This book provides a new perspective on how to design, conduct and evaluate professional education experiences for teachers. It explores a specific type of professional development opportunity that connects the ongoing professional development of teachers with the actual work of teaching and presents snapshots of practise-based professional development, offers ideas for designing high-quality professional development experiences and explains how to assess the effectiveness of professional development.

Teachers, as life-long learners, engage in professional development to deepen their understanding of content and instructional methods. Teacher professional development is a form of adult education, and adults learn best if they are actively involved in their own learning and see it relative to their own needs. Grounding professional development in actual classroom practice is a highly powerful means of fostering effective teachers. Research has shown that, for professional development to be effective, several components of instruction should be considered: reflection on practice, problems arising in practice, subject matter content, and principles of adult learning. Practice-Based Professional Development in Education is a cutting-edge research publication that explores both effective and ineffective professional development practices and presents arguments for why adult learning theory should be considered when designing a professional development session. Highlighting a range of topics including social media, education reform, and teacher learning, this book is essential for teachers, academicians, education professionals, policymakers, curriculum designers, researchers, and students.

In Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education, Pam Grossman and her colleagues advocate an approach to practice-based teacher education that identifies “core practices” of teaching and supports novice teachers in learning how to enact them competently. Examples of core practices include facilitating whole-class discussion, eliciting student thinking, and maintaining classroom norms. The contributors argue that teacher education needs to do more to help teachers master these professional skills, rather than simply emphasizing content knowledge. Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education outlines a series of pedagogies that teacher educators can use to help preservice students develop these teaching skills. Pedagogies include representations of practice (ways to show what this skill looks like and break it down into its component parts) and approximations of practice (the ways preservice teachers can try these skills out as they learn). Vignettes throughout the book illustrate how core practices can be incorporated into the teacher education curriculum. The book draws on the work of a consortium of teacher educators from thirteen universities devoted to describing and enacting pedagogies to help novice teachers develop these core practices in support of ambitious and equitable instruction. Their aim is to support teacher educator learning across institutions, content domains, and grade levels. The book also addresses efforts to support teacher learning outside formal teacher education programs. Contributors Chandra L. Alston Andrea Bien Janet Carlson Ashley Cartun Katie A. Danielson Elizabeth A. Davis Christopher G. Pupik Dean Brad Fogo Megan Franke Hala Ghousseini Lightning Peter Jay Sarah Schneider Kavanagh Elham Kazemi Megan Kelley-Petersen Matthew Kloser Sarah McGrew Chauncey Monte-Sano Abby Reisman Melissa A. Scheve Kristine M. Schutz Meghan Shaughnessy Andrea Wells

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

CEC wrote the book on special education ... literally. CEC s famous red book details the ethics, standards, and guidelines for special education preparation and practice. Delineating both knowledge and skill sets and individual content standards, What Every Special Educator Must Know is an invaluable resource for special education administrators, institutional faculty developing curriculum, state policy makers evaluating licensure requirements, and special educators planning their professional growth.

Join us for a webinar on Practice-Based Coaching on November 10 Widely adopted across the U.S. and around the world, Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) is a research‐based coaching framework for supporting early childhood practitioners' use of evidence‐informed teaching practices. This book--created by the respected developers of the PBC framework--is the first to offer a comprehensive introduction to this popular coaching approach and practical guidance on how to implement it with fidelity. Ideal for use in professional development, this research‐to‐practice resource gives readers an in‐depth overview of the Practice‐Based Coaching framework and a complete guide to implementing its three key components: shared goals and action planning, focused observation, and reflection and feedback. To help professionals implement PBC with fidelity, they'll get case stories, tip boxes, reflection questions, and 30+ downloadable supporting resources, including coaching data collection forms, checklists, and organizational templates. The definitive resource on PBC, this essential guide will help programs and coaches prepare every early childhood practitioner to master today's recommended practices--and nurture the learning and healthy development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. LEARN HOW TO: Develop collaborative partnerships between coach and coachee Write effective goals and action plans Put five essential coaching strategies into practice Conduct practice‐focused strengths and needs assessments Observe the coachee's practices and collect data about coaching efforts and effects Make data‐based decisions Give supportive and constructive feedback Employ web‐based platforms and coaching apps to support PBC WHY PBC? Meets the Head Start Performance Standards' definition of a research‐based, coordinated coaching strategy, which all programs are required to use. Supports the Pyramid Model: PBC is recognized as an effective professional development approach for implementing the social, emotional, and behavioral practices of the popular Pyramid Model. Supports embedded intervention and instruction: PBC has been shown to be an effective professional development approach for implementing embedded intervention and instruction practices. Practice-ready: PBC is a practice‐ready coaching framework that has been used with a variety of effective early childhood practices. Flexible for today's programs: PBC can be implemented in person or virtually using video recordings. Proven effective: PBC is supported by evidence that it changes or enhances practices and has related effects on child and family outcomes.

This comprehensive handbook synthesizes the best current knowledge on teacher professional development (PD) and addresses practical issues in implementation. Leading authorities describe innovative practices that are being used in schools, emphasizing the value of PD that is instructive, reflective, active, collaborative, and substantive. Strategies for creating, measuring, and sustaining successful programs are presented. The book explores the relationship of PD to adult learning theory, school leadership, district and state policy, the growth of professional learning communities, and the Common Core State Standards. Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking discussion questions. The appendix provides eight illuminating case studies of PD initiatives in diverse schools.