Claiming that observation is the first and most authentic tool for assessing young children's learning and development, this book advises educators of young children how to improve observation skills by recording children's growth and development. The book also serves as a tool to evaluate and improve early childhood programs. Specific benefits of…

This guide provides teacher educators and staff developers with strategies to enhance the reflective thinking abilities of preservice and inservice educators. Strategies for reflective thinking are approached at three levels: technical, contextual, and dialectical. Within each level, strategies have been field tested with populations of preservice…

This book offers a range of proven support strategies designed to help new faculty members thrive. Suggestions range from campuswide programs for nurturing newcomers to projects that help them to help themselves. Outlined is a structured mentoring program to build collegiality through social support networks. Also presented are specific techniques…

Resulting from a summer workshop concentrating on the writing of elementary school children, this booklet begins by reviewing a number of articles read and discussed by workshop participants. The second section, drawing upon the work of Sheila Schlawin, focuses on the composing process and answers a number of questions that teachers have about…

This monograph updates a 1978 publication titled "The Scientific Basis of the Art of Teaching." Based on lectures presented during the 1983-84 academic year, this work discusses research on teaching to provide a substantial scientific basis for the art of teaching and for the education of teachers in that art. For several decades, one research…

The purpose of this paper is to suggest the kinds of research that would be most suitable for community college faculty members and to illustrate these, where possible, from actual examples of ongoing research efforts, or, alternatively, from hypothetical examples. Some of the benefits and potential benefits in the area of student development,…

Behind a simple equation, 2 + 2, lies a rich yet realistic approach to enhancing teaching and learning. As this book demonstrates, the current method of job appraisal consists of sporadic classroom visits from school administrators that frequently serve to reinforce teacher isolation rather than promote professional development. In contrast, the 2…

This book provides an approach to professional development that moves beyond traditional notions of inservice education and staff development. Collegial coaching is premised on the notion that the impetus for improving instruction originates within individual teachers. There are 16 chapters in three parts. Part 1, "Theory," includes: (1)…

Improving the quality of management is widely cited as one of the keys to school improvement. In the United Kingdom, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) identifies the quality of management at the headteacher and middle-management levels as an essential area for development. This book supports the personal and professional development required for…

This book focuses on teaching diverse students, providing a pedagogical framework and concrete strategies that school staff and educators can use in the context of: professional development related to school renewal; professional development related to K-12 teaching; and teaching strategies for K-12 classrooms. The book also describes how…

This book is an action plan for improving education in the U.S, focusing on the key role of teachers in this improvement. It offers a detailed comparison of the educational methods of Germany, Japan, and the United States. The analysis begins with an international study of mathematics teaching in the three countries that was conducted as part of…

This qualitative study of community college faculty, based on classroom observation and interviews of 257 instructors and 60 administrators at 32 community colleges across the country, was undertaken to explore what "teaching looks like in a teaching college." The researchers were especially interested in the collective nature of teaching: the…

This book draws on recent scholarship in adult education to provide practical ideas for adult educators on how to stimulate and support their own development as educators and better understand the process of professional development as adult learning. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the diverse contexts within which educators work and the nature…

This book addresses the question of becoming a teacher from the perspective of the teacher's self and identity concerns. A common theme among all of the papers in the book is the importance of balancing the personal development of teachers with their professional development. There are eight papers in four parts. Part 1, "Selecting Teaching…

This publication contains the final report of the Committee of Enquiry into Education in South Australia, the major task of which was to examine and make recommendations to the Minister of Education on the educational system of South Australia. The report begins with a summary of recommendations. Following this summary, there is a discussion of…