The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality instructional and formative assessment tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense…

As the nation's economy continues its irrevocable shift from manufacturing toward idea-driven, creative industries, our schools--and the teaching and learning enterprise at the heart of our schools--need to undergo a transformation as well. The result of such a transformation needs to be a type of educational experience and expertise that will not…

This paper introduces blended learning as a pedagogical approach, which was explored through the European project InnoEd and the way InnoEd undertook by using the on-line InnoEd VRLE. European educators in the InnoEd project have utilised a range of learning activities to help to improve Innovation Education. A mixture of lectures, visual…

From national initiatives that aim to broadly reform education to local efforts to pair children with tutors, corporations are increasingly involved with schools. The idea of business-school relationships is not new. However, the confluence of several powerful currents--corporate advocacy on education policy, cash-strapped public schools,…

This article reports on a needs assessment study which investigated Greek Cypriot teachers' in-service training needs in the context of local demands for educational reform and the drive to reformulate teachers' professional development. Data presented in the article were collected through open-ended questionnaires in addition to individual and…

Ongoing educational reform initiatives have ushered in significant changes in teacher-certification regulations. Many states no longer offer permanent certification, but instead require teachers to participate in career-long professional development (PD). Accordingly, increasing attention is being paid to the effectiveness of PD initiatives,…

The Arizona Leadership Academy (ALA) assists school leadership teams in making a positive difference in their schools and communities in order to improve the education of the students of Arizona. Participants focus on schools and communities working together, examine the role of professional growth and development for educators, develop a…

The purposes of this institute were to (1) provide the information needed to offer vocational courses for the non-college bound handicapped and disadvantaged, (2) point out the need for remedial and psychological services, (3) increase participants' understanding of the role of the counselor in our rapidly changing society, (4) increase emphasis…

Comparisons of data for Italy and other European countries show that Italy has lower educational attainment for the 25-64 age group, shorter length of compulsory schooling, and less inservice training for employed adults. The Centre for the Study of Social Investment in Italy identified needs for functional literacy, supplementary and vocational…

In this paper we examine challenges of Japanese teachers' professional development which points to the essential change in in-service teacher training programs. Emphasis is placed here on an integrated model for professional development that should be deliberately designed to assist teacher training to construct an understanding of the spirit of…

Providing just-in-time job-embedded professional learning using a technologically mediated model achieves professional growth goals and encourages teachers to build digital literacy competencies and incorporate new technologies in instructional approaches in the classroom. This article highlights the lessons learned from an award-winning…

This paper describes a leadership model based on assumptions about connections between human development and organizational development, and the application of the model in leadership training for New Hampshire special education directors. The model assumes that four critical factors of human development outlined by Piaget and Meisels can be…

Inservice workshops conducted by elementary principals and teachers could be used to prepare all teachers to use outdoor education as a way to teach the present elementary school curriculum, with additional time spent on science and social studies. Teachers would be introduced to a program that uses the outdoors at least 50% of the time as the…

The Administrator Professional Development Program, sponsored by the Howard University Teacher Corps, began in the spring of 1978. Its participants include principals, assistant principals, and one special education director from a low socioeconomic area of Washington, D.C., and a university facilitator. The goals and development activities of the…