Asserts that inservice education for reading teachers needs to be improved. Suggests guidelines for administrators and consultants that focus on meeting the perceived needs of reading teachers while striving to make inservice both relevant and effective. States that administrators should involve teachers directly to ensure that their greatest…

Addresses teacher needs during peer coaching trials, reviews peer coaching program features, and proposes a model to guide future planning, evaluation and research. The coaching program's critical components include classroom assessments, coaching team cluster meetings, and administrative support. Interrelations among components are discussed. (SM)

Outlines several reasons why teachers who write become better teachers. Discusses 13 steps in the process of becoming a writer. (SR)

In this age of accountability, evaluation must become an integral part of staff development. This paper describes what evaluation is; the three types of evaluation (planning, formative, and summative); and the five critical stages of staff development evaluation. It presents 12 guidelines for improving the quality of professional-development…

It is important to dispel myths that pervade current professional-development planning and establish and follow specific guidelines for effectively using additional professional-development time. The paper dispels three major myths that diminish the effectiveness of professional-development planning and offers four guidelines for ensuring wise use…

Discusses advantages to the whole-faculty study-group process, which involves small groups that meet regularly to focus on some area of educational improvement. The paper presents 15 whole-faculty study-group process guidelines, and it concludes that study groups can help teachers accomplish together what they are already expected to do. (SM)

To influence school boards, staff developers must remember their rules, which include: demonstrate through ideals and actions that students come first; spend taxpayer money in thrifty, creative ways; explain things in simple, incisive ways; be independent-minded in accepting or rejecting advice; find early indications of success for money spent;…

Suggests that, in order to re-invigorate writing in schools, educators need to remind themselves of the importance of the tools of the writing process to help them explore the distinct and multiple voices and texts. Presents samples of some of the "local literacies" that students in a migrant summer school camp produced in their writing. (SG)

Suggests that one of the reasons that schools are not as successful supporting the literacy development of Latina/o students is that school literacy, whether it be in Spanish or English, envisions forms of literacy that these students do not recognize. Notes that low academic achievement for many Latina/o students is not due to a lack of…

The Untied Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Competency Standards for Teachers (ICT-CST) project aims to improve teachers' practice in all areas of their work, combining ICT skills with innovations in pedagogy, curriculum, and school organization. It is also aimed at…

This booklet synthesises the research on teacher professional learning and development that has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on valued student outcomes. Its findings relate to teachers who have received at least some initial teacher education and who are in the process of deepening their knowledge and refining their skills. The…

Teaching science means doing science and involves three elements: knowing content, knowing children, and teachers knowing themselves as teachers and learners. The authors describe principles and requirements that reflect National Science Education Standards for the active learning of science. They identify key ingredients for primary students and…

Current demands to prepare students for the 21st century represent a dramatic departure from the mission for which the American system of public education was originally designed. To help educators with these changes, a conceptual framework of strategies in planning for and bringing out essential shifts in philosophy is presented here. The text…

This book shows how learning circles (small groups of learners who come together to support each other in learning) can make great improvements in teaching quality. Teachers can form learning circles based on six key conditions that promote healthy communities of learners and successful professional development. The six conditions are (1) building…

This teacher orientation manual has been developed as a comprehensive resource for teachers in Texas to facilitate a greater knowledge and understanding of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (TTAS), designed as a developmental tool for the improvement of instruction, and the encouragement of professional growth. Through this system, teachers…