Considerations for establishing purposes of evaluation are described in view of controversies that focus on justification and use of ratings of instructors as well as attempts to meet demands and ward off pressures for accountability. General models are proposed to serve as guidelines for further development and specification of purposes.…

This report describes the Beginning Teacher Induction Program (BTIP) in 12 New Brunswick anglophone school districts during 1996-1997. Data come from beginning teachers, mentors, principals and district coordinators who participated in the BTIP and completed a survey. Half of the mentors attended a mentor training workshop, an increase from the…

This paper focuses on Alberta, Canada's 1998 "Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation" policy, examining its origins and adoption along with the significant shift in images of teaching and supervision that it conveys. Both the process and substance of the policy are analyzed within the context of Alberta's larger plan to restructure…

This report summarizes priorities that Ontario teachers assigned to different professional learning activities and the extent to which they had participated in professional learning. Information came from a mailed survey of 599 teachers, randomly selected across the province, in 1999. Teachers read a list of 13 learning activities and rated them…

This paper reports on research about professional development programs in environmental education for high school teachers in Quebec (Canada). A diagnostic research study was conducted to attempt to answer two questions: (1) what is the current status of environmental education in this sector of formal education?; and (2) how is environmental…

For the third consecutive year, New Brunswick's Department of Education, in cooperation with the New Brunswick Teacher Association (NBTA) and the University of New Brunswick, organized a Beginning Teacher Induction Program (BTIP) in all 12 anglophone school districts. In 1998, data were collected using surveys from beginning teachers, mentors,…

A teaching master at a community college in Central Ontario implemented a practicum designed to increase the rate of child-directed activities in early childhood education programs. The primary goal was to increase awareness of early childhood educators, parents, and board members regarding the benefits of child-directed activities at early…

Science assessments done in British Columbia in 1978 and 1982 analyzed students' weaknesses and teachers' perceived needs. Appropriate inservice programs were identified. Conforming to other findings, the teachers wanted to be involved in initiating, planning, and conducting the programs, e.g., informal meetings or workshops with other teachers…

This paper discusses the value of action research in professional learning, presenting political and practical questions from the work of a primary school teacher who conducted action research on literacy with at-risk students and an intermediate school teacher, now a program officer at the Ontario College of Teachers who is helping create…

This paper profiles Anna Steffin, principal of a Canadian elementary school, who has built a community of learners among her teachers and encourages quality staff development, collegiality, parent participation, and parent teacher cooperation. She promotes her beliefs by being an active participant in all activities. (SM)

A Manitoba program of linguistic improvement for French teachers is described. In the program, teachers focus on communicative skills, the reflection on the language's resources and constraints, varied activities, and activities that can be readily adapted for their own classrooms. (MSE)

This study explored the applicability of Schon's notion of reflective practice for student teachers in practicum settings. Case studies of student teachers in a practicum found 15 reflective themes and up to 4 precipitants per theme, with 47 factors that enhanced or constrained reflection. Four strategies for promoting student teacher reflection…

British Columbia's systemwide educational reform efforts enable teachers to engage in classroom-based research while building a learner-focused curriculum. This article describes the province's teacher research efforts, underlining important implications for educational policy. Teacher research permitted teachers to honor schools' educative…

This case study traces the development of one teacher as she participated in Teachers As Artist, a four-year professional development program for teachers. I have used transformation theory, an articulation of the complex processes involved in life-altering adult learning, to examine her development from early dispirited participation in the arts…

Educational organizations, particularly elementary and secondary schools are deeply institutionalized and notoriously resistant to change. British Columbia's "Program for Quality Teaching" (PQT), an innovative professional development program based on peer consultation, is described and analyzed in this paper. A portrait of PQT's 5-year…