To ensure quality staff development, staff developers must understand the context in which it is delivered, with content, process, and context standards met simultaneously. One administrator's experiences serving on a school board in order to understand how to influence context standards are presented, discussing the creation of staff development…

Presents the perspectives of six advocates for quality staff development, including a principal who emphasizes questioning; a director of communications for parents who emphasizes reading clues; an educational consultant who recommends sharing information; a board of education member who recommends educating oneself; a school superintendent who…

Discusses what effective instructional leadership looks like, how principals can improve teaching, and how teachers' views of leaders affect what they do in the classroom. Highlights two major themes that principals exhibit in effective instructional leadership (talking with teachers to promote reflection and promoting professional growth). A…

In successful schools, teams of teachers meet regularly to examine student work through assessment and change their instructional practice accordingly to get better results. Staff developers should advocate simple but effective improvement mechanisms. The paper discusses what many improvement plans do wrong and recommends systematically reviewing…

Discusses the introduction of technological innovations into schools, suggesting that rather than relying on authority-driven initiatives, leaders should initiate change by developing teachers' learning capacities, thus creating environments with widespread commitment. This ensures that the commitment to the initiative is sustained rather than…

Discussions with 13 teachers nationwide examined what they thought about their roles as teacher leaders, highlighting benefits of teacher leadership, necessary supports, finding time, who to talk to for support, and what has been helpful in their role as teacher leaders. Respondents were genuinely concerned about their students, eager to…

After a district has determined it's using its resources for professional development efficiently, it may look for outside funding. Before asking for support from external funders, potential grant writers should examine their own level of commitment and then follow some simple procedures to maximize the possibility for success.

Before districts worry about spending more on professional development, they must look closely at what already is being spent. A careful analysis may show the district is spending more than leaders think, but their efforts may be fragmented and unprioritized. A budget analysis is the first step in being able to allocate resources for the maximum…

Advanced placement teachers around Chicago find their own intellectual stimulation reinvigorates their teaching and benefits their students. Through a consortium, these teachers group together to explore content-based topics using a rich variety of community resources, including a top library, university and museum resources. "This is my…

When the standards movement began more than 15 years ago, most educators welcomed the prospect of having clearly articulated student learning goals. The publication of the first set of standards by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1989 was greeted with unprecedented optimism. Standards offered educators a direction for reform…

Schools have differing levels of ability to develop leadership capacity. Yet even high leadership capacity schools may not always sustain improvements in student achievement. Several factors are key to realizing the promise of leadership. These factors challenge traditional concepts about leadership and the distribution of power, but when…

In Florida, a group of paraprofessionals worked with students struggling to read at grade level. The students' gains show that the intensive attention of these professionals to small groups of students can make a significant difference. This article presents a study about the effectiveness of paraprofessionals' and teachers' instruction for…

In this article, the author discusses how to stop running out of time for writing across the curriculum and features the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory that helps low-performing schools improve writing by incorporating writing instruction across the curriculum. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's systemic work to…

Journaling is an integral part of staff development because it allows individuals to consider their own learning thoughtfully and it also helps participants analyze their own and other's thought processes and think about how one thinks and learns. This article features Williamson County Schools in Franklin, Tennessee, which created an academy to…

Guidelines are given for training teachers to use computers, based on staff development experiences with the Hampshire (Massachusetts) Educational Collaborative's computer literacy program. Topics covered include training goals, course scheduling, staffing, participant needs, educational strategies, and evaluation. (PP)