Previous findings indicate that the effectiveness of in-service teacher training can be increased by a (pedagogical) content knowledge orientation on the one hand and the stimulation of cooperation among teachers on the other. In this paper, three versions of a multi-phase training program were compared in a quasi-experimental field study with a…

As the link between teacher quality and student performance becomes increasingly apparent, education leaders have invested significant time and energy into recruiting high-quality educators. Unfortunately, chronic teacher shortages have undercut these efforts, and many school leaders continue to struggle with staffing each year. A closer…

While many charter school leaders across the country grapple with how to best provide and pay for special education, New Orleans recently became the first city in the nation to tackle special education on the fiscal, human capital, and program fronts in the context of a full-choice public education landscape. Over time, it may offer scalable…

In this report, the Rennie Center for Education Policy & Research focuses on Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs) as a key tool that districts and schools can use to prepare students for college and career success, as well as the costs districts incur to implement ILPs. In Massachusetts some public school districts have utilized ILPs to pursue…

In New York State (NYS), Earth science teachers use the "National Science Education Standards" (NSES), the NYS "Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science and Technology" (NYS Standards), and the "Physical Setting/Earth Science Core Curriculum" (Core Curriculum) to create local curricula and daily lessons. In this…

Scholars representing the field of psychology were asked to identify what they considered to be the most exciting and imaginative work currently being done in their field, as well as how that work might change our understanding. The scholars included Susan Blackmore, Nadya Fouad, Jerome Kagan, Stephen Kosslyn, Michael Posner, and Robert Sternberg.…

One of the main affordances of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) is its potential for increasing classroom interactivity, yet little is known about the interactivity it supports in schools with different educational concepts. In this study we analysed what types of whole-class interactivity the IWB supports in schools with either a…

In this article, the contexts, forms and consequences of teacher resistance against school reforms based on quality assurance policies are discussed. The problems are demonstrated by recurring on research devoted to the acceptance and/or resistance of (German) teachers against standards-based accountability policies. These results demonstrate that…

There are increasing concerns about the educational experiences of Division I student-athletes in big-time college sports. Calls for reform have come from within colleges and universities and beyond. The literature of innovative management offers ideas that can help mitigate the academic and athletic divide and offer new ideas for athletic…

This paper explores how four good teachers, who do not have a special interest in technology, meet the challenge of introducing the rapidly developing mathematics analysis software (e.g. spreadsheets, function graphers, symbolic algebra manipulation and dynamic geometry) into their classrooms. These teachers' practice is viewed through the…

In this study, questions in context-based and traditional chemistry textbooks were analysed from two perspectives that are at the heart of chemistry curricula reforms: a content perspective and a learning activities perspective. To analyse these textbook questions, we developed an instrument for each perspective. In total, 971 textbook questions…

This article describes ideas that came out of two workshops from a statewide Institute in Hawaii, comprised of sixty-five teaching artists, that focused on analyzing best practices. These were collaborative curriculum design workshops that yielded provocative and inspiring theoretical and practical ideas. In the first workshop, small groups of…

In this paper, I argue that Dewey's pragmatist aesthetics, and in particular, his concept of "consummatory experience", should be engaged anew to rethink the merits of the Philosophy for Children (PFC) programme, which arose in the 1970s in the US as an innovative educational programme that aims to use philosophy to help school children (aged…

The development and scale-up of school improvement networks is among the most important educational innovations of the last decade, and current federal, state, and district efforts attempt to use school improvement networks as a mechanism for supporting large-scale change. The potential of improvement networks, however, rests on the extent to…

In 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) set a target to lift Australia's Year 12 or equivalent attainment rate from 83.5 to 90% by 2015. In the context of global financial uncertainty, the target was rationalised as a means for boosting national productivity and developing human capital to help Australia compete in the global…