Professional Development

What Does Knowledge of Dialogue and Argument Mean for Elementary Teachers’ Instructional Practices? A Case Study

This study aimed to explore the development of teachers’ knowledge of dialogue and argument through three specific knowledge bases: declarative, procedural, and epistemic. Additionally, the study sought to understand the implications of this knowledge for implementing a knowledge generation approach in classroom settings. To achieve these objectives, a multiple-case study was conducted with 12 elementary teachers who participated in a professional development (PD) program centered on the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH), an approach designed to promote knowledge generation.

Author/Presenter

Jale Ercan Dursun

Jee Kyung Suh

Brian Hand

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

This study aimed to explore the development of teachers’ knowledge of dialogue and argument through three specific knowledge bases: declarative, procedural, and epistemic. Additionally, the study sought to understand the implications of this knowledge for implementing a knowledge generation approach in classroom settings. To achieve these objectives, a multiple-case study was conducted with 12 elementary teachers who participated in a professional development (PD) program centered on the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH), an approach designed to promote knowledge generation.

Large-Scale Online Science and Engineering Professional Learning for Rural Elementary Teachers

Online professional learning (PL) is widely used to help rural teachers overcome geographical isolation and access quality teacher professional learning. Although there are a handful of studies examining the effectiveness of online PL, much of the existing research includes rural teachers without specifically focusing on what effective online PL means for them. In particular, the research offers limited guidelines on designing effective large-scale online PL programs for rural teachers.

Author/Presenter

Tugba Boz

Min Jung Lee

Meghan Macias

Ryan Summers

Maria Zaman

Martha Inouye

Julie Robinson

Rebekah Hammack

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

This study captures the experiences of rural teachers with a large-scale online professional learning (PL) program for teaching science and engineering in their contexts and suggests guidelines for designing effective online PL in STEM for rural teachers.

Identity and Power in Physics Teachers’ Discourse About Equity

Gutiérrez’s equity framework, derived from mathematics education research, defines equity in terms of four dimensions: access, achievement, identity, and power. Access and achievement yield outcomes that reify the status quo while identity and power transform schooling to redistribute power. We use Gutiérrez’s equity framework to study discourse about equity from 36 high school physics teachers who participated in an equity-focused professional development workshop.

Author/Presenter

Trà Huỳnh

Amy D. Robertson

Lauren C. Bauman

Rachel E. Scherr

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Gutiérrez’s equity framework, derived from mathematics education research, defines equity in terms of four dimensions: access, achievement, identity, and power. Access and achievement yield outcomes that reify the status quo while identity and power transform schooling to redistribute power. We use Gutiérrez’s equity framework to study discourse about equity from 36 high school physics teachers who participated in an equity-focused professional development workshop.

History, Hope, and Humility in Praxis: Co-determining Priorities for Professional Learning with Content Area Teachers

This study examines an expansive shift in the priorities of professional learning within a collective of high school science teachers, scientists, community organizers, youth, and educational researchers who were working together on classroom science projects grounded in community concerns of environmental racism. Through a participatory design-based approach, we challenge the assumed relationship between educational research and priorities for teacher professional learning.

Author/Presenter

Daniel Morales-Doyle

Alejandra Frausto Aceves

Mindy J. Chappell

Tiffany Childress Price

Year
2025
Short Description

This study examines an expansive shift in the priorities of professional learning within a collective of high school science teachers, scientists, community organizers, youth, and educational researchers who were working together on classroom science projects grounded in community concerns of environmental racism.

Teacher Feedback Guiding Professional Development Programs: A 2-Year Field Trial Integrating Science and Language with Multilingual Learners

Since the release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there has been an urgent need for teacher professional development (PD) programs that support the implementation of NGSS-aligned curriculum materials and address the unique strengths and needs of diverse student groups, including multilingual learners (MLs). The purpose of this study is to describe how teacher feedback guided the design and refinement of our curriculum-based PD program integrating science and language with MLs through a 2-year field trial.

Author/Presenter

Okhee Lee

Alison Haas

Abigail Schwenger

Scott Grapin

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Since the release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there has been an urgent need for teacher professional development (PD) programs that support the implementation of NGSS-aligned curriculum materials and address the unique strengths and needs of diverse student groups, including multilingual learners (MLs). The purpose of this study is to describe how teacher feedback guided the design and refinement of our curriculum-based PD program integrating science and language with MLs through a 2-year field trial.

Enhancing Mathematical Instruction for Emergent Bilinguals Through Collaborative Situated Professional Development

This study investigates the shifts in high school mathematics teachers’ instructional practices when working with emergent bilinguals (EBs) after participating in a collaborative situated professional development (CSPD) program alongside researchers. Over the course of one academic year, the teachers engaged in co-planning, co-teaching, and co-reflecting sessions with the research team while integrating research-based strategies to support EBs in learning mathematics. The CSPD also emphasized implementing cognitively demanding and contextually relevant mathematical tasks.

Author/Presenter

Jiyeong Yi

Jasmine Sourwine

Shristi Shrestha

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

This study investigates the shifts in high school mathematics teachers’ instructional practices when working with emergent bilinguals (EBs) after participating in a collaborative situated professional development (CSPD) program alongside researchers.

Building Instructional Capacity and Creating Opportunities for Professional Growth: Mathematics Professional Development for Paraeducators

Paraeducators provide essential academic support for young learners of mathematics. However, they have limited opportunities to engage in professional development (PD) that is responsive to their instructional needs and role. To scaffold paraeducators’ growth, project staff designed, tested, and refined a PD model specifically for K–3 paraeducators working in a diverse urban district.

Author/Presenter

Karen Mutch-Jones

Judy Storeygard

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Paraeducators provide essential academic support for young learners of mathematics. However, they have limited opportunities to engage in professional development (PD) that is responsive to their instructional needs and role. To scaffold paraeducators’ growth, project staff designed, tested, and refined a PD model specifically for K–3 paraeducators working in a diverse urban district.

The Interplay Between Teacher Professional Development and Noticing: An Analysis of How Noticing Changes and What Teachers Attribute to Changes or Consistencies

Noticing is often studied at one time point or with a focus on how one notices a particular practice. Fewer studies have focused on how noticing shifts from before to after professional development (PD), and researchers have yet to commonly study what participants provide as rationale for changes in noticing. We engaged 18 practicing teachers in one year of PD, including a course, video coaching clubs, and coaching. We asked them to annotate video clips before and after the PD to identify what and how they noticed. We interviewed teachers about their noticing and how it related to the PD.

Author/Presenter

Julie M. Amador

Ryan Gillespie

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Noticing is often studied at one time point or with a focus on how one notices a particular practice. Fewer studies have focused on how noticing shifts from before to after professional development (PD), and researchers have yet to commonly study what participants provide as rationale for changes in noticing. We engaged 18 practicing teachers in one year of PD, including a course, video coaching clubs, and coaching.

Mathematics Teachers’ Interpretations of Students’ Perceptions of the Classroom Learning Environment: Opportunities for Inquiry

Research on mathematics teacher professional learning indicates that careful analysis of evidence of students’ reasoning and participation can prompt generative inquiry into instruction. Evidence of students’ own perceptions of instruction is noticeably absent in the literature. This absence is consequential, given the well-documented finding that mathematics teachers’ instructional decisions are shaped by assumptions they make about their students. Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S.

Author/Presenter

Kara Jackson

Hannah J. Nieman

Daniela DiGiacomo

Fabio Campos

Nicholas Kochmanski

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S. middle-grades mathematics teachers’ interpretations of evidence of students’ perceptions of key aspects of the mathematics classroom environment.

Mathematics Teachers’ Interpretations of Students’ Perceptions of the Classroom Learning Environment: Opportunities for Inquiry

Research on mathematics teacher professional learning indicates that careful analysis of evidence of students’ reasoning and participation can prompt generative inquiry into instruction. Evidence of students’ own perceptions of instruction is noticeably absent in the literature. This absence is consequential, given the well-documented finding that mathematics teachers’ instructional decisions are shaped by assumptions they make about their students. Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S.

Author/Presenter

Kara Jackson

Hannah J. Nieman

Daniela DiGiacomo

Fabio Campos

Nicholas Kochmanski

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2025
Short Description

Guided by an interpretive perspective on teaching and the literature on mathematics teachers’ professional learning, this study explores U.S. middle-grades mathematics teachers’ interpretations of evidence of students’ perceptions of key aspects of the mathematics classroom environment.