This annual journal issue contains 21 papers, many of which were developed as background pieces for sessions of the annual conferences of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). Papers are grouped into four sections on: personal reflections, faculty development, evaluation of teaching practices, and…

Chief academic officers at 1,053 institutions of higher education across the United States were surveyed about the barriers to improving teaching and learning. Using factor analysis, responses were reduced to nine general problem areas. In order of importance from most important to least important, the problems identified were: financial support,…

The Search for Exemplary Preservice Elementary Science Programs was undertaken to recognize programs that modeled effective teaching behaviors and prepared teachers for developing appropriate attitudes and skills in students. This document describes the seven exemplary programs that were recognized by the National Science Teachers Association's…

This issue of "Dialogue," a review of labor-management cooperation in public education, focuses on the theme of teacher compensation and evaluation. After a brief introduction locating these topics within the context of nationwide educational reform, the first section describes the advantages and disadvantages of some of the better-known…

Eight papers discuss research into career progression in teaching. Topics include: teachers' satisfaction and stress, historical research on teachers, English primary teachers' careers, studying teachers' knowledge using collaborative autobiography, methodological issues in analyzing teacher career path data, attitude and perceptual change in…

Over the past 2 decades community colleges have developed an increasing reliance on the use of part-time faculty, generally rationalizing the practice as an important strategy for saving money and maintaining flexibility. Critics have seen the extensive use of part-timers as a disturbing trend, and several groups have attempted to set limits on…

Tips to help persons involved with law-related education (LRE) take advantage of the current demands for educational reform are presented in this special issue, which explores how ferment for reform in education can be a boon to legal education as long as LRE educators understand the changes that are taking place and are alert to ways of making…

This pamphlet examines instructional improvement process in postsecondary education. It first discusses the importance of teaching, revealing that too little sustained attention to the process of teaching is a major deterrent to its improvement, and explains why teaching evaluation has been largely abandoned as the sole improvement mechanism.…

American higher education has isolated the enterprise of basic research and relegated it to the university, while simultaneously insulating the craft of teaching from the scholarship that nourishes it by identifying certain colleges, community colleges in particular, as "teaching" institutions. From the start, community colleges have not required…

This publication's theme, "Institutional Change," is broadly examined in fourteen articles that range from research and opinion to allegory and satire. A student teacher, a dean, and a state education director are among the authors. Articles concern: 1) key elements of change; 2) relationships between local, county, state, and federal educational…

Professional development that aims to transform teaching and build substantial knowledge of science and mathematics content is not a simple task of "design and implement"; rather, it involves remaining alert to the changing context in which professional developers are working, the stages of development teachers move through as they develop new…

In the accountability movement in higher education, the success of two-year colleges is often viewed solely by standards which apply only to four-year institutions, such as the completion of a degree program. Many two-year college students, however, enroll to prepare for employment, to develop important life skills, or to retrain for employment.…

Studies suggest that the traditional technique of one-way lectures used most often by teachers results in about 42% retention after class, and 17% a week later. To improve both student learning and institutional effectiveness, colleges should support faculty development programs that expose teachers to two-way teaching and learning processes.…

This annual journal presents the latest thinking and research on important issues of faculty, instructional, and organizational development in postsecondary education. Essays in this issue and their authors are as follows: "Faculty Development and the New American Scholar" (William B. Bondeson); "Improving Higher Education: Issues…

Instructional leadership is leadership that is directly related to the processes of instruction where teachers, learners, and the curriculum interact. These three elements constitute the domains of the instructional process. The principal alone often cannot be effective in the supervisory role because of lack of time, lack of specific training and…