Brown University's Coalition of Essential Schools offers alternatives to traditional routines and practices. The article observes three Essential Schools teachers who have begun changing their classroom practices. Information is presented from an ongoing, three-year study of teacher change sponsored by the coalition. (SM)

The present level of competence in teaching and the quality of teacher education are discussed. More emphasis should be placed on graduate professional education programs, which would draw the "best and the brightest." Eight recommendations for improving preservice teacher education are given, including creation of a teaching doctorate and…

Results of a program to improve teaching in New York City schools through teacher-to-teacher networks are reported. The program, IMPACT II, solicits ideas from teachers, awards development and dissemination grants, and helps other teachers replicate innovations. A District Incentive Grants Program for teachers is also described. (PP)

An alternative to the consumptive approach to reform is a productive model which utilizes practitioners' knowledge and seeks ways to enhance this knowledge. A dialogical evaluation method, such as horizontal evaluation, is one way to encourage teachers to recover what they know and to articulate and assess this knowledge. (IAH)

Considers the relationship between teacher development and the workplace, examining the effect of individual characteristics and significant others. Researchers interviewed beginning teachers about workplace relationships, teaching situations, high/low points, critical incidents, obstacles, and opportunities. The article looks at rethinking…

In discussing Donna Kerr's recommendations for improving teaching through better preservice training (Teachers College Record, Spring 1983), Sykes points out the need to enhance the quality of a teacher's work life in the schools as a requisite for reform. Specific changes at the school level are suggested. (PP)

Proposes a curriculum for teacher learning over time, examining the fit between conventional teacher education, induction, professional development, and the challenges of learning to teach in reform-minded ways. The paper examines: central tasks of teacher preparation, induction, and development; how well conventional arrangements address these…

Paper considers the strategy of using aligned policies to encourage more ambitious instruction for all students from the perspective of elementary classroom teachers charged with implementing such instruction. Nine elementary teachers' responses to their local school district's efforts to press more ambitious ideas about literacy instruction are…

A discussion of recent trends in state educational reform stresses the importance of addressing two challenges: teaching all students higher order thinking and developing more systematic, coherent policies. The article describes the challenges, examines how state policies in the 1980s addressed them and how districts responded, and suggests future…

Teacher networks used in California and Vermont are examined. Interviews, observations, and document analyses identified how teacher beliefs, teacher experience, social influences, and practical circumstances interacted with program goals and methods to shape teachers' experiences with networks, views of teaching and learning, and classroom…

Reports a study that examined 16 educational reform networks that are used as alternative forms of teacher and school development. The results identified five shared organizational themes and five shared tensions. This paper describes educational reform networks, discusses essential elements, examines the themes and tensions, and suggests…

This critical review of the 1986 Holmes and Carnegie reports, discusses arts and sciences, minority recruitment, teacher empowerment, and clinical experiences as covered in the reports. Four responses to the review are included. (SM)