Preparing Teachers in the Age of Equity and Inclusion

Preparing high quality teachers for practice in P-12 schools has been an extensively debated and controversial topic for many years. Today, with the changing demographics of students in our public schools, topics such as teacher preparation and overall quality of teachers in the U.S. has gained even greater scrutiny from policymakers, private agencies, professional organizations, accreditation boards, and politicians. This chapter explores historical to more recent perspectives of teacher education and related issues surrounding the absence of a universally accepted profile of teacher quality. The chapter also includes illustrations of contemporary teacher preparation programs that have thoughtfully redesigned traditional models into integrated extensive clinical based approaches to preparing teachers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of exemplary teacher preparation practices that align with equitable and inclusive learning environments currently found in public schools.

Adapting and Advocating for an Online EdD Program in Changing Times and “Sacred” Cultures

The purpose of this chapter is to underscore the importance of recognizing how complex cultural and structural forces shape the design and delivery of a fully online professional doctorate (EdD) program. This chapter considers various challenges and opportunities of a new distance-delivery EdD program in Educational Leadership offered by a leading Canadian university in order to examine how the pressures of educational reform and academic cultural norms shape professional doctorate programs and their components. Ultimately, this chapter calls for promoting greater adaptability within EdD program designs and stronger championing of the program's value and distinctiveness, especially its capacity to be adaptable to the expectations of student stakeholders.

Understanding of Leadership in Distance Education Management

Today, distance education institutions are different from other traditional organizational structures because they require a virtual structuring. Therefore, the concept and practice of educational leadership is considered as a special area in distance education management process. As a requirement of 21st century, distance education leadership has been seen as a matter or necessity to be developed and to be investigated in the management of distance education. In this chapter, it is aimed to bring the insights of various researchers to define characteristics or qualifications of leadership in distance education, which are or should be different from traditional educational leadership through a literature review relevant to leadership and theories in leadership, educational leadership, and distance education leadership.

The Role of Teacher Leadership for Promoting Professional Development Practices

This chapter examines the status of teacher professional development in mathematics and explores the role of teacher leadership to promote innovative professional development strategies that sustain the growth and development of an organization. Survey data was collected from teacher leader participants of one mathematics professional development organization to understand how participants' growth and development as a teacher leader not only shaped their mathematics instructional practices, but influenced their choices in leadership roles. Further the authors share how the learning environment and pedagogical choices of the project director supported a teacher-driven professional development approach. Recommendations as well as a model for developing a teacher-driven professional development organization are provided for replication.

Implementation of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning through an On-Line Masters Program

In this case study, the introductory course in an international masters program in medical education (MMedEd) called “Scholarship of Medical Education” is described. Some of the background to why the MMedEd was started and the underlying ideas and principles of the program are provided. The individual course, which consists of 10 weeks part time study on-line with an introductory face to face meeting, is described in terms of the intentions and pedagogical principles underlying the design, the teaching and learning activities, and how the students were supported to achieve the intended learning activities, as well as the challenges and concerns that arose throughout and after the course. Finally, some solutions to these problems are discussed.

High School Turnaround

After implementing Response to Intervention (RTI), a high school in a rural Kentucky community made a dramatic turnaround within 2 years after establishing structures to support both teachers and students. The principal, special education director, other administrators, district personnel, school improvement specialists, teacher leaders, interventionists (i.e., a high school content area specialist), and school faculty implemented changes that were responsible for the turnaround. High expectations, a positive school culture, professional development, guided planning, student assessment, data analysis, research-based intervention programs, and a systems change approach are some of the contributions that led to widespread improvements at the school level and in individual student gains.

User Design

This case describes how a federal government agency engaged in a user design process to design, develop, and implement a workplace learning curriculum to be implemented throughout several agency offices. While several offices had developed their own training program, there were inconsistencies and a lack of standardization. The authors describe how a user design process was utilized in the development of a standardized curriculum. User design shifts the responsibility of design from expert designers to frontline users and stakeholders. Several user-driven tools are available to organizations that adopt user design processes. Potential advantages of a curriculum developed through user design include better adoption and diffusion of the curriculum and improved engagement of the users in the workplace.

Assessing the Performance of a Cohort-Based Model Using Domestic and International Practices

This chapter discusses the successes, strengths, and lessons learned during a five-year international Ed.D. program, which took place from 2007 to 2012 in Belize through a partnership with the Consortium for Belize Educational Cooperation. The objectives of the chapter are to (1) provide a brief history and explanation of the program including an overview of the Belize educational system, (2) explain how the program filled a need for both our institution and the country of Belize, (3) discuss the strengths and lessons learned in this cohort model for international educators, (4) offer a framework for other educational leadership preparation programs that might attempt international cohort-model doctoral programs, and (5) suggest implications for improving domestic practices through faculty and student participation in an international doctoral program.

Cross-Border Collaborative Learning in the Professional Development of Teachers

The goal of this chapter is to present a theoretical and practical frame for PD of teachers at the digital age. The main question we ask is how to develop life competencies and skills of teachers in order to change their learning and teaching in a way that enables school graduates to acquire relevant skills for life. The chapter inquires this issue by a qualitative methodology case study . The case is an online course for teachers' professional development. The chapter presents evidence from reflective diaries, interviews and scripts of students' and teachers' discussions, focusing on identification of the effects of the course's learning environments on the development of the teachers' self determination learning and skills. The findings indicate the useful effects of the combination between LMS environments and social media, such as Web 2.0 tools. The conclusions suggest new directions for teachers' professional development that encourage the design of a flexible fractal net which enable fostering teachers' leadership and innovation.

Analyzing the Role of Health Information Technology in Global Health Care

This chapter explains the perspectives on global health, the overview of health information technology (health IT), the applications of electronic health record (EHR), and the importance of health IT in global health care. Health IT is the area of IT involving the design, development, creation, utilization, and maintenance of information systems for the health care industry. Health IT makes it possible for health care providers to better manage patient care through the secure use and sharing of health information. Effective health IT can lower costs, improve efficiency, and reduce medical error, while providing better patient care and service. The chapter argues that utilizing health IT has the potential to enhance health care performance and reach strategic goals in global health care.