The goal of school-university partnerships is most often the promotion of teacher growth through professional development (PD). Yet, despite the best of intentions, most PD is not conducted in an effective way. The purpose of this article is to share the perceptions of one group of elementary teachers regarding teacher growth and change as the…

Can mentoring and coaching really improve professional practice? How can research and inquiry improve mentoring and coaching practice? "Mentoring and Coaching in Schools" explores the ways in which mentoring and coaching can be used as a dynamic collaborative process for effective professional learning. It demonstrates how the use of practitioner…

Supporting in-service teachers for successful integration of educational technologies into their teaching practices has been a challenge. While professional development in technology integration is found to help teachers gain technology skills and model good examples of using technology for teaching, they may fail to provide teachers with a clear…

This research note is based on the evaluation of the Comenius project Teacher-IN-SErvice-Training-for-Roma-inclusion ("INSETRom"). The project represented an international effort that was undertaken to bridge the gap between Roma and non-Roma communities and to improve the educational attainment of Roma children in the mainstream…

Professional preparation in educational administration has been a university-based state requirement that oriented aspiring school administrators to the roles of principal or superintendent. Professional and state expectations for preparation, development, and credentialing are shifting as the complexity of leadership and administration has…

The objectives of this program were: (a) to allow classroom teachers to spend some time in a position in the Austin College Education Department, and (b) to involve teacher education faculty in public schools. Although generalizations concerning this program's contributions to the improvement of teacher education are difficult to assess, some…

Worldwide, there is a growing expectation that teachers will act in a "professional" manner. Professionalism, in this regard, includes identification of a unique body of occupational knowledge, adherence to desirable standards of behaviour, processes to hold members to account and commitment to what the profession regards as morally…

An in-service model for the career education staff is presented. The graphic presentation permits the sponsor to study the various components of the model and how they interrelate. The narrative section defines the various components and describes the importance of personnel, financial resources, facilities, and other support systems. (CT)

Describes one South Carolina school district's approach to staff development for classified staff (e.g., nurses, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, maintenance personnel, substitutes, and secretaries). Program planning, implementation, and evaluation involved collaborative and comprehensive efforts. This paper makes seven…

While professional development (PD) has always been central to the teaching profession, increasingly traditional models of PD are out of step with contemporary ways of learning. Commiserate with the literature, we see the field moving along a continuum which reflects changes in what, how and when teachers learn. Following a brief sketch of the…

Many foreign and second language teachers are reluctant about shifting from traditional language instruction to TBLT. Another challenge has been the use of ICT in the classroom, a problem addressed in previous Comenius projects. The ETALAGE project aimed to build on the achievements of such projects and to address these challenges, by collecting,…

Since the introduction of personal computers, art educators increasingly have adopted new digital technologies into their pedagogy, yet overall that adoption has been a slow process. Many teachers remain still infrequent users of technology or avoid using new learning technologies in art classrooms. It is important for art education to embrace an…

The goal of this article is to provide readers with a current model for instructor development and support within a college or university instructional physical activity program (C/UIPAP). First, a brief description of Auburn University's C/UIPAP is given to provide context. Second, the author outlines four key phases of instructor development:…

The Striving Readers program aims to support literacy interventions for adolescent readers in middle and high school. In 2006, Springfield Public Schools and Chicopee Public Schools were awarded $16,655,483 over five years for the Springfield/Chicopee Striving Readers Project. Both districts are located in southwestern Massachusetts and have a…

In the past decade, interest in the form of professional learning loosely described as coaching has exploded. This growing interest in coaching is likely fueled by educators' recognition that traditional one-shot approaches to professional development--where teachers hear about practices but do not receive follow-up support--are ineffective at…