Recent concern for the quality of education has placed pressure on school administrators to assess and upgrade the competency of their teaching staff. No simple formula exists for measuring teacher competency, however, nor are any new methods guaranteed to improve the quality of instruction. Nevertheless, through a combination of clinical…

The success of a merit pay program depends primarily on careful, cooperative planning involving all constituencies who will be affected, so that the resulting plan is affordable, acceptable to teachers, and adapted to the needs of the district. Criteria for awards should reflect the goals of the program, and should be applied fairly and…

This digest describes three complementary approaches to integrating guidance into education: (1) the Comprehensive Guidance Program Model, developed by Norman C. Gysbers; (2) the Teacher Advisor Program (TAP), developed by Robert D. Myrick; and (3) the Invitational Learning paradigm, developed by William W. Purkey. Four references are included.…