Presents a history of beginning teacher mentoring, discussing what has been effective and suggesting that the best mentor programs provide funding, time, and expertise. Tips for success include: integrate mentoring with the school community, define "new teacher" and "mentor" broadly, maximize mentor training and ongoing support, and continue…

Differences between novice teachers and experienced newcomers are explored, and objectives are presented for staff development programs in which principals facilitate the induction of experienced newcomers. (Author)

A description is given of a mentor-protege program which promoted growth, recognition, experience-enhancing roles, and collegiality for mid- to late-career teachers who served as mentors. (Author/IAH)

Within an individual building, the School Improvement Process (SIP) provides a focus for staff development and an evaluation of results that are linked to student outcomes. SIP emphasizes a building level, bottom-up planning and decision-making process. This article presents a case study of an individual school's use of SIP. (IAH)

A review of five obstacles to teacher change (poorly planned staff development, reluctance to change, teacher isolation, failure to address adult learner needs, and rigid expectations) offers suggestions for combatting them and describes one school district's program which overcame these obstacles. (Author/CB)

While those involved in staff development often seek new or further information or research on effective successful staff development, they often overlook or do not know how to use the voluminous amount of literature that already exists regarding conditions, processes, adaptations, motivation, and strategies for effective educational change. (CB)

Presents strategies to help staff developers and classroom teachers work through the transition phase of a paradigm shift in educational practice, highlighting traditional assessment and grading models and noting the importance of allowing teachers time to reframe and integrate the new model, meeting in small groups to understand the transition.…

Describes how coteaching can enhance reflective practice. Three phases of coteaching help promote reflective practice and professional growth are described: building trust and setting goals via initial interviews, reflection-on-action, and reflection-in-action. Recommendations for staff developers are included. (SM)

Interview with Thomas Guskey examines the benefits of staff development, presenting reasons for interest in the topic, advice for educators who want to trace the impact of staff development programs on participants and students, and the need for staff developers to identify some targets and monitor movement toward the targets. (SM)

Staff developers can facilitate school improvement by helping administrators make more accurate employee performance appraisals. The article identifies seven common causes of rater errors, several ways to reduce the errors, and actions staff developers can take to help administrators recognize and reduce their potential for making errors when…

Assessment information can help school improvement teams focus the direction of improvement and specify action plans. A fishbone diagram can help identify contributing factors within four areas (educators, students, curriculum, and organization). An example from one middle school that used the diagram to improve students' writing assessment scores…

Teachers in an urban high school developed a professional growth project highlighting sustained, structured, collegial interactions that were powerful motivators and supported teacher learning and change. The paper describes important foundations for teacher learning, explores the professional growth project, and describes the project results,…

The Specialist-on-Site (S.O.S.) program was developed to train a teacher from each of a school district's campuses to design, deliver, and evaluate site-based staff development activities. Feedback from participants revealed the power of collaborative interaction. Teachers within schools viewed each other as resources for professional enrichment.…

Presents guidelines for staff developers who wish to create and sustain changes in schools. The article explains why staff development must be reconceptualized, discusses the emerging systems roles for staff developers, and shares information gained from extensive experience in applying a reconceptualized model of staff development. (SM)

Staff developers can foster teacher growth using varied approaches to teacher reflection, and developers must consider level of pedagogical functioning and psychological orientation when designing approaches to reflection for enhancing professional growth. The article suggests that providing appropriate reflective experiences at one stage helps…