Section archive - Professional Development

This study aims to understand how teachers used their existing knowledge about proportions to make sense of a representation that was new to them and the ways in which their existing knowledge proved to be helpful or unhelpful. The authors identified two knowledge components that were important to the participants’ sense-making activities. The first necessary component of knowledge for making sense of the DNL was coordination. Partitioning was the second critical concept for reasoning with the DNL. They also identified three components that impeded sense-making with the DNL representation. The authors also found three knowledge components participants invoked in these tasks that prohibited effective reasoning with the DNLs.

This article explores changes in teachers’ knowledge of the cognitive demands of mathematical tasks following their participation in the ESP ‘‘Improving Practice’’ workshop throughout the 2004–2005 school year. The article also examines how those changes connect back to teachers’ experiences in the workshop. The findings reveal that at the end of the ‘‘Improving Practice’’ workshop, ESP teachers significantly increased their knowledge of the cognitive demands of mathematical tasks and had significantly higher knowledge than teachers in the contrast group. The author concludes that the strong connections between changes in teachers’ knowledge and their experiences in the workshop provide indications that learning occurred during the workshop, and this learning may have influenced subsequent changes in teachers’ classroom practices.

The present study examined critical features of secondary special educator’s experiences with transition professional development to predict variables most likely to influence performance of transition planning and services. Results included the extent to which secondary special educators are prepared to perform transition practices, the relationship between preparation and the frequency of performance, and specific variables predictive of higher levels of implementation. The results confirm that training matters if special educators are to implement transition interventions and services.

This article is part of a larger evaluation study of Reduction of Stigma in Schools (RSIS). The Reduction of Stigma in Schools is a professional development program aiming to empower educators to create affirming environments for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Interview data indicate that though workshops utilized a critical approach, what teachers embraced was a call to understand and “protect” LGBTQ students through the “safety” discourse and investment in one time “visibility” or “celebration” events as symbols of improved school climate.