This report describes a program for administrator and lead teacher professional development based on revised standards of the National Staff Development Council. The program acted as a catalyst for improving professional development practices at school sites. The report also presents a preliminary evaluation of the process, which involved…

This report examines the need for ongoing support of teachers as professionals, offering concrete steps that presidents or chancellors can take to improve their programs. It highlights: "A Call for Action"; "What Can University Presidents Do To Best Assure a Competent, Caring and Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom?"; "Why Focus on Professional…

In this article, the authors explore the ideas that revolve around improving the quality of the teacher workforce through the pursuit of two related goals: (1) teachers who are hired by school districts will have as beginning professionals the acquired knowledge, habits of mind, and skills necessary to meet the needs of the students within the…

The goals of the QUILT program are to increase and sustain teacher use of classroom questioning techniques and procedures that produce higher levels of student learning and thinking, and to increase the incidence of student responses at higher levels of cognition. Educational research has established relationships between discrete questioning…

An inservice program to teach instructional strategies that promote metacognitive development to classroom teachers in their roles as instructional designers, based on the notion that instruction in metacognitive strategies must be incorporated into content instruction, is described. Teachers were informed about the following specific…

This paper posits that metaphor, in addition to embellishing language, promotes a comprehensive understanding of complex concepts and phenomena and provides teachers with a powerful way to talk about their work. The main body of this document, which includes an extensive review of the literature, considers the use of metaphors for mentoring in the…

Research shows that teachers are the single most important factor in student learning in schools. Students who have access to highly qualified teachers achieve at a higher rate, regardless of other factors. Teachers to be highly qualified must be well prepared, especially in improving the quality of education facing global challenges. For this…

The summer institute phase of the Hartford Effective Schools Initiative is evaluated in this report. Part 1 includes (1) an overview of training content; (2) a section on trainers' methods, assessing strengths and weaknesses; (3) participants' responses to training based on observations by the evaluation staff and informal interviews with…

Widely endorsed national reports on educational reform have proposed career ladders and merit pay to raise the quality of the teaching force, and hence contribute to educational excellence. This report contends that careful analysis of proposed changes of teacher reward systems has been omitted. The issues requiring attention involve incentive…

Sixteen instructors who teach the ninth grade career cluster programs at the Cape May County Career Center produced learning activity packets which would constitute the required career exploration and decision-making activities for ninth graders. At a forty-hour workshop conducted during the summer of 1979 they developed fifteen separate but…

In 1993, Merck & Co., Inc. began an endeavor to make a significant and visible commitment to improving science education by creating the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE) and supported the new venture with a 10-year, $20-million financial commitment. From its inception, MISE had two goals: to raise the interest, participation, and…

For all the conflict generated by various K-12 education reform efforts, there is one principle everyone agrees on: teachers need to know the subject matter they teach. This principle makes sense to parents, educators, and policy makers alike. On the importance of a teacher's knowledge the views range from those who believe subject knowledge to be…

This report provides state policymakers with a review of current issues and challenges in the professional development of teachers. The changing role of states in professional development is examined, and it is argued that while state involvement in professional development programs has increased, inadequate attention is being paid to the quality…

In 1987, a review of Ontario's community college system was initiated to assess the system's present human resource development practices and plan future directions. A field-based study was conducted to identify and assess current human resource development efforts, identify areas for improvement, and suggest possible future directions. Through…

In October 1990, South Seattle Community College (SSCC), in Washington State, received Title III funds to establish a Faculty Development Team (FDT) which provided faculty with training, equipment, and other resources on outcomes assessment, the use of emerging technologies, multicultural education, and teaching and learning styles. This…