Learning communities are best defined as "ongoing groups who meet regularly for the purposes of increasing their own learning and that of their students." Although learning communities vary in form and context, they share some fundamental core beliefs and values. Based on the idea that educators can learn from each other, learning communities…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a teacher professional development program on the classroom teaching practices of the participants. This particular professional development program included an intensive summer institute, 8 monthly follow-up sessions, informal participant-professor mentoring and peer networking. The majority…

Background: To monitor priority health risk behaviors and school health policies and practices, respectively, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and the School Health Profiles (Profiles). CDC is often asked about the use and application of these survey data to improve…

This article focuses on a teacher's evaluation of an experiment with problem-based learning (PBL) and its effects on his professional development. This case study, of a descriptive-analytical nature, involved the collaboration between the researcher and teacher in the planning, implementation of PBL and, to some extent, analysis of results.…

This study investigated the reciprocal effects between teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) and two dimensions of classroom peer relatedness, peer liking and peer academic reputation (PAR), across three years in elementary school and the effect of both TSRQ and the peer relatedness dimensions on academic self efficacy. Participants were 695…

This qualitative study explores a cohort professional development experience that brought new teachers together every few weeks from across an urban school district. Observation data were analyzed through Wenger's (1998) "Communities of Practice" social learning framework. The purpose was to examine how a cohort can be a valuable resource of new…

This paper explores stakeholders' views on the desirability of collaborative continuing professional development (CPD) and examines potential barriers. It draws on two projects which each explore perceptions of CPD for teachers in Scotland. The data include interviews with key informants and with practising teachers as well as survey data from…

In reviewing what lecturers found valuable for their professional development, it has been argued that "professional reading" of both higher education research and literature in their disciplines is a major theme for individual enhancement. Despite the increased interest in the writing practices of students and staff in higher education, however,…

This qualitative study explores the meanings and possible merits of introducing competence profiles for enhancing professional development in the environmental education sector in the Netherlands. It presents the three most important environmental education jobs and their underlying competencies alongside their core professional challenges, as…

Few formal post-secondary educational programs in the United States focus on youth work, thus youth workers often enter the field with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience working with youth. Drawing on mounting evidence that quality youth service requires skilled staff, professional-development opportunities have received…

Using a longitudinal design, the job satisfaction and career development of beginning teachers are explored in the present study. Beginning teachers were initially interviewed after graduation from the teacher training programme and then after gaining a two-year teaching experience. The results are presented in a fourfold typology in which the…

Wales provides an interesting case study of the ways in which policies relating to continuing professional development (CPD) change over time. During the past three decades there has been a swing from central political influences on CPD policy to a focus on school priorities coupled with greater individual professional focus, then back again to…

This study describes a teacher certification literacy methods course taught in an elementary school setting and featuring a classroom practicum, integrated with course sessions, that focuses on work with individual children. It examines the influence of an inquiry approach, promoted in this course model, on teacher candidate development. Drawn…

Reading the Farm is a 2- to 3-day professional development program that brings together agricultural service providers from a range of agencies, with various expertise and levels of experience, to explore whole-farm systems and sustainability through in-depth study of two case-study farms. Over 90% of past participants reported that the program…

The United States government has invested nearly one billion dollars in funding to professional historians and history educators across the country since 2000 to strengthen the teaching of American history in elementary and secondary schools, yet we know little about how these programs impact student learning. Using data from one such Teaching…