This paper identifies existing and potential measures of teacher qualifications as a single aspect of teacher quality, emphasizing their underlying rationale, ways to use them, and availability and quality of data collected from various sources. It categorizes types of teacher qualification measures, discusses data sources, and notes availability…

This issue brief examines the knowledge and skills teachers need in order to teach in an environment of accountability and standards-based reform. The Education Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI) conducted a national symposium that resulted in the identification and validation of essential knowledge and key skills that all educators need to…

In spring 2004, more than 1,200 teachers and principals in Tennessee participated in online professional development as part of the state?s Reading First grant. The opportunity also allowed the state to investigate the possibility of using online professional development to help teachers meet high-quality teacher requirements. Staff at the…

Explores the language used by teachers to denote various forces and investigates possible misconceptions they might hold about force and motion. Results indicate that biology and chemistry specialists hold the most misconceptions. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Proposes three thought experiments on various contexts of teaching mathematics. The experiments are intended to raise questions about the mathematics curriculum and to engage discussion about what topics should have high priority in arithmetic teaching. (DDR)

Discusses the role of classroom research in scholarship concerning learning and teaching at the college level. Identifies a shift from assessment for accountability to assessment for improvement to attention to roles of college faculty. Shows how use of classroom assessment techniques as part of a classroom research program can immediately improve…

Reports a study of the quality and extent of understanding of certain well-known theoretical concepts which are held by prospective teachers (N=173) of chemistry in Yemen. Results indicate that teacher understanding ranges from a partial understanding with a specific misconception to no understanding. Contains 25 references. (DDR)

Presents conclusions from the Independent Commission on Environmental Education (ICEE) on the quality of environmental education teaching materials in the United States. ICEE strongly endorsed environmental education as an important subject to which teachers are the key to its success. Although many materials are excellent and others are flawed by…

Analyzes the ways in which some beginning primary school teachers cope when faced with teaching science. Examines aspects of a group of beginning primary teachers' science teaching practices in order to better understand the basis of their practice. Finds that activities that work have a close relationship with science Pedagogical Content…

Discusses professional development intervention that attempted to start a professional community of secondary mathematics teachers through in-service work on mathematical problem solving and technology. Suggests that use of mathematical content explorations in professional development settings help mathematics teachers build professional…

Examines a classification system that offers a framework for discussing and choosing questions regarding curricular organization, classroom environment, and teaching and learning strategies. (Contains 21 references.) (DDR)

Identifies the major tenets of a preservice secondary education program, knowledge structures that beginning science teachers have constructed about the teaching and learning of science, and the correlation between them. Findings indicate that aspects of the program such as student-centered learning, cooperative learning, general pedagogical…

Examines one theory used to justify science teaching on the basis of goals that transcend learning the content of science. Focuses on the goal of intellectual independence from science for nonscientists. Provides a brief overview of other content-transcendent goals in science education. Contains 45 references. (DDR)

This Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) position paper identifies the curricular areas that should be addressed in a preparation program for teachers at the elementary level. Outlines preferred knowledge in the following areas: general education, foundations of elementary education, child development, the learning and…

Working with the National Council of Teachers of English, South Carolina has taken the bold step of focusing professional development in reading on teachers, rather than programs. The state created the South Carolina Reading Initiative (SCRI), a multi-year, research-based professional development model. (MLF)