The excellence of a school lies in the way it directs itself--particularly its professional staff--to improve performance. To meet its obligation to be ever self-improving, the faculty should focus on studying students, creating tailored learning experiences, evaluating long-term school effects, and encouraging diversity. (PGD)

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Reading Initiative and this Inquiry Study: "Exploring Visions of Literacy" invites study groups to embark on a professional journey no individual can fully predict. Through considering the visions of several leading literacy educators (B. Cambourne, M.A.K. Halliday, J. Harste, S.…

Blending profiles of highly successful literacy teachers and practical, theoretically sound guidelines, this book argues for schools at all levels to provide opportunities for teachers to refresh themselves professionally and personally. The eight teachers profiled in the book employed a range of approaches for staying alive and creative in the…

Describes a data-based, anxiety-reducing supervisory process. Several instruments are presented that can be used by teachers to gather information on their own performance. (MLF)

Suggests ways to make constructive principal-teacher conferences an integral part of a consistent, equitable teacher evaluation process. (Author/WD)

Describes a test of teachers' knowledge of reading comprehension skills that requires teachers to classify reading comprehension activities similar to those found in elementary reading workbooks according to a taxonomy based on the Barrett Taxonomy of Cognitive and Affective Dimensions in Reading Comprehension. (FL)

Focusing on the institutional benefits of professional development, this article discusses ways institutions can encourage staff members to maintain contemporary knowledge and skill levels and how they can retrain both administrators and teachers to undertake new assignments. (DS)

Discusses teacher training in science available from local science museums for elementary school teachers. Includes a list of science museums offering instructional products and services. (FMW)

The study with 64 speech-language clinicians and their 32 supervisors found that clinicians demonstrated greater completion of commitments made in supervisory conferences when written agreements were used and when the specific behaviors of supervisees could be followed and measured over time. Written agreements were more effective with beginning…

A scholarship of teaching is recommended, requiring precise observation, the recording of information, and the systematic pursuit of understanding teaching as an intellectual activity. This article outlines the kind of scholarship needed and ways to promote such scholarship through thinking, talking, and sharing views about teaching. (DB)

A handbook of information for faculty going on sabbatical or leave is presented, based on several personal experiences with planning, completing, and returning from sabbaticals. Eleven chapters are as follows: (1) applying for a sabbatical; (2) where to go and for how long; (3) can you afford it (e.g. taxes); (4) renting your house (must you rent,…

Discusses the importance of skillful planning to good teaching and presents ways of helping teachers become good planners.

Reviews published studies (referenced in ERIC Document Retrieval Service) dealing with teacher inservice in environmental education. Includes a chronological summary of the studies between 1970 and 1980. Findings reveal that a wide variety of formats were used but that program effectiveness studies were extremely limited. (ML)

In comparing the effectiveness of accountability and growth-oriented systems of teacher evaluation, growth-oriented systems, which facilitate the flow of performance information back to the teacher, are more likely to have a positive effect on teaching quality. (3 references) (CJH)

A faculty committee at Michigan Technological University (MTU) developed a university-wide policy and procedure to encourage improvement of instruction and ensure that teaching effectiveness plays a significant role in personnel decisions. The experiences at MTU are described to help others seeking to establish similar policy on this sensitive…