Teacher quality can be improved through teacher evaluation, intervention programs, incentives or rewards, and counseling. In the Toledo, Ohio, peer evaluation program, evaluation and staff development go hand in hand. The program was developed through a collaborative and cooperative process and uses teacher consultants to evaluate and supervise…

A project to improve higher level thinking skills of elementary students in Hillsborough County, Florida is reported as a feature article (66p). An introductory overview chapter reviews the literature on teaching thinking skills. Chapter 1 provides background information on the community and the two schools selected for the practicum. The second…

The seven articles in this document concern children, programs, and teachers in the middle grades. The first article, "Essential Elements of Effective Middle Level Education" (C. K. McEwin) serves as an overview of the subsequent articles. "Middle Schools; A Re-Appraisal" (H. E. Sadoff) cautions educators against assuming that a school structure…

This report focuses on current attempts by researchers to examine teacher effectiveness through the "task hypothesis," which asserts that effective teachers accomplish a large and diverse set of tasks--or discrete, goal-oriented units of work--in their classroom. After an introductory critique of past efforts to assess teacher "traits" or…

Peer coaching develops from a leadership role on the part of educators of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students, together with an interdisciplinary cooperation between bilingual/English as a Second Language (ESL) and mainstream staff. Peer coaching is a professional development method in which teachers share their expertise and…

This issue focuses on what recent research from Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, and Alabama says about the most significant factor that impacts student achievement: the teacher. After presenting teacher effectiveness data from the four states, it discusses what makes an effective teacher, focusing on the need for strong verbal and math skills,…

This annual journal's premier issue features the work, thoughts, adventures, and musings of distinguished and respected teachers. An introduction reports that the journal was born of the desire by faculty to recognize college teaching as a profession and to bring to it its own language and traditions and to establish an academic culture for…

This annual journal presents articles by college faculty about teaching in higher education based on their pedagogical research and their classroom experiences. Articles in the issue for 1991 have the following titles and authors: "The Scholarship of Pedagogy: A Message From the Editors" (Laurie Richlin and Milton D. Cox); "The Social Cognition…

Profiled in this report are three Oregon first-grade teachers--the state's 1984 Teacher of the Year and two other finalists for that title. Distinguishing characteristics of the teaching approach of Jonelle Maurer of the Lincoln Elementary School in Grants Pass include phonics and group reading instruction, the use of activity centers, and a…

The bilingual (Chinese/English) journal published annually for Hong Kong educators contains articles in a wide range of areas and at all levels of education. Articles include: "Micropolitics in Managing Bi-Sessional Primary Schools: A Case Study of the Interactions between Partner School Heads" (Cheung Wing-ming); "On Features of…

This journal is intended to assist language educators in Hong Kong schools in developing and maintaining high standards of instruction in both English and Chinese. The 11 issues presented here contain articles, some in English and some in Chinese, on a variety of language education topics, including: language education planning; instructional…