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A primary goal of the Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education (CREST-Ed) program was to increase the number of highly qualified, minoritized teachers committed to teaching in minority-serving, high-need school districts. This study's purpose was to evaluate the CREST-Ed program's impact on teacher residency outcomes using multiple sources of program evaluation data collected during the five-year grant.

This study of a federal Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant at Georgia State University (GSU), a minority-serving institution (MSI) and research university, shows teacher residency programs can improve the diverse teacher pipeline. The grant, CREST-Ed, provided professional development schools (PDS) support for four urban and 23 rural school districts through partnerships with GSU, Albany State University (ASU) and Columbus State University (CSU).

The study findings suggest that teacher preparation grants can be leveraged to recruit traditionally minoritized teachers of color to increase the diverse teacher pipeline and strengthen PDS partnerships.

Both urban and rural PDSs could benefit from teacher residency programs like the CREST-Ed model that catered to the unique needs of each school and partnership district.

In digital education curricular initiatives, some teachers are taking on key roles when appointed as instructional coaches (ICs) and become crucial in the sustainability of the initiative by coaching teachers. This study aimed to find out the difficulties ICs are facing when mentoring teachers in the development of the digital skills and to identify the coaching activities the coaches offer.

Employing a mixed-methods research design focusing on a qualitative approach, the research team conducted 6 focus groups with 38 ICs from 12 primary schools in Switzerland. Quantitative descriptive data were collected through a survey submitted before and after the focus group.

The results indicate that (1) the professional development (PD) activities offered to teachers vary greatly depending on the instructional coach characteristics and the school to which the teachers belong, (2) the in-service training of ICs should include coaching and leadership skills and (3) distributed leadership to ICs could facilitate the adoption of technologies by teachers and support change in the school.

Some ICs offer activities with a low involvement of the teacher. ICs' training programs should provide strategies to better take advantage of PD activities. The authors suggest training ICs in PD activities, aligned with Gibbons and Cobb's (2017) such as analyzing classroom video or lesson study involving a group of teachers working together with an expert to improve a lesson. District and school leaders should provide ICs with explicit guidance and more resources to achieve systemic change. ICs should also be empowered by being involved in the development of the school's continuing education training plans.

This study presents a new perspective about understanding and applying in-service teacher PD in the context of a digital education curricular initiative.

The paper discusses a partnership between Huston–Tillotson University (HT), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and the Austin Independent School District (AISD), a minority-serving school district, both in Austin, Texas, with a grant provided by Apple Inc. (Apple). The purpose of the partnerships is that valuable relationships can increase the number of African American male teachers in primary and secondary education in minority-serving public schools. The African American Male Teacher Initiative (AAMTI) at HT was created as an innovative approach to recruit and select 20 African American males each year of a four-year grant provided by Apple.

This paper reviewed the literature on the lack and need for African American male public school teachers. Once the data is established during a three-to-four-year period, a mixed-method approach will be utilized to examine data retrieved from interviews, surveys, demographics of student participants, numerical data and retention and graduation rates. This will establish whether strategic partnerships can successfully increase the number of qualified African American males in public education.

This paper proposes and provides research evidence that African American male teachers can positively impact all students in the classroom setting.

There is limited data to test a hypothesis on the effectiveness of a partnership between the university and public school to increase the number of African American male teachers through recruitment – selection and retention efforts. Therefore, follow-up research is needed for the first graduating class of 2024.

The broader impact of this paper is to show that partnerships between universities and public schools with corporate sponsorship can positively increase the number of African American male teachers prepared to teach in public schools through strategic recruitment and selection efforts.

This paper can serve as a model for universities and school districts to implement. High placement of prepared Black male teachers in public schools can reduce the school-to-prison pipeline and juvenile homicides and defeat generational poverty.

Much research highlights the problems associated with a lack of African American male teachers. This paper includes the challenges but offers a sound basis for practical solutions.

The purpose of this article is to analyze main principles, forms and approaches to education quality evaluation in the process of establishment, development and crucial changes in the state accreditation of educational institutions and study programmes in Russian higher education in the last 20 years.

The major research method used in the paper is the qualitative analysis of legal and statistical documents, research papers and accreditation practices, which impacted the development and transformation of accreditation forms in Russia.

The transformation process of state accreditation during the last 20 years was conditioned by the changes in the state education policy and socio-economic situation. In a short period, under the influence of internal and external factors, Russian higher education has experienced significant changes in the structure of higher education and quality assurance. This resulted in different approaches to accreditation: state and independent, mandatory and voluntary, national and international.

The research outcomes may be applicable in the countries with developing accreditation systems and comparable scope of education.

The study identifies the tendencies in the development of higher education and quality evaluation.

The paper systematizes the tendencies of development in quality assurance and distinguishes specific features and diversity of forms of the quality assurance in one of the largest systems of higher education.

Studies have shown that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers remain to be one of the areas where there is considerable job growth (Lacey & Wright, 2009; National Science Board, 2010; Singh et al., 2002). However, in many rural regions, science teachers still find it challenging to motivate adolescents to develop an interest in these fields or pursue opportunities in STEM at their schools or in their communities. In exploring a distinctive way to motivate students from rural regions to develop and maintain a STEM mindset, the authors provided students opportunities to participate in programs within their communities to increase their interests in STEM. The authentic STEM learning experiences, “at no cost” for the high school students, helped them focus on cognitive and social abilities as they engaged in experiences developing identities as pre-STEM professionals. This paper reports on how the authors were able to develop research through the support of the professional development system at the university.

The authors explored the experiences of the high school students and parents as they engaged in the Science Olympiad events, community volunteering and mentoring projects over three years in the southeastern United States. A total of 50 high school students participated from the Science Olympiad team from ethnic backgrounds: Hispanic/Latino Americans (55%), African Americans (10%) and White Americans/Caucasians (35%) participated. The high school students and parents were asked to participate by completing required permissions and also completing pre- and post-surveys to help understand their reasons for participating in the activities. At the end of the semester, an interview was conducted with participants to better understand their experiences with working on the team and their STEM perspectives. Parents and guardians of the high school students were also asked to share their thoughts about their children participating in these activities through indirect conversations. The school partnership teacher, also Science Olympiad co-coach, invited high school students to participate in additional STEM activities throughout the school year through the university partnership.

The pre- and post-survey responses provided insight to researchers about the “lived experiences” of the students as they developed a STEM mindset. Analysis of data indicates students’ interests in STEM and working with youth increased as a result of the STEM opportunities. To help in increasing their interests, additional opportunities are needed for these youth to engage in STEM tasks and mentoring. The professional development system (PDS) creates the space for these opportunities to take place, leading to new knowledge for learning and “boundary-spanning roles” for school-university faculty to discover and experiment new ideas that “transcend institutional settings” (National Association for Professional Development Schools, 2021).

Additional research is needed in helping high school students develop a STEM mindset as they participate in volunteer STEM experiences. The survey tools should be revised to address the specific STEM activities that the students participate in during the year. In addition to feedback from the youth and parents using focus group interviews or other defined survey instruments.

The school-university partners continue to explore the successes and challenges of the collaborative effort. Disruptions in the collaborative effort such as school closures due to severe weather and the pandemic have resulted in cancellations of STEM opportunities for high school students. Despite challenges, this collaborative effort continues with an additional focus on STEM learning.

Suggested research may involve investigating parental involvement strategies that increase the likelihood of actual high school student attendance during out-of-school time activities, such as community STEM fairs, competitions and summer STEM camps. Use of focus group interviews provided students setting to talk freely.

Through a new initiative established by the PDS at the university, “PDS Master Teachers,” the school-university faculty were invited to participate and engage in purposeful, intentional professional learning and leading to enhance the quality of the experiences for teacher candidates (Professional Development System, Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2022). This innovative program inspired the school-university faculty to reflect on practice and create new approaches to expand STEM learning in the school and community. Through this collaborative effort, the following National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) Nine Essentials were addressed: Essential 2: Clinical Preparation; Essential 3: Professional Learning and Leading; Essential 4: Reflection and Innovation; Essential 5: Research and Results; and Essential 8: Boundary-Spanning Roles (National Association for Professional Development Schools, 2021). The University’s PDS comprehensive approach to professional learning and its dedication to providing a space for all to engage in reflective practices for professional growth provided the required support for this project.