Florida's United States History End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment performance outcomes are scheduled to impact student course grades, educator evaluation scores, and school grades. A professional learning plan to improve teaching and learning in support of student achievement on the Assessment does not exist. Neither Florida Statute nor the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) facilitate or fund professional learning in support of these influences. This dissertation in practice proposes the use of the U.S. History EOC Assessment Professional Learning Series to build educator capacity in support of student achievement on the Assessment. Implementation of professional learning could address the disparity between the legislated Assessment and its potential impacts. Tyler's (1949) curriculum development rationale and Shulman's (1986) notion of pedagogical content knowledge provided a conceptual framework for the proposed professional learning. Professional learning experiences were designed to include (1) an assessment simulation, (2) a correlation of simulated assessment items to item specifications, (3) a test item writing practicum, and (4) model lessons. The series was designed to support pedagogical content knowledge growth in planning, teaching, and assessing United States History; and improve instructional and professional efficacy. The ultimate purpose of the series is to improve teaching and learning to support student achievement on U.S. History EOC Assessment.

Background: Government policy has placed greater emphasis upon health professional students gaining practical experience in real-world environments. Given the fairly new inception of the role of clinical educator in podiatry there is a paucity of research in the area of practice placement in podiatry. Research aims: Within an action research framework, the first phase focused upon exploring the capacity of clinical educators to engage with the role of mentoring, alongside the factors that might impact upon that capacity. The second phase of the project investigated the impact of a teaching tool within the placement area when utilised by clinical educators and students. Methods: The pilot study utilised established questionnaire development methods to create a survey and scale to measure clinical educators’ capacity to engage with the role. The second phase of the project used a range of qualitative data collection methods analysed using framework analysis to analyse the utility of the teaching and learning tool. Findings: Phase I resulted in a 70-item scale measuring the capacity of clinical educators to engage with the role of clinical educator and the identification of four independent variables predictive of a significant proportion of the variability of the dependent variable, capacity to engage with clinical education. Phase II confirmed the utility of the teaching and learning tool to support clinical educators and students during the placement period. An inductive placement model, explanatory of the super-complexity of the environment where the clinical educator endeavours to monitor, modify and manage the placement scope, was developed. Conclusions: In an area where research is currently scant, this study contributed to practice-based education in podiatry and to current understanding of how clinical educators undertake this complex and responsible role. This is an important area for research given the influence clinical educators have to shape and guide the next generation of podiatry professionals.