Findings are reported from a series of studies of staff development coordinators, principals, and superintendents carried out in Georgia. The staff development needs of the three groups are identified, ranked, and compared. Implications for staff developers are proposed. (IAH)

New York's Maine-Endwell Central School District has faced a decreasing budget, even as its needs have increased. As opportunities for paid summer or after-hours professional development work evaporated, the district needed to support teachers' professional learning within the workday. Giving teachers time within regular work hours, however, led…

Conrad Ball Middle School in Loveland, Colorado, earned a "School to Watch" Award in 2005 from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform and was designated as high-performing by the state. However, in 2002, the school had its lowest test scores ever. Teachers at Conrad Ball received the news and determined they would turn…

The mastery learning model called "Essentials, Correctives, and Enrichment" was adopted in the fall of 1982 in one elementary school in Goochland County, Virginia. The experiment has been expanded to all county elementary schools and is currently being implemented in the junior and senior high schools. (MT)

An already existing professional development structure composed of a steering committee on policy, curriculum coordinators, and building-level staff development associates enabled the Greenwich (Connecticut) Public Schools to plan and carry out staff development in computer literacy. Responsiveness and flexibility are key elements of the program.…

Examines research about the effectiveness of professional development. Procedural guidelines drawn from research on individual and organizational change provide a framework for developing the optimal mix of professional development processes and technologies for specific contexts at particular points in time. The potential impact of implementing…

Explores leadership development from preservice preparation programs to renewal activities for veteran administrators. Staff development professionals offer examples of leadership development, such as the preparation of prospective principals, using mentors, promoting ownership in staff development, linking school districts with universities, and…

As teachers and leaders are well aware, schools and districts across the country have invested enormous amounts of money and energy in creating data management systems so that teachers can access information about their students' performance. With these systems in place, the focus now needs to move to the structures and allocation of time that…

This article reviews recent research on successful evaluation, highlights differences between supervision and evaluation, and discusses alternative philosophies regarding supervision, teaching, and change. Suggestions are presented for staff developers to use in helping a school district to clarify what it believes and to select programs congruent…

Staff developers can plan better programs if they have some knowledge of adult learning theory and if they use principles and practices of exemplary adult education. Participants should be helped to examine their cultural and organizational assumptions. (JD)

A model staff development program used at Bristol Eastern High School, Connecticut, suggests a role for principals to play in promoting and maintaining a professional development program with significant faculty involvement. It involves opportunities for teachers to interact with one another via sharing sessions, peer observations, and committee…

Describes the long-range efforts to develop a comprehensive, multitiered multicultural education program in the Columbus (Ohio) Public School District. The article includes discussions on the philosophical framework underlying the program, staff development, curriculum changes, program planning and evaluation, course descriptions, and program…

There is no denying that combining two schools, or even opening a new school, is loaded with challenges and frustrations as well as high expectations. Principal Tracy Shafer saw a rural school consolidation as an opportunity to use professional development to create a community focused on student learning, meeting the need for high-quality…

Creating a culture of inquiry rather than continuing to work in a culture of isolation represents a significant change within schools that must be supported. In this article, the author presents and discusses a well-constructed agenda template which shows topic, purpose, guiding questions, and background or process. He states that an agenda…

Principals manage schools, ensuring that nothing interrupts business as usual. They spend little time on instruction. A good principal is the one who works in a high-achieving school that has no significant management problems. Districts celebrate improved student results by recognizing an outstanding crop of students, rarely pointing to the…