Improving educational outcomes : contrasting perspectives / Ralph P. Ferretti and James Hiebert -- Promises and pitfalls for teacher evaluation / Drew H. Gitomer -- Evaluating teachers and teacher preparation programs / Robert Floden -- Does VAM + MET = improved teaching? / James W. Stigler, James Hiebert, and Karen B. Givvin -- Teacher-student interactions : measurement, impacts, improvement, and policy / Robert C. Pianta -- Using data to inform decisions regarding teacher preparation / George H. Noell and Kristin A. Gansle -- Improving complex systems of instruction : the case of a mathematics teacher preparation program / James Hiebert, Robert M. Wieman, and Dawn Berk -- How to reform reform / Mary M. Kennedy -- Conclusion : improving educational outcomes: reflections and prospections / Ralph P. Ferretti and James Hiebert

This book seeks to raise the discussion of globalisation’s effects on teacher education, development and work, and its reforms and institutions, to a more theoretical and analytical level, and to provide specific examples in the comparative tradition to illustrate teacher policy in the context of education systems’ widespread variability and complexity. The contributors critically analyse current arrangements in teacher education, development and work, and highlight the forces that enter in this contested terrain, the sources of conflict and convergence, and the implication of these for teaching and learning, and for indigenous forms of knowledge and knowledge construction in the globalisation era.

Drawing on extensive interviews with teachers of an earlier generation, Rousmaniere lets readers see the complexity of teachers' work, their problems with reform implementation, and the conditions they believed were necessary for real change. It is an important book because it raises questions about the power and legacy of teachers' historical work culture and the effect of teachers' working conditions on teacher practice and broader school reform policy.

Teachers Leading Educational Reform explores the ways in which teachers across the world are currently working together in professional learning communities (PLCs) to generate meaningful change and innovation in order to transform pedagogy and practice. By discussing how teachers can work collectively and collaboratively on the issues of learning and teaching that matter to them, it argues that through collective action and collaborative agency, teachers are leading educational reform. By offering contemporary examples and perspectives on the practice, impact and sustainability of PLCs, this book takes a global, comparative view showing categorically that those educational systems that are performing well, and seek to perform well, are using PLCs as the infrastructure to support teacher-led improvement. Split into three sections that look at the macro, meso and micro aspects of how far professional collaboration is building the capacity and capability for school and system improvement, this text asks the questions: Is the PLC work authentic? Is the PLC work being implemented at a superficial or deep level? Is there evidence of a positive impact on students/teachers at the school/district/system level? Is provision in place for sustaining the PLC work? Teachers Leading Educational Reform illustrates how focused and purposeful professional collaboration is contributing to change and reform across the globe. It reinforces why teachers must be at the heart of the school reform processes as the drivers and architects of school transformation and change.

The book features an analysis of teacher reform in Indonesia, which entailed a doubling of teacher salaries upon certification. It describes the political economy context in which the reform was developed and implemented, and analyzes the impact of the reform on teacher knowledge, skills, and student outcomes.

Teacher education is continually undergoing change and this book takes a close look into the current status. It examines the history of teacher preparation, the role of the employer and the aims of education, giving a critical review of the present climate where changes in several European countries are underway. They address the question of why the changes are being made now and conclude that such changes, particularly in the UK, are ideological as opposed to quality-based.; New proposals and legislation in the European Unions countries of Britain, France, Germany and Portugal are considered, from a comparative perspective, alongside Poland and the United States; the latter also experiencing change but for different reasons.; Aimed at all readers interested in the role of education in Europe, this text should also appeal to students and lecturers in education in Europe, and to the informed general reader interested in the state of education today.

We need a bold new brand of teacher leadership that will create opportunities for teachers to practice, share, and grow their knowledge and expertise. This book is about "teacherpreneurs"—highly accomplished classroom teachers who blur the lines of distinction between those who teach in schools and those who lead them. These teacherpreneurs embody the concept that teachers can teach as well as lead the transformation of teaching and learning. It’s about empowering expert teachers who can buoy the image of teaching and enforce standards among their ranks while all along making sure that their colleagues as well as education policymakers and the public know what works best for students. The book follows a small group of teacherpreneurs in their first year. We join their journey toward becoming teacher leaders whose work is not defined by administrative fiat, but by their knowledge of students and drive to influence policies that allow them and their colleagues to teach more effectively. The authors trace the teacherpreneurs' steps—and their own—in the effort to determine what it means to define and execute the concept of "teacherpreneurism" in the face of tough demands and resistant organizational structures.