The intent of this qualitative research study had two purposes. One, to describe and explain the perceptions of elementary school teachers through their participation in a Professional Learning Community, as defined by DuFour, DuFour, Eaker & Many (2010). This research was initiated with elementary education teachers, grades kindergarten…

This research to practice brief provides a research summary for the study "Using Data to Alter Instructional Practice: The Mediating Role of Coaches and Professional Learning Communities." The study investigated whether the use of coaches or professional learning communities (PLCs) had an impact on how educators used data to change…

This paper begins by setting out the vision and aims of the General Teaching Council for Scotland. In its efforts to deliver this vision and to meet these aims, GTC Scotland has given extensive consideration to various aspects of teacher professionalism. A discussion of a range of teacher professionalism paradigms follows before an explanation of…

Higher education is challenged by workforce needs to transform its outcomes from "knowledge-based" to "competency-based" outcomes. High-impact educational practices, commonly referred to as HIPs, provide, among other benefits, efficacious development of workforce-ready specific competencies. Strategic implementation of HIPs has…

Students gain a lasting impression of a course and of the instructor on the first day of class (Lang, 2019). In asynchronous online or hybrid classes, the equivalent of the first day of class is the Start Here module. This orientation module should contain essential information about class expectations and technology requirements and provide help…

Roles of Hybrid Teacher Leadership (HTL), positions which involve classroom teaching for part of the day and academic coaching, curriculum planning, department chair, or professional development responsibilities for the remainder of the day, are becoming more prevalent due to budgetary concerns and teacher shortages. This autoethnography analyzes…

In 2007 the Cancer Care Ontario Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic (HPB) Community of Practice was formed during the wake of provincial regionalization of HPB services in Ontario, Canada. Despite being conceptualized within the literature as an educational intervention, communities of practice (CoP) are increasingly being adopted in healthcare as quality…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of teachers' professional learning opportunities on instructional quality, which represents a combined approach of behaviorist, cognitivist, and constructivist principles in teaching. We incorporated professional learning communities (PLCs), professional development (PD) days, as well as 3 PD…

In the spring of 2015, Dr. Karen Sullivan, superintendent of Indian Prairie School District 204 in Aurora, Illinois, signed the Alliance for Excellent Education's Future Ready Pledge, "making a firm commitment to implementing meaningful changes toward a digital learning transition that supports teachers, and addresses the district's vision…

The use of blogging as an instructional practice has the potential to reshape teacher education. The purpose of this year-long project was to examine how blogging worked to support inservice K through 12 literacy teachers' professional development. I found that the blogging that occurred in this study demonstrated that, without support, teachers…

This study explores the role of school and university partnership teams in the professional development of physical education (PE) pre-service teachers (PSTs) during their one year Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in England. The paper focuses on the key influences and processes that impacted on PST subject knowledge development. An…

The State University of New York's "Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP)" is an online professional development model that encourages faculty and instructional support staff to explore and reflect on innovative and creative uses of emerging technologies through hands-on Discovery Learning Activities. "TOEP" is focused on creating…

A reading of college-based HE (CHE) teachers' self-identified academic development preferences against an understanding of the professional demands of academic practice in Higher Education (HE), whilst being mindful of the specific college-based context, serves to add the experiences of CHE teachers to the HE sector understanding of 'the staff…

The paper presents a pilot project that explored students' perceptions regarding the implementation of ePortfolios using the online platform Mahara in an undergraduate teacher preparation course. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through an online survey and small focus group. The findings indicate that students perceived the…

The authors' lived experience of devising a professional development programme for research supervisors and securing SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association) accreditation informs this paper. Our first purpose is to outline the programme and discuss its uniqueness in using a community of practice model in conjunction with practitioner…