Rebecca K. Fox

Do Professional Development Schools (PDSs) Make a Difference? A Comparative Study of PDS and Non-PDS Teacher Candidates:

This study assesses the impact of professional development schools (PDSs) on preservice teachers, comparing PDS and non-PDS candidates at the point of licensure. Data sources include student teaching evaluations and portfolio presentations. Statistical analyses reveal PDS candidates scored significantly higher than non-PDS candidates on aspects of planning, instruction, management, and assessment. Qualitative analysis of portfolio presentations reveals PDS candidates showed greater ownership of their school and classroom and more sophistication in applying and integrating Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium standards. Five differences are discussed: how and why versus what, standards connected versus standards isolated, assessment as driving instruction versus assessment as tools, reflection connected to practice versus reflection not connected to practice, and student focus versus self-focus. Contextual and programmatic differences are used to explain the differences. The case is made that PDS graduates may affect student learning sooner than traditionally trained beginning teachers.

Program portfolios: documenting teachers’ growth in reflection‐based inquiry

Meeting the challenge of program accountability is a goal for teacher education programs across the USA. In this context, achieving effective assessment practices that provide concrete evidence of program participants’ knowledge and skills has become both an increasingly significant issue and a challenge to teacher education programs seeking to document the attainment of their program learning outcomes. This qualitative study examined the portfolio reflections of 51 teachers enrolled in an advanced master’s degree program whose learning outcomes are aligned with the core propositions of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Using the four levels of reflection and a fifth level that emerged from data analysis, we examined the levels of development and change in teachers’ reflections across the program. This analysis helped the researchers to determine to what degree teachers developed a reflection‐based inquiry stance in their classrooms during the program. The study contributes new findings to the body of literature on the role and function of portfolios in teacher education programs seeking to document teachers’ understanding and application of specific program goals and professional standards as a result of professional development coursework. As an authentic assessment tool, portfolio data (i.e., evidence such as the reflections contained therein) can provide an important lens for capturing teachers’ approach to teaching and learning and provides insight into the complexity of professional development for practicing teachers.

Preventing Teacher Failure: Six Keys to Success in Moving beyond the "Sink or Swim" Mentality.

One controversial aspect of No Child Left Behind is the highly qualified provision. The 2001 act required that teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified by 2006 or school districts would lose federal funding. Virginia districts are still scrambling to hire qualified teachers. Although the federal government has modified the 2006 deadline, two forces compete, the national legislation versus the reality that there are too few well-prepared teachers. Traditional teacher education programs are not producing enough candidates to remedy the shortage; quick licensure pathways are not adequately addressing the problem either. One universitys solution is collaboration with surrounding school districts. The authors provide six tested recommendations to help colleges of education prepare successful, long-term educators, enabling school districts to fill vacancies with qualified teachers.

Investigating teachers’ professional learning in an advanced Master’s degree programme

This study examined how multiple measures can be used to study experienced teachers’ learning. The study was conducted in an advanced Master’s degree programme, aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the United States. The programmatic features and key learning experiences found in the programme are described and connected to the multiple measures used to investigate teachers’ professional learning. Results of the study indicated that multiple measures can be used to examine a programme’s effects on teacher learning; prompted reflections can provide evidence of a programme’s influence on teacher thinking; and programme structure and content are important elements to consider when designing and assessing programmes for experienced teachers. This study also addresses how building a programme around measurable outcomes and then examining the results through multiple measures is an important link in understanding teacher learning.

Investigating advanced professional learning of early career and experienced teachers through program portfolios

Since closing the gap between different levels of professional development for teachers has been identified as a particular need in our profession, capturing the results of professional coursework can help teacher educators better understand and meet the unique needs of teachers with different levels of experience. This study examined the effects of professional development on early career (EC) and experienced (EXP) teachers during an advanced master’s degree programme in the USA. Qualitative analysis of 47 teacher portfolio reflections and 11 post-programme interviews investigated how EC and EXP teachers engaged in programme learning experiences to determine the ways that coursework influenced their professional growth. Differences between EC and EXP teachers were noteworthy, indicating that these two groups responded to professional development experiences differently. Ongoing research to determine effective differentiated approaches toward professional development for both novice and EXP teachers remains a key area for teacher education research, most particularly with a goal of measuring the results of professional development on improving PK-12 student performance.

An International Education Perspective Study of Teachers in the Central United States.

Abstract The study explored nursery through secondary teachers’ perceptions of international education in their teaching practices. All teachers lived in a rural area of the central US. Data were drawn from a web-based survey comprised of 28 questions addressing international education; interview data provided further understanding of one teacher’s efforts toward internationalising curriculum in her classroom. Findings indicated that the teachers in this area of the US hold varying understandings of international education; despite their limited understanding of international education within the classroom context, teachers were eager for tools and strategies to internationalise their curricula and teaching practices. Results call for professional development to broaden teachers’ perspectives of international education and to explore advanced instructional approaches that incorporate global perspectives, and the role of language and culture in teaching. Last, we propose a model in which international education can be actualised within a formal educational context.