The examination of a large, urban, East Coast high school provides an enlightening chapter in the implementation and validation of a professional learning community (PLC) as a strategy for school improvement. The teachers of this East Coast school were accustomed to working in isolation, and the students demonstrated numerous areas of academic…

The term Professional Learning Community is commonplace, and it holds many meanings and suggestions. For the purpose of this essay, however, we discuss a specific Professional Learning Community (PLC) that was established in a high school, fifteen months prior to the application of a survey instrument to evaluate participants' perceptions on the…

This qualitative research presents an expanded perspective of literacy practices in which young students engage in multiple literacies while exploring personal inquiries about Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA. An extended classroom example and analysis taken from a broader research project focusing on early multiliteracies, illustrates the…

This manuscript begins with a synthesis of research on communities, communities of practice (CoPs), and the potential for their development in online forums, while specifically discussing the value of virtual CoPs for educational professionals in higher education. Working within constructivist and sociocultural frameworks, this manuscript…

Developing systems and opportunities for effective dialogue is critical if schools wish to help teachers work collectively. One school used Socratic seminars, structured conversations about selected texts. These seminars helped teachers to build relationships, share practice, and change curriculum and policy. The seminars also were critical to…

Background: A number of countries have heavily invested in the provision of large scale coach education programmes, often framed by elaborate qualification frameworks. Despite this investment, scant research has been conducted on coach education programmes. Given the limited amount of literature on coach education, and the relatively recent…

Innovation may best be considered as reinvention rather than invention. This observation is supported by a gradually accelerating change in "how" professional learning and development (PLD) for education practitioners and leaders is being offered, designed, facilitated, and evaluated. The reinvention of PLD includes shifts towards…

We argue that the "community of inquiry" approach, using reading materials modelled on Lipman's Philosophy for Children programme, is a theoretically justified and teacher-friendly means of promoting effective thinking skills. The stimulus materials, used by the pre-service teachers, consist of short stories of classroom life designed to…

Wenger's community of practice theory is used to illustrate how, through careful curriculum design, teacher identity can be developed by participation in a re-skilling programme. In the context of learning, a community of practice involves the complex intersection of various components of learning, namely, meaning (learning as experience),…

This article reports on mainstream teachers who took part in a federally funded master's in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) program and through a series of collaborative efforts have become experts in their own school systems and leaders in English as a second language (ESL) teacher preparation throughout their region.…

Teachers working with increasingly diverse student populations are expected, for the first time in American history, to bring all students to high levels of proficiency. American graduates must compete with graduates from other nations, given the realities of the 21st century global economy. American teachers must possess 21st century skills in…

This publication presents a collection of technology resources from the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) community. Contents include: (1) Podcasting (Jeff Lail); (2) Video Podcasting (Ed Cabellon); (3) Building a Multimedia Production Center (Nathan Byrer); (4) Cloud Computing in the Student Union and Student Activities (TJ…

Barry M. Franklin's new work uses the concept of community as a lens for interpreting urban school reform since 1960. Focusing on the curriculum and employing case studies, he applies the concept to reform initiatives in a number of city school systems. Included are compensatory education, community control, mayoral takeovers, educational…

In the Yonkers Public Schools district, teachers who are trained in data-driven instruction often fail to use their training to plan and deliver the instructional program. Identifying the reasons why this is the case from the teachers' perspective is important to district school leaders, school administrators, and teachers who desire to improve…

In an attempt to determine the differences between the perceptions of a sense of community among online students versus on-campus students, the research surveyed 200 undergraduate students regarding their sense of relational affiliation with their university and, for some, with their small group. The results of the ANOVA indicated that students…