This book examines peer review, a prominent feature of the new unionism, relying heavily on peer review programs in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. Peer review encompasses various procedures by which teachers and their unions can exercise more responsibility for improving teacher performance and terminating the services of teachers who do not perform…

Educational organizations, particularly elementary and secondary schools are deeply institutionalized and notoriously resistant to change. British Columbia's "Program for Quality Teaching" (PQT), an innovative professional development program based on peer consultation, is described and analyzed in this paper. A portrait of PQT's 5-year…

In spring 1983, a study was conducted at the City Colleges of Chicago to design and implement a treatment to increase student success at the beginning of the semester and to assess teachers' reactions to this treatment. Seven teachers from three departments and a team of researchers worked together to develop a plan that included activities to…

Problems in conducting an outcome evaluation under uncertain knowledge of effects are addressed. This evaluation was designed to obtain outcome assessments of a National Science Foundation Workshop, which was working with 20 high school chemistry teachers and 20 high school biology teachers to stimulate effective teaching, assist teachers in…

A project of comprehensive inservice training for public school teachers and other personnel serving autistic children in North Carolina is described, and objectives and accomplishments are documented. In addition to summer training for teachers of autistic children, a series of four school-year workshops, and a 2-day period of winter inservice…

The Beginning Teacher Program in the Dade County Public Schools, Florida was developed to facilitate beginning teachers' attainment of specific generic teaching competencies through supervised support for a full school year. This report examines how many mandated and other procedures in the program were implemented and to what extent the teaching…

Perspectives on the need for consistency in considering the promotion of conceptual change in science students and teachers (and in some circumstances, researchers) are presented in this paper. The parallels between the consequences of this consistency and the literature on educational change are also highlighted. A particular focus is directed to…

Describes the Open University (OU) Physics for Science Teachers project. Explains how distance-learning packages are to be studied. Identifies the audience that the program will address. Discusses the reasons why this program can be successful. Suggests that their program is part of a wider program to improve science teaching. (CW)

The cost of extending teacher education to include a fifth year would be six billion dollars annually, and there is no evidence that extended programs produce more effective teachers. (Author/MSE)

Supervision as a field, in the main, remains susceptible and thus vulnerable to various forces, ideological and otherwise, that constrain its ability to play a significant role in instructional improvement and thus in educational leadership. Adherence to inspectional and fault finding supervision under the guise of standards-based and other…

This paper suggests that the idea of "taking stock" of the current program--reflecting on what educators believe to be best practice--and then "charting a course" of action to better align practice with vision is a deliberate way for teachers to build capacity to enact reform. It begins by providing a brief overview of the changing direction of…

Discusses both ideological and managerial precepts that came into play in the school decentralization struggle that took place in New York City in the 1970s. Describes the impact of decentralization on one poor, predominantly Black district. (GC)

Clinical supervision focuses on helping teachers improve their performance through the analysis of observed events in the classroom and postobservation critiques. (Author/MLF)

Studies are reported which compare the orientation to professionalism of elementary and secondary school teachers and teachers involved or not involved in a graduate program. (SJL)

Describes the teachers-as-learners concept employed by Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound's extended workshop on the Cherokee Nation Trail of Tears. Journal excerpts describing one teacher's experience are provided, along with lessons learned from treaty negotiations with a federal judge and Cherokee tribal representatives. "Summit"…