If one "googles" the term "professional development" on the Web, he/she gets definitions such as "the development of skills both tangential and essential to one's current occupation." Digging a little deeper does not yield a common definition, just distinctions among education, training, and credentialing. Despite the…

This final report describes the activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally funded project to provide training to teachers of students with severe mental retardation. Target teachers were those who were working outside the metropolitan Atlanta area. The teacher participants attended a 7-week summer institute at Georgia State University…

A pilot study was conducted to determine the practices and perceived needs for inservice education of reading teachers in Georgia. A questionnaire was sent to individuals responsible for overseeing the reading programs for grades one through eight in 52 Georgia school systems; 37 returned it. Analysis of their responses indicated a need for…

This paper discusses a model for providing technical assistance to teachers of students with severe/profound mental handicaps who teach in rural areas. The model, known as the Institute for Educators of Students with Severe/Profound Mental Handicaps, is presently in its second successful year in the state of Georgia. Its unique design provides a…

This paper reports on the techniques developed by Valdosta State College's Department of Modern Foreign Languages to promote interest in the study of foreign languages and culture. The techniques are divided into two major categories: internal and external. External activities include those for the benefit of high school students and teachers and…

This publication focuses on the teaching quality goals and priorities of nine Southeastern U.S. states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee), reviewing each state's Title II proposals. The report highlights seven priority areas of focus for regional alliances: constructing…

Ten papers presented at the first annual meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association describe the following topics in educational research: (1) development and evaluation of the Elementary Curriculum Development Program, which involves individualized instruction in grades K-8; (2) reliability of the eighth grade reading subscales on…

For more than 60 years, the Georgia State Board of Education has allotted funds to the University of Georgia for use in preparation of vocational teachers and administrators. Since passage of the 1963 Vocational Education Act, however, emphasis has been put on programs and services for specific groups of people, rather than on instructional areas…