Teacher evaluation can be used as a tool in school improvement. Principal inconstancy, insufficient time and resources, and lack of evaluating skills are some difficulties in teacher evalution. The use of evaluation as a means of professional development is discussed. (DF)

This paper describes five key trends in the ways the rules for education are changing, the potential implications of the changes, and challenges for those promoting school health education. (SM)

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of recent educational reform efforts in Washington State and to determine what educators believe to be the most important future areas of focus. In particular, the researchers wanted to determine whether school-wide improvement efforts (i.e. School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Improvement…

In 1984, Waunakee Community School District (Wisconsin) developed the Teaching Incentives Pilot Program to study teacher compensation, teacher evaluation, and staff development. The program goals were (1) to provide a system to retain and reward competent teachers, (2) to promote educational excellence through quality instructors, and (3) to link…

This paper looks at the uses and limitations of performance pay, what sorts of decisions need to be made at various points, how decisions in one area are related to decisions in others, and what practical questions need to be answered if policy makers decide to put new or revised pay-for-performance systems in place. Specifically, the paper: (1)…

The purpose of this guide, one of the nine-booklet Teacher Quality Series, is to help educational policymakers develop better policies by explaining how to use a compensation plan to improve education and how to make one work. It also encourages consideration of alternative policies to improve education. Each section introduces common positions on…

Finds fault with federal and local attempts to improve and influence the teaching profession. Points out that federal and professional standards are fruitless or counterproductive in the absence of local organizations that can apply them in the classroom. (DR)

Criticizes reports on educational reform for possessing an ideological climate in which inquiry and dissent are quieted, and vocationalism (packaged as academic courses) is rampant. The reports compromise between influence and insight and neglect fundamental problems such as inability of schools to provide students with critical abilities needed…

Analyzes trends in educational reforms in the context of conflicting needs for both educational excellence and equal access to education. Discusses the difficulty of balancing these demands in the preparation of school personnel and in school reform through choice programs. (FMW)

Discusses the implications of five-year teacher preparation programs. Argues that different strategies and curricula should be tested and evaluated before mandating major system-wide changes in teacher certification requirements. (FMW)

Texas and North Carolina have exhibited strong levels of commitment to define and enforce standards of competent performance in the teaching profession. To make up for a prior lack of definition of what constitutes teacher effectiveness, both states have developed similar systems of teacher appraisal. In North Carolina, the Teacher Performance…

This study was designed to determine whether a summer institute for elementary teachers could reduce or eliminate obstacles to teaching science. During summer, 1986, 10 primary teachers (K-3) participated in a month-long training session designed to help them improve their background knowledge of light and shadows and develop, teach, and revise a…

Describes the Open University (OU) Physics for Science Teachers project. Explains how distance-learning packages are to be studied. Identifies the audience that the program will address. Discusses the reasons why this program can be successful. Suggests that their program is part of a wider program to improve science teaching. (CW)

In Toledo, Ohio, teacher union and school system leaders have collaborated on a controversial, but apparently effective, plan to purge the staff of incompetent teachers. It combines rigorous evaluation, training for new teachers, remediation for veteran teachers, and peer review by a corps of highly skilled consulting teachers. (TE)

Describes a 1984 report from the Rand Corporation that studied teacher evaluation practices. Problems revealed include lack of resolve and competence in principals, resistance or apathy of teachers, inconsistent evaluation practices between schools, and inadequate training for evaluators. (TE)