Describes a federally funded peer mentoring project for faculty development at a rural two-year college. Presents three case studies of mentoring within a division, across divisions, and interdisciplinary mentoring. Includes mentor and mentoree narratives. Offers suggestions on initiating and structuring peer mentor projects, and describes…

A graduate teacher education program at the University of Colorado prepares special educators for urban school environments through an urban school immersion experience while learning necessary instructional and collaborative skills. Interviews with graduate students and mentor teachers addressed the special educator's role and the effectiveness…

Examines one professor's beginning as a reflective practitioner who practiced critical reflection in teaching and learning, highlighting research on students' beliefs about good teacher characteristics. Interviews with and observations of elementary students examined their beliefs about what characteristics made a good teacher. Results indicated…

Describes the origins and development of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, noting challenges it faced; critical documents guiding its work; five core propositions central to its work; the role of teachers in defining and improving their profession; and the partnership of teacher unions, local school districts, and schools in…

Four authors provide a profile of one school district's efforts to recruit and support a teacher willing to meet the challenge of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. A partnership among the district's teacher union, the superintendent, a school principal, and the teacher emerged to produce the district's first…

A collaborataive program allowed early childhood certification students to gain experience working with parents of young children. Preservice teachers from Sam Houston State University worked with the Conroe Independent School District (Texas) Even Start Family Literacy Program as part of their parent education program. Students developed and…

Focuses on the benefits provided by telecommunication and the adaptation of distance learning models in higher education. Argues that distance learning is cost-effective, time-effective, accessible, and flexible, and that varying student populations and a changing economy make distance education a vital new tool. (NB)

The National Primary Strategy (DfES, 2004) is encouraging schools to design "broad and rich curricula" which make the most of links between different areas, building on literacy and numeracy and developing speaking and listening skills. Primary teachers' confidence with, and understanding of, science will be crucial to the effectiveness…

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of faculty inservice evaluation models focused on quality improvement of degree programs. Based on current "best practices" of student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS), created at the Canary Islands, was designed to serve the…

This paper provides an overview of a teacher evaluation system designed to improve the education of preservice teachers at Auburn University (Alabama) by promoting self-assessment, reflection, and professional growth. The system uses a portfolio approach which includes a simulation exercise in pedagogical decision making. The portfolio contains…

The Georgia Instructor Academy (GIA) initiative is intended to provide staff development activities that enhance the quality of instruction delivered at the technical institutes. Before GIA could become functional, the following significant changes in the state's postsecondary technical education system had to occur: (1) creation of the Georgia…

Being a teaching professional is a complex task within the social and organizational context in which teachers work. A model, "Variability of Developmental Needs within a Teaching/Learning Situation," provides a visual picture of the wide variety of students, typically in the broad but "average range" of knowledge,…

This paper encourages teachers to consider teaching as a performing art. By using the theater as a metaphor for effective, innovative instructional methods, the author parallels various aspects of performing arts with various aspects of teaching. The "stage" represents the classroom and "sets" the teaching environment; the "set" characterizes the…

The California New Teacher Project (CNTP) has demonstrated that intensive support, continued training, and informative assessments of teachers in their first professional years result in better instruction for students and higher retention rates for teachers. The 37 projects of CNTP were funded on the basis of their plans to implement alternative…

Thirty-nine rural school districts in Pennsylvania responded to a survey designed to study new teacher induction programs. The total sample population of 392 included mentor/support teachers, inductees, and induction coordinators. Based on the survey data and information from 29 districts' documents, this report gives detailed descriptions of…