In this wide-ranging interview with Educational Leadership, Stanford University Professor of Education Linda Darling-Hammond discusses the kind of preparation and support new teachers need to survive their critical first years in the classroom. Among her central recommendations are more intensive mentoring that lasts through the first year of…

The educational needs of the curriculum specialist are discussed. (CK)

Proposes a method for evaluating courseware as an integral part of curriculum, based both on "curriculum commonplaces" (the curriculum content and all that surrounds it) and on educational values and beliefs; an evaluative matrix is offered, with the commonplaces arrayed along one axis, values and beliefs along the other. (MCG)

The core of adversary evaluation is the existence of opposing viewpoints, not adherence to existing formats for presenting them. Suggests that evaluators develop adversary methods more appropriate for education. (Author/MLF)

Eisner's educational criticism model produces a richer description of an English classroom than does Flanders' interaction analysis. (Author)

After establishing ambitious learning outcomes to prepare students for the next century, a Colorado school district used a framework developed at a nearby educational laboratory as a model to create appropriate assessment criteria and tasks. The revised assessment procedures have produced significant benefits for both students and teachers,…

Researchers who compared Nebraska high school curricula between 1953 and 1983 have developed a model readily adaptable to individual districts desiring a more informed basis for decision making. (Author)

As schools develop new curriculum and assessment models, they will need to answer four questions: What do we want students to know and be able to do? What will count as acceptable performance? How can we ensure expert judgments? How can we provide feedback? Answering these questions will help schools and teachers connect teaching, learning,…

Argues the importance of improving teacher evaluation and educational accountability, and outlines a suggested model for effective teacher supervision and evaluation. (JG)

As a high school principal, the author came to realize that the traditional teacher observation and evaluation model did not help teachers become reflective and improve their practice. Because his own use of brief, frequent principal walk-throughs had given him valuable insights into the need for instructional improvements, he decided to offer…

In this article, the author draws attention to the fact that in school evaluations, students will improve on state-mandated tests, but the improved scores will not influence a school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) status because those students' scores do not cross the proficiency point. A state's proficiency point on each of its standardized…

A professor of educational psychology describes the goals of research in progress on the personal characteristics of expert teachers, compares classroom management techniques of expert teachers with those of beginning and student teachers, and criticizes existing teacher evaluation systems for their lack of uniform standards and experienced…