Effective school leaders use a variety of strategies-- including creating opportunities for teachers to learn from each other--to encourage and support teachers in achieving greater excellence in the classroom. "Teachers teaching teachers" is a concept that can pay real dividends when it focuses on ways to engage and motivate students to perform…

This study examined the level of professional community in seven urban elementary schools that served large proportions of low-income students and that had engaged in innovative, schoolwide professional development and reform. The study points out to what extent and in what ways professional development at each school addressed professional…

This report provides 10 guiding principles for aligning school spending with the goal of creating a system of high-performing schools: (1) It is necessary to recognize that money matters--"you get what you pay for" applies to schools; (2) Aligning school spending to the goals of high performance requires investing in those things that…

This guide is the result of a 2-year initiative, Results-Based Staff Development for the Middle Grades. It provides information and resources for selecting, designing, and evaluating staff development to improve student achievement. It targets school staff development committees, principals, staff development leaders, and curriculum coordinators.…

Suggests that good fourth-grade teaching is an expert activity--a complex activity that is not amenable to scripted materials, standardized lessons, or any one-size-fits-all plan for the organization of instruction. Shows that the 30 exemplary teachers discussed produce superior educational gains as measured on standardized achievement tests--not…

Education guru Madeline Hunter crusades against the intuitive, spontaneous, improvisational approach to teaching and spreads her model of teaching as an applied science in which education is based on proven research findings that link cause and effect. The article details her beliefs and reactions by supporters and critics. (SM)

This interview with Phillip Schlechty, a leader in school reform, discusses assumptions about teachers' roles, suggesting teachers be viewed as inventors and leaders of knowledge workers. The interview addresses teachers as inventors; developing school leaders; assumptions about behavior; structural changes in education; building capacity for…

Organized to make learning contagious throughout the school, this user-friendly guide helps create a culture of learning that promotes the simultaneous development of students, teachers, and parents--addressing specific ways to maximize study groups, student data, classroom walk-throughs, and more. The interactive self-assessment protocols focus…

Included in this document is an address by the governor of Pennsylvania to fellow citizens stressing the need to improve the quality of public education in the state. Presented in outline format, the agenda has three main sections. The first section discusses shared responsibility between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the state's boards of…

The School Improvement Model project, a total systems approach to evaluating and improving instruction, will be fully implemented by 1983-84. The project includes four components: teacher performance evaluation, administrator performance evaluation, student achievement measurement, and staff development. Five school districts in Minnesota and Iowa…

This article describes two types of classroom process research (process-product and descriptive) which are being funded by the National Institute of Education, and it analyzes the trend toward a greater emphasis on descriptive research. (MM)

In discussing the past, present, and future of research in teacher effectiveness, this article notes that researcher's conceptions of teacher effectiveness has determined the nature of the research and the usefulness of the findings; process-product research can produce reliable information; the tools needed to build a knowledge base for effective…

Findings from this project suggest that (1) effective teaching can be predicted from observation in natural classroom settings and (2) a teacher can be trained in the use of observation instruments in order to assess another teacher's performance. (MM)

Describes a pilot project in the schools of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), where the model of teachers-as-researchers encourages teachers to explore aspects of their own teaching and question their practices. It is seen as a form of professional development allowing teachers to develop their own theories and enhance their teaching skills. (MD)

Presents lessons learned from a Minnesota project that used a computerized system to help teachers implement the state's academic-content standards. The project also created new ways of looking at curriculum that have become useful tools for Minnesota teachers. The paper explains the project's vision, early steps, unforeseen obstacles, and…