When public pressure mounts for teacher accountability, current methods of evaluating teachers are widely regarded as inadequate. Teachers often feel that evaluation is hasty, arbitrary, and threatening; more important, it gives them little practical help in improving their performance. This paper describes a pilot test of a new collegial…

Evaluated was a 3-year graduate program to train teachers of emotionally disturbed (ED) children. The program's major goals were the acquisition of basic knowledge in special education and child development, the attainment of skills for professional teaching competence, and the development of deepened sensitivity to oneself and others. The…

Key elements of effective teacher development include a focus on curriculum and job-situated problems, hands-on opportunities to apply learning, and collaboration among teachers (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002; National Staff Development Council, 2001). Program developers at The Education…

This paper examines the ineffectiveness of evaluation instruments for evaluating teacher instructional performance and compares evaluation with clinical supervision. Supervision identifies what occurs within classrooms, emphasizing teachers' instructional performance, while evaluation also includes other areas such as the teacher's appearance,…

This study interviewed 22 stakeholders in a Professional Development School (PDS) to determine their attitudes about the purpose, processes, relationships, and outcomes of their partnership. The study involved a series of in-depth, semi-structured, 1-hour interviews with PDS stakeholders to identify critical elements deemed necessary for the…

This report presents information from a study of the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in New South Wales, Australia. The study investigated teaching strategies that led to success at the HSC. Researchers identified successful teachers, observed them teaching an HSC class, and followed up with an interview. Groups of ex-students also completed…

This study evaluated differences between persisters and nonpersisters in a 3-year teacher development program. Participants were K-12 teachers from a large school district with both urban and suburban schools. They were part of a grant to help teachers implement state content standards through cognitive coaching, nonverbal classroom management,…

This book examines teachers' lounges as sites for the development of communal knowledge. It highlights data from surveys of teachers regarding their interactions in 26 elementary and secondary teachers' lounges in Israeli schools. The book regards teachers in lounges as learners, whether they are involved in formal professional development…

This study investigated professional growth as an individually reflective and authentically collaborative phenomenon. The study examined the extent to which self-directed professional learning, personal and shared reflection, and authentic collaboration within a supportive study group could create changes in secondary teachers' perceptions of…

This study explored the feasibility of evaluating the effectiveness of learning transfer from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) short-term (1 day or less) workshops to the teacher and through the teacher to the student, focusing on attitude toward science, science-related behavior, and knowledge variables. Participants were 33…

This study examined whether the effects of collaboration between schools and higher education would persist 1 year after discontinuation of an action research project. Participants were teachers and other district personnel who had completed an action research seminar the previous year. They completed a survey that compared their present attitudes…

This study investigated what master teachers and student teachers learned from one another during reciprocal teaching. Data came from two exploratory case studies at elementary schools in southern California. The first study focused on the contributions of partner elementary student teachers to the professional development of their master…

This paper examines what it would take to expand the number of teacher leaders in mathematics, noting that one of the major obstacles facing reform in mathematics education is the lack of adequate preparation among teachers currently teaching mathematics. The paper highlights experiences that have promoted the development of three middle school…

This study examined 10 urban middle school teacher leaders who played significant roles in their districts' and states' large-scale standards reform efforts. Interviews, observations, and shadowing were conducted during the first year to examine the teachers' scope of work. Observations focused on teachers working with a range of students and with…

Data were collected from primary school administrators about Hong Kong schools' professional development and its relationship with change and improvement and about the administrators' professional development beliefs and practices. The study found incongruence between espoused administrator beliefs about professional development and practices in…