Reviews selected research into the benefits of teacher development as an avenue for improving reading proficiency in urban schools. Looks at a multiyear teacher development intervention in a major city school district and the evidence it yielded, which indicated that professional development pays significant dividends for many of the most…

The use of the vignette method with a small group of respondents over a two-year teacher enhancement project sponsored by the National Science Foundation is described, and the usefulness of the method is reviewed. Vignette data provide material sufficient to answer evaluation questions. (SLD)

Describes the factors facilitating teacher change and the stages teachers go through when adopting classroom change. Reports the comments and insights of teachers who, having taken a graduate course in designing reading and prereading programs using a whole language approach, had begun to implement whole language learning in their classrooms. (CJS)

About 5 to 15 percent of teachers in 2.7 million public-education classrooms are marginal or incompetent. Assistance plans offer structure, purpose, and remedial help. Plans have six components: definition of the problem, statement of objectives, intervention strategies, a timeline, data-collection procedures, and final judgment. (MLH)

Consultation on student ratings is recognized as an important strategy to support university teachers in learning from student ratings feedback. However, there is little evidence to suggest which practices and strategies are most important for successful consultation. As the use of student ratings increases, such evidence becomes increasingly…

Since publication of Boyer's seminal work entitled "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate" (1990), there has been a substantial movement in higher education to improve the quality of instruction and to develop the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) at universities and colleges across the United States. Typically,…

This article examines a premise underlying teacher accountability policies, namely, that annual student learning gains can be attributed to individual teachers. After analyzing data collected in fourth- and fifth-grade reading and mathematics classes in 18 schools, the authors identify forms of instructional design that rely on multiple teachers.…

In this theoretical paper the informal assessment practices of two experienced teachers are used as cases for generating questions about future developments in formative assessment practice. Both teachers maintain a consistent formative assessment focus on the development of their students as enquirers, and one of them supplements this with…

This paper raises issues regarding two reports on improving teaching: the Report of the California Commission on the Teaching Profession, "Who Will Teach Our Children: A Strategy for Improving California's Schools" and the Carnegie Report, "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century." A brief review is presented on the…

The goals of the Columbus Staff Development and Human Relations Program for the 1982-83 school year included: (1) to provide inservice support for the School Improvement Program in order to improve pupil acquisition of basic skills; (2) to train 148 teachers and 30 other personnel in the Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement (TESA) program;…

A study was conducted to determine whether the Stallings Effective Teaching Practices inservice training program contributed to improved teacher performance in the Cincinnati, Ohio, Public Schools. The study had two major objectives: (1) to assess the degree of improvement in selected teacher practices after training; and (2) to investigate the…

A study examined the spelling practices of 10 classroom teachers in Poudre School District (Colorado) to determine their philosophies about teaching spelling, the practices they use, and the results they see. Subjects, 10 elementary teachers nominated "good teachers of spelling," were interviewed for approximately one hour and asked to…

Evaluates two workshops for the teaching of writing offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities for secondary school composition instructors. Concludes that the participating teachers had changed their behavior dramatically and were teaching more expository writing and were teaching it more in line with the writing and editing…

Describes IMPACT II, an experimental teacher-to-teacher network that encourages teacher-initiated innovations by offering "developer" and "replicator" grants. Reports the results of a survey evaluation of the project and concludes that innovation works best from the bottom up. (Author/WD)

A comprehensive inventory of formal staff development activity and costs for 30 California school districts yields a portrait of locally organized opportunities for teachers and reveals the policy stance taken by districts toward teachers and their professional development. (TJH)