A survey of 123 teachers enrolled in a university principal- preparation program revealed that teachers valued three kinds of principal behaviors: empowering (23 percent), supporting (36 percent), and communicating (41 percent). Praising is less important than treating teachers professionally, demonstrating support, and having an open-door policy.…

As an increasing number of schools undertake restructuring efforts, an instrument to measure teacher empowerment would be a useful took for researchers and evaluators. Such an instrument was used in a census survey of 10,544 teachers in 307 Venture Capital Schools in Ohio to obtain baseline measures of classroom teachers' participation in school…

This report presents the results of a study that examined the role and activities of reform coaches. Positions for reform coaches have been developed in a number of schools and districts in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). The study examined the reform coach role, the functions it provides to the…

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,…

The introduction of citizenship education as a key cross-curricular focus in Scottish national education guidelines is discussed in relation to New Labor's "Third Way" politics. Data from ongoing qualitative research in 10 Scottish schools provide evidence of pupil and staff participation in school decision-making processes as well as…

The purpose of this study was to train and empower computer teacher facilitators through enabling them to introduce technology to children, instruct peers in use of computers for early childhood education, and improve family literacy and computer literacy through parent education. Found significant differences and implications for empowered roles…

Two scenarios are presented involving a family's experience in accessing a quality inclusive education for their young child to illustrate what it might look like if all stakeholders assumed responsibility for implementing available research-based information to facilitate inclusive early childhood education. Roles of families, administrators,…

This study investigated how teachers described current decision making structures, culture, and the power/micropolitics of their work, examining how they used their agency to accomplish work and make decisions together under Florida's reform. Data came from interviews with 1996 and 1997 elementary educators selected as teachers of the year. The…

Over 100 interviews with teachers and administrators provide the base for this analysis of teacher empowerment in several highly decentralized school districts. Examined are (1) how teachers respond to opportunities for influence; (2) how such opportunities affect teaching; and (3) how opportunities affect teachers' work lives and sense of…

Student teaching may require student teachers to address the demands of two masters that often have very different expectations and philosophies. They are caught in a bind of being expected to implement methods advocated in university coursework while also being expected to fit into the classroom to which they are assigned. This bind is further…

Science education and the preparation of science teachers have been of great concern over the past two decades. This research investigated the influence of an extended elementary science teaching practicum upon preservice elementary teachers' (N=19) science self-efficacy. It explored both quantitatively and qualitatively the progression of teacher…

Work redesign to facilitate teacher empowerment was studied in a year-long comparative case study in two junior-high schools implementing a career-ladder program. Journals of 6 teacher leaders (TLs), 23 teachers, and 3 teacher-specialists; TLs' and novice teachers' midyear surveys; and 61 classroom observations by TLs and principals were analyzed.…

This study documents the struggles and successes of three Mexican American teachers over a 40-year period in the Alice Independent School District, Texas. In order to focus on the construction of the subjects' identity as Mexican American teachers, the interviews were transcribed and categorized into themes: parental influence, school experiences,…

This booklet contains a summary of a study of private schools. The study examined private schools, how they differ by type (Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian), and how they differ from public schools. Data were collected in 1999 and 2000 from an integrated set of survey instruments that collected information on a wide range of topics…

This paper presents case studies of four middle school preservice teachers' experiences with multicultural education during their approximately 16-week student teaching practicum in the southeastern United States. Student teachers were male and female, aged 21 to 42 years; one was African-American and three were European-American. The study was…