People everywhere generally agree that the purpose of schools is "student learning." Further, people are generally in agreement that the most significant factor determining whether students learn well is "teaching quality." Teaching quality is improved through "continuous professional learning." Today, the most promising context for continuous…

A school that ensures that all students--regardless of race, creed, color, socioeconomic status, gender, or disabilities--have access to and receive the highest-quality education has achieved a key measure of social justice. Since the most significant factor in whether students learn well is quality teaching, and teaching is enhanced through…

"Even Champions Have Coaches" is a North Carolina program begun under the assumption that preparing principals as trainer/coaches for their peers would allow them to understand how change occurs in schools and increase the probability of successful implementation of state educational initiatives. (MT)

Studying one's profession, especially when done in community with others, where the learning is richer and deeper, has not been the norm in the education community. Educators typically have been physically isolated from each other because of the structure of school facilities and the schedules that dominate the school day. This physical isolation…

This book provides diagnostic techniques for assessing the needs of school personnel involved in implementing new innovations for school improvement. Using the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as a framework, it discusses the roles and personal needs of the people involved in the change process and provides strategies for the total management…

This paper reviews objectives, methodology, and data analysis procedures of a study concerning educational innovation. This research, part of the Procedures for Adopting Educational Innovations (PAEI) Program at the University of Texas at Austin, was undertaken to study interventions and their effects. It was considered a first step in determining…

This article first explores the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) identified in the research literature. Second, it examines the staff and student outcomes derived from the implementation and integration of a PLC in a K-12 school or a university. Third, it provides suggestions for school leaders about creating and…

The procedures and coding schema that have been developed by the Research on the Improvement Process (RIP) Program for analyzing the frequency of interventions and for examining their internal characteristics are described. In two in-depth ethnographic studies of implementation efforts, interventions were the focus of data collection and analysis.…

In 11 chapters, this book has been organized around the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), a sophisticated way to understand the change process and how participants experience it. This model provides ways for practitioners and policymakers to label change process phenomena, to take positive action in facilitating change, and to predict effects.…

Describes the Principal-Teacher Interaction Study that focused on the interventions made by nine elementary school principals and their staff and on their involvement together in the implementation of new curricula. Examines what principals and others did in the process of facilitating change and what effects their interventions had on the…

One fiscally poor elementary school created a place for quality work by staff and maintained the standards for many years through various ongoing teacher development activities. An essential factor in developing the school culture was believing that teachers must be honored, supported, and trusted before they could honor the students. (SM)

Research shows that principals with strong leadership qualities are a critical factor in effective schools. This paper describes three research based techniques that principals can use when making decisions about how to help teachers develop their skills. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) is an empirically based conceptual framework that…