The National Science Foundation (NSF) has supported a wide variety of teacher enhancement projects in order to identify and explore strategies that are effective in bringing genuine, long-term teacher change, and, ultimately, long-term systemic change in schools. In November 1994, with funding provided from NSF (Grant Number ESI-9452859), a small,…

There is evidence that staff development results in improved supervisor-teacher and teacher-student relations. (Author)

The vision for teacher and student development portrayed in the recent National Commission on Teaching and America's Future report does not match classroom reality. A school's compelling vision and stretch goals demand professional development that is results-driven, standards-based, school-focused, job-embedded, matched to desired instructional…

Learns from teachers themselves what gave and took away energy from their teaching experiences. Considers what gives teachers energy or takes it away and what is a waste of time. Outlines and discusses eight energy principles. Concludes that most individuals are energy-filled when they are learning themselves. (SG)

Notes that these novels were used to facilitate preservice and inservice teachers' recognition of the value of pluralism and to raise consciousness about issues of social justice primarily in relation to class, race, and gender. Concludes that teacher educators need to be more deliberate, systematic, and challenging in their efforts to help…

Shares the author's minute-by-minute decisions in working with an alienated student whose beliefs about reading created a wall of resistance to learning. Notes the student's beliefs about his learning potential and his lack of strategies were at the root of his reading problems. Concludes that before alienated students can overcome the restrictive…

Explores the participants' perceptions and practices about writing, and ascertains some of the critical influences upon the development of teachers' and children's creative competence in the writing classroom. Seeks to empower teachers to develop their own creative potential in order to enrich children's written voices. (SG)

Summarizes the Southern Regional Education Board's findings concerning 1980s teacher improvement reforms. Salaries doubled in 15 southern states, with pay increases tied to increased teacher accountability. However, available state funding covered evaluations, not staff development; pay-for-performance programs generated heated debates; and…

Schools are chiefly custodial; teaching profession is split between academics, practitioners, and (controlling) administrators; educational purpose has been corroded by dominant empirical tradition assuming easy separation of fact and value, contingent connection between means and ends, and norm of individual similarity. Article examines major…

Teacher thinking research examines teachers' thought processes and makes suggestions for training. Organizational analysis stresses the importance of teacher commitment and redesign of existing schools in increasing teacher collegiality and participation. This article juxtaposes these two literatures and suggests ways to combine divergent images…

Describes the results of part of an ongoing study to find and document "new literacy" classrooms. Seeks to describe new literacy classroom practices (i.e., assignments, assessments) as well as types of learning experienced by students and teacher in such classrooms. (SG)

First-year teachers experience five phases: anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, and reflection. A Mundelein Illinois mentoring program supports beginning teachers with informal socializing opportunities and information-sharing meetings with district staff and principals. Over a 4-year period, only one of 23 mentored teachers has…

In this article I argue that the literature describing effective professional development is missing at least 2 key pieces of information -- typical professional development that reaches typical teachers and how effective recent standards are in assisting district or school personnel to design and/or choose high-quality staff development…

Some of the recent debates and discourses about higher education have embraced the development of shared aims and values within the professional context. The opportunity to engage in critical reflexive pedagogy is being widely acknowledged as an important element in the continuing professional development in the sector. In this paper a case study…

Online education is used for a variety of purposes in higher education. Two such purposes are improving one's performance over time and understanding one's professional development in the context of online teaching and learning. Relying on data from online staff development courses delivered in five Spanish universities, this article explores…