It has often been said that knowledge is power. But knowledge is useless power unless it can be translated into performance. When teachers prepare for the profession, they take courses that give them a knowledge background. While that knowledge is useful, it reaches its full potential when it is not only implemented in the classroom but also implemented well. Even the best curriculum will...

Educational researcher Diane Ravitch (2003) provided evidence that pedagogical leaders have given credibility to dubious research findings grounded more in ideology than in data. In addition, she stated that unlike those in medicine who keep up with the latest medical research, educators do not exhibit the need to know the latest educational research.

Learning even the most basic skills takes time, and developing teaching skills is a lifelong endeavor. A framework for acquiring teaching skills was offered by Joyce and Showers (1995, 2002). This framework includes theory exploration, demonstration, practice with accompanying feedback, and adaptation and generalization.

Researchers have consistently reported that questioning is one of the teaching skills having the greatest effect on student achievement (Danielson, 1996, 2008; Good, 1996; Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium [INTASC], 1995; Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1993). Therefore, considerable attention should be given to developing the questioning skills of both novice and veteran...

It has been reported that most teachers, even those selected by principals to be mentor teachers—those responsible for developing new teachers—have a limited instructional repertoire, relying on only one strategy, thus preventing students from learning (Joyce & Showers, 2002). Acquiring many different instructional strategies is necessary for effective teaching (Marzano,...

Classroom management is a comprehensive process that integrates all interdependent components—student knowledge, an engaging curriculum, robust instruction, developing students as responsible learners, and self-reflecting teachers (Hanson, 1998). The most crucial component of classroom management is setting up an environment that makes instruction flow smoothly with minimal interruptions and...

Marie Menna Pagliaro is currently a professional development consultant. She was a full professor and director of the Teacher Education Division at Dominican College, chair of the Education Department at Marymount College, a supervisor of student teachers at Lehman College of the City University of New York, and chair of the Science Department and teacher of chemistry, general science, and...