The purpose of the final report on the Montana Beginning Teacher Support Program (BTSP) is to provide a comprehensive description of all phases of the program as it was conducted from 1992 through 1995. The purpose of the BTSP was to study the effect of a formal mentorship relationship between master teachers (mentors) and teachers in their first…

Field experiences for preservice teachers are replete with problems including insufficient budgets and concerns about the dominance of the preservice teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor triad. This paper advocates the development of a diadic model that would, through training, expand the supervisory role of the cooperating…

This paper reports the findings from the qualitative component of a study of first-year teachers in urban schools in Connecticut during the school year 1989-90. Five first-year teachers, each from a different school in the Hartford (Connecticut) Public School System, were interviewed at 2-week intervals throughout the school year. The study was…

This study investigated instructional leadership functions and school policy factors that affected implementation of instructional strategies presented in a research-based staff development program for secondary school mathematics teachers in school districts in the Chicago suburbs. The instructional leadership functions included the amount and…

This study focused on the experiences of cooperating teachers beyond their immediate work with student teachers. The study was a major part of a collaborative action research project in which 172 cooperating teachers experienced the new role of "University Associate" as part of the University of California-Irvine Professional Development…

By examining the role of supervision in the induction process of second career teachers, this study provides a new lens both for examining the career transition of second career teachers and for viewing the role of instructional supervision. Using case study methodology, the transitions of three cohorts (N=38) of participants in a teacher…

A study investigated the nature, dynamics, and scope of the induction process for beginning vocational teachers. Ten purposefully selected groups of beginning vocational teachers from eight different states participated in nominal group technique sessions. Two groups were selected for intensive follow-up for case study. A mail survey of a…

To gather information about local Alaskan schooling, researchers surveyed 327 rural school site administrators to determine their backgrounds, school activities, expectations of student performance, perceptions of school-community relations, and perceptions of the roles of actors in school governance. Results of the questionnaire indicated that…

This study attempts to evaluate the effects of special training for collegial supervision under the conditions of two types of organization development (OD) training within the multiunit school. The first type of OD intervention involved training for all the staff members of a multiunit school. The second was called group development (GD) and…

This study focused on the "failure" experienced by four female novice teachers who were successful in university course work but experienced considerable difficulty in their initial teaching assignments. The difficulties these women encountered are examined through analysis of observation notes, interview transcripts, journals and autobiographical…

Using a qualitative approach, documents were reviewed and teachers, peer evaluators, instructional supervisors, and administrators were interviewed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of peer evaluation programs in three school districts. Specifically, this study examines peer involvement in the summative evaluation of teachers in three school…

In October 1975 a questionnaire was sent to 200 members randomly selected from the "Directory of Faculty Members Teaching in the Field of Higher Education" to determine satisfaction with their teaching role. The research was designed to test Herzberg's theory, which states that "hygiene factors" (job context) are related to…

The study described in this report examined an attempt to reshape student teacher supervision during the practicum experience by adding a more collaborative dimension. Its purpose was to assess the impact of combination supervision (individual, group, collaborative) on the development of student teachers' perceptions of themselves as teachers, of…

This book presents five papers that address a variety of issues confronting those who work directly with young children and their teachers. The first three articles present ways of thinking about what constitutes professionalism in working with children and parents. Specifically, "Contemporary Perspectives on the Roles of Mothers and…

Presents the findings of a six-year staff development program for multigrade teachers. Discovers a significant increase in the time on task levels of the pupils and the instructional and classroom management skills of the teachers. Discusses the implications of, and problems with, the study. (MJP)