Examining instructional practices in Core-Plus lessons: implications for professional development

In the research reported in this article, we sought to understand the instructional practices of 26 secondary teachers from one district who use a problems-based mathematics textbook series (Core-Plus). Further, we wanted to examine beliefs that may be associated with their instructional practices. After analyzing data from classroom observations, our findings indicated that the teachers’ instructional practices fell along a wide continuum of lesson implementation. Analysis of interview data suggested that teachers’ beliefs with regard to students’ ability to do mathematics were associated with their level of lesson implementation. Teachers also differed, by level of instructional practices, in their beliefs about appropriateness of the textbook series for all students. Results strongly support the need for professional development for teachers implementing a problems-based, reform mathematics curriculum. Further, findings indicate that the professional development be designed to meet the diverse nature of teacher needs.     

Recommendations for professional development necessary for iPad integration

With the recent adoptions of 1:1 technology initiatives, such as the iPads in schools, it is urgent to provide appropriate professional development opportunities for teachers to maximize student use of the technology. This study provides vital information on the professional development needs of teachers for initial integration of technology with the iPad device and what is needed beyond the first year to sustain use in classrooms. One hundred and ninety-one teachers from 10 school districts participated in the study. The results of this study indicate that successful professional development occurs when teachers are allowed time to collaborate with colleagues and learn from peers on how they integrated curriculum with the technology. Collaboration with peers and work time was more important to teachers than one-on-one coaching or large group professional development. Teachers also voiced a need for ongoing, differentiated professional development due to the wide range of teacher expertise and learning levels with technology.     

Impact of discipline-specific professional development: implementation of core instructional practices

A study of a discipline-specific teacher development project designed to prepare teachers to implement a series of core instructional practices for pre-collegiate history teaching is described as a model that can be applied to any content discipline. Teachers were surveyed concerning the success of the project in achieving the goals it set, implementation of and feelings about the new strategies learned for ‘doing history’ and the impact of the PD activities provided. A variation on the Concerns-Based Adoption Model was used to measure the levels of use and stages of concern of the teachers with regard to the strategies. Teachers reported a high level of adoption of and comfort with the strategies. Implications for structuring successful PD activities that are discipline-specific, collaborative, use active learning, have a coherent vision and sufficient duration are presented.     

Technology professional development for teachers

This article examines technology professional development for preservice and inservice teachers. It reviews the current status of technology in our schools, what we know about professional development in the area of technology, and research on efforts to increase preservice teacher use of technology in appropriate ways.     

The strategic impact model: An integrative approach to performance improvement and instructional systems design

Conclusion The Strategic Impact Model is distinctive in its portrayal of the integration of instructional and non-instructional interventions and its suggestion that all performance interventions undergo an analysis-design-development-production cycle, just as instruction does. It also differs from other similar models in its use of evaluative activities at each stage to assure alignment with strategic needs as well as quality control, and its suggestions for improving the chances of successful implementation by carrying out change management activities at each phase of the development process. He has special interests in distance education, historical and philosophical foundations of instructional technology and instructional development processes. He has special interests in planning and evaluating performance improvement initiatives, including training. An erratum to this article is available at .     

A framework for Information and Communication Technology integration in schools through teacher professional development

Abstract

The demands of the twenty-first century require effective and sustainable use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education. Various ICT strategies and initiatives across South Africa have not resulted in system-wide, sustainable ICT integration in schools. Although the roles of principals are acknowledged in educational management, the question remains how principals influence teachers' effective and sustainable integration of ICT through teacher professional development (TPD). A matrix of theoretical criteria selected seven participants across diverse contexts. In-depth interviews produced an integrated dataset that revealed principals' patterns of influence, their perceptions and experiences, their leadership and management styles, their attitudes towards ICT integration, their knowledge on related ICT and related TPD issues, as well as their strategic thinking on ICT integration. The proposed theoretical framework illustrates the interrelatedness of aspects that influence principals' leadership through open distance learning.     

职业经理人控制制度的建立与完善

根据委托代理理论，所有权和控制权分离导致的直接后果是委托——代理问题的产生，从代理人的角度来看，第一，代理人有着不同于委托人的利益和目标，所以他们的效用函数和委托人的效用函数不同。第二，代理人对自己所做出的努力拥有私人信息，代理人会不惜损害委托人的利益来谋求自身利益的最大化，即产生机会主义行为。委托人必须采取措施以最小的代价，使得作为代理人的经营者愿意为委托人的目标和利益而努力工作。     

The impact of instructional development in higher education: effects on teachers and students

This paper reviews a range of challenges and tensions experienced when using portfolios for learning as well as for summative assessment in the context of continuing professional learning in academic development programmes. While portfolios are becoming increasingly prominent, the details of how they are used are under-examined; they are often simply assumed to be an appropriate tool. However, it is important that, as practitioners, we are able to justify our own assessment practices and convey our expectations to our participants, who may be unfamiliar with the demands of a reflective portfolio. In this paper we explore some of the appeal as well as the difficulties of using portfolios, many of which arise from the fact that portfolios are often simultaneously used for summative and formative purposes. We suggest how the challenges sometimes experienced with portfolio assessment can be addressed by course conveners.     

The use of evaluative feedback for instructional improvement: A longitudinal perspective

Both the available experimental evidence and recent reviews are unclear regarding the effectiveness of student ratings feedback for instructional improvement. Provision of feedback has not consistently produced improvement. Feedback accompanied by consultation has resulted in more consistent instructor improvement. However, the literature on interventions for instructional improvements has failed to address the longitudinal nature of improvement and development. The present study examined follow-up data over a ten-year period on instructors who had participated in a quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of consultation and feedback conducted in 1971 and 1972. The results obtained indicate that instructors who had originally received feedback with consultation maintained higher student ratings and used instructional resources more during follow-up than instructors who originally received feedback only. This result must be tempered by several interpretative considerations regarding sample size, power, and experimental control. A number of concerns were also expressed regarding the adequacy of the current literature for describing a developmental event, instructional improvement, through the use of short-term studies. Recommendations are made for increased durations of study and alternative tactics of experimental design and control.     

The influence of professional development in gifted education on the frequency of instructional practices

Gifted education teacher training, licensure, certification, and degrees are ubiquitous in the Australia and abroad, and yet whether or not such training results in changes to classroom instructional practices remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between professional development in gifted education and the practices used by educators in the classroom. Two hundred and seventy-nine respondents who had completed one of three levels of teacher professional development completed the Classroom Practice Survey (Revised). The preregistered prediction for this study, that higher levels of professional development would result in higher levels of self-reported teacher practices, was not supported by the data, thereby drawing attention to the need for more research in this area and potential revisions to gifted education teacher professional development opportunities.     

The Early Reading Research: The impact of instructional psychology

The Early Reading Research (ERR), is a six-year research project investigating the most effective approaches to: improving reading standards; ensuring that every child can reach age and skill appropriate targets in reading; and, preventing the occurrence of reading difficulties. This article reviews the educational and psychological research into teaching reading and relates recent findings to theories and research emerging from instructional psychology, which underpins the 'framework for teaching reading' used within the ERR. Two studies are then summarised which evaluated the impact of the ERR reading framework. Study 1 involved a two-year experimental study where the progress of children following the ERR framework during reception and Year 1, was compared to that of children taught to read through their usual classroom methods. Study 2 involved a one-year study where the progress of a sample of children within the ERR was compared to children following the National Literacy Project. The article concludes by highlighting some implications of the ERR for educational psychologists (EPs), the field of special education and the National Literacy Strategy.     

Understanding teacher instructional change: the case of integrating NGSS and stewardship in professional development

The environmental education (EE) field has encountered persistent challenges in fostering the integration of EE practices in public schools, a challenge that may be addressed through integration of EE with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States. In addition to the potential for fostering EE, the integration of EE and NGSS may provide a unique set of conditions for understanding how and why teachers shift their practice to incorporate more EE in their classrooms. Using a mixed methodology research design, this study examines the outcomes and processes of a professional development institute that integrated NGSS and student-driven environmental stewardship. This study provides evidence that integrating NGSS Science and Engineering Practices with stewardship may help infuse EE into classrooms. The research also contributes to theoretical understanding of the processes by which professional development shapes teacher change within an organizational context. Specifically, teacher instructional change was predicated on a shift in their beliefs that stewardship was possible in a standards and accountability-based educational context. The requisite shift in beliefs came about through the expectations and supportive resources provided by the professional development, teacher observation of student engagement, and the justification NGSS integration provided for stewardship activities.     

The impact of school-based continuing professional development: views of teachers and support professionals

Evaluating the impact of school-based continuing professional development (CPD), as with any other kind, is not without its challenges. This article reports on an evaluation of a CPD programme which was established to support implementation of a new primary school curriculum in Ireland. It examines what can be learned by comparing the views on the likely impact held by the teachers participating in the CPD and the support professionals providing it. The results show that both groups were very positive about the likely impact. However, support professionals anticipated a greater impact than the teachers themselves on teachers’ knowledge and implementation of the new curriculum. Likely explanations for these divergent views are discussed. The article highlights the importance of building in mechanisms within CPD to enable both teachers and support professionals to consider together the impact on an ongoing basis, and to use the available evidence formatively to inform planning for CPD. Incorporating a focus on impact in CPD is likely to become even more important in the years ahead given that teachers themselves are increasingly playing a greater role in decisions about what CPD is undertaken.