instruction environment that placed heavy emphasis on improving their subject-matter knowledge as a basis for affecting the development of their pedagogical content knowledge. We…

Problem Statement: Student teachers' beliefs and conceptions affect not only what and how they learn in teacher education programs, but also their future professional development in their teaching careers. Examining and understanding student teachers' beliefs and conceptions is therefore crucial to improving their professional preparation and…

Revisions to Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) proposed alternative models, such as Response to Intervention (RTI), as a preventive measure that supports students at risk. As teachers' roles evolve in response to RTI, teacher preparation programs must adjust their focus and curriculum accordingly. A mixed-methods…

Teacher efficacy is the belief teachers have in their ability to impact student learning. Efficacy includes teacher confidence in instructional, management and collaboration skills. The following study addresses teacher efficacy in an Early Childhood Professional Development School (PDS). The PDS experience provides an opportunity for mentor…

This article describes findings from a single-case qualitative study of a unique 2-year professional development academy for practicing assistant principals designed and implemented in partnership between school district personnel and university educational leadership faculty members. The study was conducted based on the theoretical framework of…

This report presents descriptive findings on school practices in 12 states for schools explicitly held accountable for the performance of the students with disabilities (SWD) subgroup. The study found that, when surveyed in 2011, elementary schools accountable for the SWD subgroup were 15.8 percentage-points more likely than never-accountable…

At-risk students dealing with cognitive, physical, mental health, and environmental challenges often have poor self-regulatory skills. They may struggle with tasks such as planning, goal-setting, and monitoring their own thoughts and actions. This volume describes how teachers, healthcare professionals, and others who work with young people can…

Assessment in America's high schools is about to undergo its most dramatic advance in decades, according to a policy brief released in February by the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE), a Washington, DC, based organization devoted to promoting high school transformation. "There is widespread concern that the most prominent assessments…

This book facilitates the completion of action research studies by providing a series of tasks that guide action researchers from the beginning of a project and selecting a topic for study, to completion of the project and editing final reports. All too often, students and practicing professionals in professional development schools are…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' and principals' perceptions of leadership activities occurring on their campus. Survey methodology was used to gather data from 469 teachers and principals from high-poverty middle schools in Texas. The results of this study found that principals and teachers do not agree on leadership activities…

Increasingly today, with the growing and sophisticated skill set alumni professionals need to get the job done, alumni relations has become a destination career rather than a stop along the way. Modern alumni relations is "so much more than homecoming and punch-and-cookie receptions." It's marketing, volunteer management, and social networking. To…

Just as individual teachers have orientations to teaching and learning science that influence their practice, we assert that professional development (PD) projects also have an orientation that guides the design and implementation of the entire project; a construct we term "PD Project Orientation". The purpose of this study was to validate the…