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With No Child Left Behind Legislation, the United States Department of Education defined a Highly Qualified Teacher as a teacher who has earned a bachelor degree, full state certification, and demonstrated competency as defined by the state in each core academic subject he or she teaches (USDOE, 2002). The Obama Blueprint for Education (USDOE, 2010) introduces the term Teacher Effectiveness, a measure that places emphasis on the assessment of student outcomes, but the Blueprint maintains the requirements for Highly Qualified Teacher. There is a problem of shifting and indistinct definitions of teacher quality. As educators, we are accustomed to the creation and use of rubrics to assess knowledge, skills, and dispositions of learners, yet a consistent U.S. Federal rubric to assess Teacher Quality or Teacher Effectiveness is lacking. It is a challenge for teacher educators to create on target professional development for pre-service or in-service teachers when the target keeps moving. Defining Teacher Effectiveness is particularly challenging in diverse multicultural teaching contexts with compounding issues such as English Language Learner (ELL) adaptations and culturally relevant pedagogy. This exploratory case study describes teachers' perceptions of Highly Qualified Teacher criteria and interventions that are being pilot tested to define and support Highly Effective teacher professional development in the Pacific.

The CAST (content area specialized training) model of professional development enables sustainable teacher leadership and is responsive to the need for culturally relevant educational practices. The purpose of this paper is to share the background, methods, findings and recommendations of a case study on the CAST initiative in Guam. The case study is worth a look given that 100% of the participants in the CAST initiative indicated that they were satisfied with the CAST model of professional development. The CAST Participant Survey is appended. (Contains 6 tables and 4 figures.)

Since 1979, the American Samoa Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i have partnered to provide education and training for American Samoan teachers. Beginning in 2009, these efforts have focused on teachers in the middle grades. This article describes the context, program structure, and implementation of a graduate degree program in middle level education developed for teachers on the Pacific island of American Samoa. Implications for designing transnational degree programs involving distance learning are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)

While the foundation and principles of Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships have been present for decades, the relationships, connections, and results derived from these partnerships are ever evolving. This paper examines one University-PDS partnership that was developed as an alternative to the traditional teacher preparation model. The merged spaces of this University-PDS collaboration empower teacher candidates to develop skills in teacher leadership, advancing access and equity and responsiveness to critical needs, along with foundational competence in collaboration, innovation, and reflective practice. The voices of the teacher candidates and PDS personnel echo the sentiment that the seeds they have planted, and continue to cultivate, will allow the stakeholders of the partnership to capitalize on the skills and talents of all involved and reflect on what was, is, and, most importantly, what could be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]