This guide suggests approaches that new and experienced Technical and Further Education (TAFE) teachers may find useful in answering questions that may lead to improvement in their teaching effectiveness. In the first part of the guide, such questions are discussed, together with possible strategies for answering them and useful reference texts.…

Teachers and administrators in a midwestern school district met to assess the reasons for negative attitudes toward the district's staff inservice program. They agreed that the program's goals were too broad, the sessions were (for the most part) designed to motivate teachers to try but not to master a particular teaching skill or strategy, the…

The model shows how the essential components of a bilingual instructional setting can be interwoven with the concepts espoused in Management Engineered Teacher Education to provide a systems example that is adaptable to any classroom by the bilingual teacher. Implementation of the system begins with an assessment of the child's language…

Citing examples from a successful district improvement plan used in Greensville County, Virginia, this paper lists and explains ways a school board can improve teacher competence. After warning that measures that work in one school district may not work in others, the author suggests that school boards should set high district standards, insist on…

This paper discusses preschool teacher competencies and personality traits but makes no attempt to establish a picture of an ideal teacher. Five personal qualities necessary for success with young children--good physical and mental health, fondness and respect for children, a sympathetic understanding of their capacities and ways of growing, an…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is President George W. Bush's education reform law passed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. This flier, in both English and Spanish, details 10 facts concerning NCLB to inform parents as to the goals of the Act and how they will affect their child's school. The flier highlights how the Act: (1) gives…

This book describes a system for fostering effective teacher development. It is designed to assist principals and mentors in helping teachers broaden their instructional repertoire and developing a stronger professional identity. The book includes: descriptions and examples of the four basic styles of teaching; tips for matching administrator…

This document, the seventh in a series on diversity in the classroom, offers strategies for general education teachers to help them provide an appropriate education to students with exceptional needs within the regular classroom. Section 1, "Introduction," examines definitions and the organization of the document. Section 2,…

Staff development is crucial in creating successful mentoring relationships in schools and districts. Four major tasks for staff developers when creating programs for mentors are: selecting and training mentors, matching mentors with proteges, setting goals and expectations, and establishing the program. Implications for staff developers are…

Discusses how to initiate good professional development options and how to evaluate existing professional development programs for appropriateness. Options noted are teacher networks, National Board certification, university collaborations, Professional Development Schools, and local staff development efforts. Some resource information is…

Inservice programs are needed to make rural teachers of Native American students more responsive to their unique needs and to increase educational relevance by integrating material from Native culture. Suggestions for teacher inservice programs include Native educational history, dropout research, sociocultural factors, language development, and…

Details specific ways to describe progress in the school improvement process (SIP) to first-level stakeholders (students and educators) and second-level stakeholders (parents, administrators, school board members, and community members). The paper illustrates such reporting by describing use of assessment information in relation to the Middle…

Not all children cope equally well with the stresses and traumas life throws their way, and every educator recognizes that "deer in the headlights" look some children get when current events and past traumas combine to trigger a fight-or-flight stress response. No matter how safe the classroom may be in reality, trauma deactivates cognitive…

This report describes Teamworks, a 3-year project in Chicago, Illinois, that addressed the need for greater collaboration and teamwork between general program and bilingual/ESL teachers in the teaching community. Infrequent communication between these two teacher groups caused fractured education for the limited-English-proficient (LEP) students…

The purpose of this book is to equip trainers to perform with excellence. Chapter 1 focuses on how adults learn and interact, examines the impact instructors have on learning, and introduces the instructor performance system. Chapter 2 details the requirements of the instructor's job. Chapter 3 outlines the system that enables training managers to…