Nearly two decades of research has taught some powerful lessons about how to design and implement meaningful and effective professional development for teachers. This newsletter examines the characteristics of high-quality professional development and offers some suggestions for improving its impact and effectiveness. For reform efforts centered…

An examination of literature in the field of staff development reveals five models of inservice for principals. The traditional model involves enrolling in courses at colleges and universities. Institutes are short-term specific learning experiences. Competency-based training identifies knowledge and skills needed and focuses on influencing…

This paper examines a comprehensive approach to training for child care practitioners and presents a framework for developing staff training. It considers each of the four elements essential to building training experiences: adult developmental change, growth in professional competence, characteristics of adult learning, and training options. Each…

Assessing school administrator training involves comparing what administrators do with what they are trained to do in university preservice programs and non-university inservice programs. Research on educational administrators shows their work activities are brief, discontinuous, unpredictable, verbal, and generally unrelated to school instruction…

This document considers several aspects of the use of assessment centers for the evaluation of school principals. Citing the literature, the document defines the assessment center concept, and describes the operation of a typical four-day assessment program. The paper also recounts efforts to ascertain the reliability of assessment results,…

The monograph provides an overview of inservice education issues related to P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act; and considers approaches to designing and implementing statewide inservice training programs. Considered in the first section are the following topics: inservice provisions of P.L. 94-142; the proliferation of…

Senior centers are growing in size, number, variety, and sophistication of programs. However, administrative salaries are low, turnover is high and educational backgrounds are very diverse. A training needs assessment survey was carried out by means of a 57-item questionnaire mailed to 1,963 members of National Council on the Aging's (NCOA's)…

Questionnaires were sent to 116 newly appointed reference librarians at academic institutions regarding the extent, content, and evaluation of their introductory training for their new positions. The majority of respondents indicated lack of overall planning and content depth in their training. (Author/EM)

Addresses the need for and success of inservice education for media specialists and the role of media specialists as providers and consumers in this process. Six steps in planning and conducting inservice activities are discussed: (1) needs assessment; (2) objectives; (3) learner analysis; (4) material and activity selection; (5) implementation;…

A two part study examined the use and needs of paraprofessionals in the education of handicapped children in Nebraska. Financial forms from school districts were analyzed to determine the number of special education teacher aides employed, salary costs, program costs, and number of students served. In the second part, administrators, special…

The report addresses the need for retraining direct service personnel in community based programs as a result of deinstitutionalization. The state of the art regarding state practices in job descriptions and classifications for paraprofessionals indicated the existence of few systematic attempts to retrain current instituional staff. Few examples…

The book identifies critical variables that influence the success or failure of staff development programs for social studies teachers and provides suggestions for planning and implementing effective inservice activities. It is based on interviews with 24 educators of diverse backgrounds and the authors' own practical field experiences as well as…

Traces the development of programs for employment and training of community-based paraprofessionals in human services from the 1960s to the 1980s. Concludes that while the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals are expanding in all areas of human services, opportunities for training, career advancement and continuing education are not…

This document is a monograph in a personnel development series addressing issues that are pertinent for policy-making personnel concerned with inservice personnel development of vocational/special educators. Chapter 1 addresses the state of the art in inservice education and includes a definition and information on legislative provisions, the…

This article is focused on unveiling the concept of TPACK in relation to teaching and learning in science and mathematics as well as the meaning of TPACK for pre-service science and mathematics teachers training. In describing this, different literatures were consulted on the meaning of TPACK, its origin and the way it can be integrated in…