Teaching is a complex endeavor, and the pandemic era stretched teachers to their limit, leaving them in need of supports that ignite both their passion and capacity. The typical top-down mandates found in many schools need to be replaced with processes that meet teachers where they are, helping them grow so their students can grow, too. Ann…

Many principals use harassing supervision to encourage low-performing teachers to leave. Principals are driven to this tactic because teacher evaluation systems don't systematically identify low-performing teachers, principals don't understand the teacher removal process, principal training programs don't build principal expertise in hiring and…

Outlines a fictitious but ideal school in which staff work cooperatively and are encouraged to develop their talents. (MD)

Teachers acknowledge the need for supervision and evaluation in the schools, and they want to take part in developing or selecting evaluation instruments so they will be familiar with the criteria against which they are to be judged. (Author/IRT)

Addresses teachers' concerns generated by the Madeline Hunter clinical supervision movement sweeping over 60 percent of all Pennsylvania school districts. Although some teachers praise the model for its attention to teaching, sense of professionalism, standardization of teaching methods, and career enhancement approach, two-thirds of the teachers…

A principal boasts that he spends two hours a day in classrooms. And it is true--he really does visit his school's 17 teachers daily, chatting with students and occasionally chiming in on a lesson. But when teachers are asked what kind of feedback they get, they say the principal rarely talks to them about what he sees when he strolls through…

Teachers and administrators in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, received inservice training to prepare them for participation in a widely appreciated supervisory relationship that grants teachers professional respect and reserves formal evaluation for teachers who are clearly failing to meet objectives cited in their personal professional growth plans. (PGD)

Dispelling the myth that beginning teachers are fully equipped to handle the demands of their professions begins by acknowledging that the first months and years of teaching are full of pain, confusion, loneliness, and often humiliation. Schools can help by fostering beginner peer groups and encouraging early professional development and…

Discusses four complementary interventions required for principals to improve classroom visits: Provide clear, grade-specific curriculum proficiency targets; develop results-oriented, teacher team-planned curriculum units; adopt Japanese lesson study approach to teaching; and use data to improve teaching and learning. (PKP)

Teach for America, the recent private reincarnation of the 1960s Teacher Corps, sends college graduates to teach for two years in understaffed schools. One TFA participant warns those planning President Clinton's national service program that eight weeks of training is insufficient to train competent teachers. Unless teachers are smartly selected,…

An effective systemwide teacher supervision and evaluation program can be developed only if district leaders (representing the school committee, administration, and teacher association) carefully attend to the ELPS (the educational, legal, public-relations, and social/emotional components of the process). A Massachusetts district's experience is…

Presents findings of a case study of three New York City high schools conducted in 1980 to determine the effects of retrenchment. Focuses on six areas: instruction, programs, support services, facilities, equipment and supplies, and extracurricular activities. (WD)

In Oklahoma, a new law (H.B. 1706)--the product of efforts by educators at all levels--promises to provide a framework to strengthen the preparation, induction, and continuing education of teachers. (Author/WD)

Teacher evaluation is problematic because it combines two conflicting tasks: improving instruction and judging performance. A Boston elementary principal gradually devised an informal supervision/evaluation system involving brief, random, and frequent classroom visits followed by praise, affirmation, suggestions, and constructive criticism. Even…