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The rapid introduction of new technology and the various needs for human resource development are changing the priorities for vocational and technical training. While the fundamental goals for training remain, emphasis is shifting from a focus on content delivery to a recognition of the importance of a systems approach. As a consequence, professionals involved with training are increasingly aware of the need for more rigour in the process by which training is developed, implemented and evaluated. The chief purpose of this monograph is to introduce training and other interested personnel to the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) approach. Collected in this one document is the essential information on the ISD process for the development and conduct of efficient and effective performance‐based training programmes. For those planning a new training programme, this logical and organised approach provides a road map. Furthermore, the procedural steps presented are useful when modifying and revising existing programmes. Instructional Systems Development methodology is presented in five phases: analyse, design, develop, implement and control.

The purpose of this paper is to understand what the principal and principal supervisor each bring and contribute to their collaborative work that is consequential for the principal’s learning and development as an instructional leader.

Multiple case study methodology is used to gather data from 12 principal supervisor/principal partnerships over a 16 month period in one Mid-Atlantic school district. Data sources included interviews, observational data and documents provided by participants in the study.

In productive principal supervisor/principal partnerships, findings demonstrated that the principal supervisor and the principal each brought specific antecedent characteristics to their partnership and each made contributions to the development of a productive partnership during their collaborative work. When these partnership qualities were present, principal supervisors and principals engaged in joint work, leading to robust changes in principals’ instructional leadership practice.

This study examined the work of principals and principal supervisors in one large Mid-Atlantic school district.

Findings from this study have implications for districts’ assignments of principal supervisors, principal supervisor/principal selection and professional development of principal supervisors. Further, districts should create the conditions for principal supervisors and principals to establish learning-focused professional partnerships in three stages, culminating in the engagement of joint work for improvement to facilitate principals’ changes in instructional leadership practice.

Findings from this study illustrate the value of establishing a learning-focused partnership between principal supervisors and principals in three stages to facilitate robust stages in principals’ instructional leadership practice. A new conceptual framework displays the stages of partnership development that occur in productive principal/principal supervisor partnerships.

This study aims to explore the instructional leadership practices implemented by academic professionals and leaders to enhance the curriculum of Islamic economics and finance (IEF) in two public universities in Saudi Arabia.

This study used a qualitative approach, using a case study methodology that focused on two meticulously chosen universities in Saudi Arabia. A total of 21 academics from two public universities in Saudi Arabia who worked in IEF schools were selected for semi-structured interviews.

The findings showed that two universities in Saudi Arabia that offer degrees in IEF exhibited limited instructional leadership. The findings indicate four apparent barriers that may explain the lack of involvement in instructional leadership and fair practices in the IEF curriculum at Saudi Arabian universities. According to this study, a positive collegial climate in Saudi universities’ IEF promotes shared instructional leadership.

The use of a limited qualitative method and small sample of respondents in this study may not provide enough evidence to generalise the findings to all universities and higher education schools in Saudi Arabia. Although a case study was used to describe IEF curriculum management and implementation at the two universities, caution should be exercised when applying these findings to other institutions.

IEF schools in Saudi universities need to leverage their positive, collaborative and relationship-building environments to develop activities that promote shared instructional leadership.

The research findings can offer valuable insights and examples for school leaders to develop instructional activities and promote the concept of “shared instructional leadership”. This approach involves delegating responsibilities and actions to others to enhance the IEF curriculum’s quality. Policymakers and university officials can use these findings to enhance strategic policies.

Presents an overview of school and classroom policies and practices which contribute to the improvement of the quality and efficiency of vocational education and training (VET) in developing countries. Centres on a number of relevant factors identified by research on school and teacher effectiveness which relate to the improvement of programming and cost containment. Includes management and instructional practices, instructional organization, instructional resources, staff recruitment and training, and admission and placement policies, among others. Suggests that without acceptable levels of material and human resources, instructional quality cannot be maintained. However, resource requirements can be reduced through the more effective and efficient use of existing resources. Concludes that the chief way to improve instructional efficiency in VET is reduced training time.

The purpose of this paper is to share reflections of the three authors on the process of instructional design and implementation of blended learning for teachers ' professional development (PD) in rural western Kenya. It proposes reforms in provision of teachers ' professional development to enable professional development providers to access specialized skills in instructional design (ID) and blended learning.

The paper resulted from a design-based research including 12 entry and 12 exit interviews, observations of three face-to-face meetings of blended learning sessions and ten classroom observations of teachers implementing new teaching approaches learned through blended learning.

The paper provides insights into the authors ' experiences in this research. They shared the following reflections: engagement in ID empowered them and they are confident that they can engage in systematic instructional design on a larger scale; they gained technical knowledge and skills in authoring content in HTML on eXe open source platform; uploading the content and processing audio and video content was equally enthralling to them.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to consider incorporating the design-based research, instructional design and blended learning approaches used in this study while conducting related research in their dissimilar contexts.

The paper includes implications for the design, development and implementation of teachers ' professional development for challenging contexts as a contribution towards achievement of both Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).

This paper fulfils an identified need to study provision of professional development for teachers who lack opportunities for professional development.

To suggest to others in the field an approach equally valid for transforming existing courses into online courses and for creating new online courses.

Using the literature for substantiation, this article discusses the current rapid change within organizations, the role of technology in that change, and the consequent necessity of transforming existing face‐to‐face training into or creating new online courses. Further, it proposes a training model that explains the role of the principles of project management and instructional design and how to apply them to achieve this transformation and/or creation.

This approach, which is based on the author's years of experience as an instructional designer and teacher and verified by recognized authorities in the field, combines the practice of project management, instructional design (both traditional and online) to produce a training model suited to today's business environment.

The model portrayed by this paper provides a rationale for melding the principles of various disciplines and sub‐disciplines, thereby producing a means to evolve training into a form more capable of satisfying current industrial needs.

Changing immigration patterns in the USA have led to a growing number of “new immigrant destinations.” In these contexts, opportunities for teacher learning are crucial for developing the school capacity to serve the academic, linguistic and socio-cultural needs of immigrant students. In response, the purpose of this paper is to examine how schools in Wisconsin provided both formal and informal teacher learning opportunities to develop the instructional capacity to support recent immigrants, specifically Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs).

Using descriptive analyses of teacher and administrator survey and interview data, this study examined the focus and within-school distribution of formal professional development, as well as teacher collaboration as a mechanism for informal learning.

Most commonly, professional development focused on concrete strategies teachers might enact in their classrooms, rather than developing broader understandings of the needs of immigrant students. In addition, formal professional development commonly targeted particular groups of teachers, rather than faculty as a whole. Finally, general education-ELL teacher collaboration was most often deployed “as needed” and focused on particular student needs, rather than systematically.

Future work might address the limitations of this study by examining teacher learning opportunities in new immigrant destinations in other locales, the quality and effectiveness of such opportunities, and other mechanisms for the distribution of expertise.

Findings suggest the need for more systematic and integrated approaches to teacher learning in new immigrant destinations, with an emphasis on pushing beyond the short-term need for instructional strategies to develop more holistic, collaborative approaches to integrating ELLs into schools and classrooms.

The purpose of this paper is to report findings from a systematic literature review that explore how recent research on instructional leadership has addressed the role of mathematics and science instruction.

Using Hallinger’s (2014) approach to conducting systematic reviews, the review included 109 peer-reviewed articles published since 2008 in leading mathematics and science education journals. An a priori coding scheme based upon key leadership behaviors articulated in Hitt and Tucker’s (2016) unified leadership framework informed the analysis presented.

Results indicate that leaders support content area instruction by facilitating high-quality instructional experiences through curricular and assessment leadership. Leadership frequently involves establishing organizational conditions that support teachers’ efforts to improve their own practice instead of direct leadership action on the part of instructional leaders. This support takes different forms and can include distributing leadership to teacher leaders with content area experience as well as using resources strategically to provide professional development or instructional coaching.

The review strengthens the connections between the instructional leadership, mathematics and science literatures, and identifies some of the leadership practices that these literatures deem important for instructional improvement. The review also reveals the potential for future research exploring the influence of a particular content area on supervisory practice and leadership discourse.

Scholars and reform activists see district-level leaders as key actors in improving teaching and learning. This study examines the efforts of one district that successfully narrowed achievement gaps by largely focusing on teacher professional development. I employ the concepts of physical capital, human capital, and social capital as key ingredients of the process of instructional reform. I highlight the district's role in creating system-wide changes in instruction through investment in developing teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills.

There is continual evidence of ineffective e-Learning programmes that are set amid emerging information and communication technology (ICT) tools by higher education (HE) providers. While many of the existing accounts outline the potential of integrating such educational technology into their teaching and learning practice, other studies point out the adoption challenges of such programmes. This chapter tackles this dilemma in two respects. Firstly, through an examination of the limitations surrounding the instructional systems design (ISD) models while urging the need for empirical evidence and ratification processes to substantiate these models as they relate to online instructional environments. Secondly, through the investigation of the effectiveness offered by ICT tools under different instructional environments in order to facilitate the effective application of e-Learning. Field evaluation in the form of a series of 2×3 factorial quasi-experiments was conducted at four higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. The empirical results confirm the validity of the ISD model and reliably captured its effects in improving learners’ performance under three instructional delivery modes. The empirical evidence reveals the extent of effectiveness of the proposed prescriptive ISD model enabling an improved design of ICT-based HE instructional strategies. On a managerial level, the findings facilitate the delivery mode decision making by HE providers in terms of the congruence of technology integration under each of the three learning experiences. The calibrated assessment measures provide a discussion to extend the practical implication of the current e-Pedagogical practice in the e-Learning industry.