In this Best of "Knowledge Quest" monograph, the editors have collected seminal articles to support pre-service and in-service school librarians in developing and strengthening the instructional partner role. "Instructional Partnerships: A Pathway to Leadership" provides readers with background knowledge, research-based…

This action research study examines school reform through the development of a professional learning community for teacher-leaders. Through action research, this study organized a select group of teacher-leaders into a professional learning community to engage in a series of readings through a book club. The purpose of the book club was to develop…

The research study was an evaluation of a professional learning community (PLC) and its effect on teachers and student achievement in a high school serving predominately Latino students. The study was a mixed research study that consisted of both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data included school-wide and Latino student…

This article presents a thematic analysis of the research evidence on assessment feedback in higher education (HE) from 2000 to 2012. The focus of the review is on the feedback that students receive within their coursework from multiple sources. The aims of this study are to (a) examine the nature of assessment feedback in HE through the…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Student Leadership and Engagement and includes: (1) Project Based Learning for Student Success--Teaching Across Content Areas for…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and its companion projects serve bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities committed to assessing and improving the quality of the undergraduate experience. While each participating institution receives a detailed, customized "Institutional Report," the "Annual…

"Leadership in Freshman Physics" is an NSF-funded professional development program designed to support 9th grade teacher leaders in the successful implementation of a "Physics First" or curriculum sequence that places physics prior to biology and chemistry. Leadership is viewed as an essential component in the initial success…

This study explores how teachers narrate and develop their identities through their participation in an online video study group. Participants are six public school world language teachers using "Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling" (TPRS) methodology who live in geographically diverse regions of the United States but…

Over the past decade there have been several national reform movements focused on increasing the completion rates of community college students, yet those rates have remained at about 38%. If community colleges are to be reformed, much of this reform must focus on the faculty, their classroom practices, their perspectives on teaching and learning,…

This study examined differences in perception of teachers in high schools that had implemented PLCs and high schools that had not implemented PLCs. The purpose of the study was to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in the perception of teachers in the two separate groups in terms of how they incorporated…

The study examined the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and individual objective performance. While the LMX literature suggests a positive correlation between LMX and performance, a closer look at the research examined showed that the performance measurements were based on subjective measurements rather than objective…

Motivation and creativity are valuable attributes in the 21st century. In response, more instructional time must be focused on motivating high school students to expand their creative abilities. Self-determination theory (SDT) and communities of practice (CoP) are theoretical foundations helpful for understanding how intrinsic motivation promotes…

Learners often report difficulty maintaining social connectivity in online courses. Technology is quickly changing how people communicate, collaborate and learn using online social networking sites (SNSs). These sites have transformed education in a way that provides new learning opportunities when integrated with web 2.0 tools. Little research is…

Drawing on and reexamining theories on gender and literacy, derived from research performed between 1974 and 2002, this qualitative study explored the gender assumptions and expectations of 19 preservice and practicing secondary language arts teachers in a graduate level adolescent literature course. The theoretical framework was structured around…

In this study we take up the issue of teacher knowledge by characterising the quality of one teacher's Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching (Ball, Thames and Phelps, 2008) by examining her Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) that was accessed during a Lesson Study observation in a Chinese primary school. Results show that the participant's PCK was…