Suggests ways to make constructive principal-teacher conferences an integral part of a consistent, equitable teacher evaluation process. (Author/WD)

Focusing on the institutional benefits of professional development, this article discusses ways institutions can encourage staff members to maintain contemporary knowledge and skill levels and how they can retrain both administrators and teachers to undertake new assignments. (DS)

Discusses a teacher-training experience in which a systemwide inservice seminar was offered. Offers the following tips for novice inservice providers: foster professionalism, provide structure for reading and writing activities, support change, accept participants as they are, stress commonalities, vary activities, provide supplemental fuel…

Notes that in teacher study groups (TSG), teachers meet to converse and to study teaching and learning. Discusses key features of TSGs, TSGs in action, and benefits of TSGs. Suggests that it is important that each teacher begin exploring the topic of interest through his or her best learning mode. (SG)

Considers how educators can best prepare their students to meet the demands of test standards without sacrificing what they know to be effective teaching. Provides examples of how addressing the standards improved both the author's teaching and student learning by providing a focus and a challenge that moved her out of her comfort zone. (SG)

Presents a classroom teacher's reflections on her personal experiences with reading and how she incorporated what she was learning into her teaching. Describes how she reads to renew her spirit, to dispel some of the worry of the school setting, and for new insights and inspiration. (SG)

Argues that research conducted in the last 10 years yields impressive evidence for the effectiveness of several innovative teaching and coaching practices of interest to reading supervisors. Offers 7 tips for improving the retention of information offered during inservice education and facilitating the transfer of that information to the…

Asserts that writing teachers can learn about developing writing skills by becoming free-lance writers, submitting their own manuscripts for publication. (MM)

Describes a process for assessing and strengthening teachers' classroom performance based on the use of camcorders. Explains how this process is done with preservice and inservice teachers. Suggests methods for professional self-development using camcorders. (HB)

Discusses the importance of conducting research on the impact of professional development on student learning, explaining why research has not provided any answers and describing an alternative approach that involves beginning from the end then working backward. The paper presents four staff-development principles common to the diverse mix of…

Profiles of three introspective U.S. corporations show how they have taken significant steps to promote organizational learning. By considering the implications for schools, staff developers can foster organizational learning practices for professional development and school improvement. This paper discusses the learning organization as a common…

Explores three forces currently at work: the crisis in the academic job market, public attacks on higher education, especially teaching, and the rise of composition studies as an academic discipline. Suggests professionalizing these areas to counteract the three forces. (SG)

Considers the doubts the author has had about the design of an award winning study, focusing especially on a researcher's obligation to help the teachers with whom the researcher is working, even at the risk of jeopardizing a study's design. Traces the way that her engagement with that question has led to her current professional commitments. (SC)

Numerous studies indicate that student learning is directly linked to the quality of teaching that occurs in the classroom. School boards can play a vital role in staff development. They should adopt standards for student learning, teaching, leadership, and staff development. Adequate funding and an incentive system that rewards improvements in…

A handbook of information for faculty going on sabbatical or leave is presented, based on several personal experiences with planning, completing, and returning from sabbaticals. Eleven chapters are as follows: (1) applying for a sabbatical; (2) where to go and for how long; (3) can you afford it (e.g. taxes); (4) renting your house (must you rent,…