At the heart of the instructional supervisor's role is helping teachers learn and unlearn attitudes, concepts, and skills relevant to their jobs. Among the principles the supervisor must understand to provide this help are those relating to motivation, learning readiness, the learning climate, levels of aspiration, and reinforcement. Diagnostic…

Optimizing the use of resources for teacher development is a hardy perennial facing school and district administrators. This paper outlines a three-step process to assess the desirability and feasibility of proposed inservice education projects. The process involves establishing worth based on expressed interest; projecting likelihood of success…

The act of reflection provides an opportunity for amplifying the meaning of one's work through others' insights; applying meaning to new situations; committing to experimentation or innovation; and documenting learning and sharing knowledge. Students and teachers need time for metacognitive reflections, collaborative dialogues, and portfolio and…

Principals must create the infrastructure to support teacher-leadership roles. They can transform school leadership by creating opportunities for teachers to lead; building professional-learning communities; providing quality, results-driven professional development; and celebrating innovation and teacher expertise. Celebrating innovation and…

Traces a systematic, respectful process for using narrative materials in teachers' professional development. One high school teacher wrote a series of stories about school experiences, using them to facilitate discussion, thinking, and writing about her ongoing practice. Outlines the methods of narrative inquiry used to safeguard the teachers'…

Improving teacher effectiveness is high on the list of most education reformers in Colorado, as it is nationally. Effective teaching in the elementary years is of vital importance to ensure not only that children master fundamental skills, but that performance gaps narrow rather than widen beyond repair. Disadvantaged students can catch up…

The authors' purpose was to examine teacher candidates' perspectives of successful teaching through personalized video vignettes. Furthermore, the authors were interested in how participants' written reflections might change as a result of creating these vignettes. This research used mixed-methods within the context of an exploratory multi-case…

"A Look at Transfer" examines the six levels of transfer and the adult learner. The book explores the seven bridging strategies to use with adult learners as they learn how the professional development content they are learning does, indeed, transfer into their classrooms and into their life situations. Following a preface, this book is divided…

Cook School District is a Web-based simulation designed to allow teacher candidates an opportunity to explore connections between their actions as teachers and the learning and engagement of simulated students. The simulation provides a setting in which to practice the processes inherent in teacher work sample methodology (TWSM). The outcomes of…

We report on how two middle-grade teachers supported their students' mathematical reasoning within the context of a novel modeling task in data analysis. We examine how the task features supported the development of teachers' knowledge as their students engaged with the task. Analyses of the teachers' practices suggest that the task features…

Mathematics teaching and learning are inherently complex practices, and reports suggest that American teachers are not as successful at teaching mathematics as the authors might hope. In this article, the authors explore how a seemingly ubiquitous new technology--the personal audio/video player--just might help teachers improve mathematics…

Lead teachers, a "second-wave" reform concept aimed at professionalizing teaching and decentralizing educational decision-making, might overcome technical and political problems that merit pay, career ladders, and mentor teacher plans have failed to resolve. Lead teachers are motivated by intrinsic rewards and opportunities to exercise…

Examines new institutional forms that support teachers' professional growth. Examines how existing arrangements can be redesigned to support reformers' visions and teachers' professional growth. Considers aspects of the larger education policy context that foster or impede teachers' incentives and ability to acquire new knowledge, skills, and…

In the broad sweep of U.S. history, teachers and teacher education do not emerge as potent forces. Teachers have been primarily female and have played a predetermined, subservient role. Recent findings show that the necessary conditions for vigorous, coherent, and self-renewing teacher preparation programs are not present. Suggestions are…

Examines the role of imagination in literacy learning using data collected over a 5-year period in the author's primary classrooms. Notes that the study progressed to a conceptual structure that proposes an inside-out theory of literacy learning. Argues that to be successful and meaningful to all, literacy teaching must begin and end with a focus…