During Fiscal Year 1994, the Ohio Department of Education's Division of Early Childhood Education implemented internal structural changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The division prioritized program interests and functional activities including: (1) collaboration; (2) curriculum and professional development; (3) standards and…

This document presents a report of a 1992 workshop on teacher development and educational reform. The meeting focused on how various state teacher policies could be integrated into a coherent and comprehensive statewide teacher-development system. Following the executive summary, this report contains two main sections. The first sets the context…

This book discusses the crusade for educational excellence since the early 1980s. It argues that the reform movement has failed to adequately address the extraordinary degree of alienation and apathy among secondary school students and teachers, and the schools' contribution to the problem, i.e., there exists a human element of the education…

This conference presentation describes study groups as a mechanism for changing teacher behavior. The history of study groups is discussed, beginning with the first American study groups organized by Benjamin Franklin; the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle; the waning of study groups in the early 20th century as college enrollment…

This document provides a framework for the development of sustained and coordinated activities to support Kentucky teachers in learning the new roles and ways of teaching envisioned in the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. The report begins with a discussion of the context of reform, which is seen as consisting of two realities: new expectations…

This paper offers an action plan that facilitates the implementation of educational reform in New York State by taking into consideration the major recommendations of four recognized publications: "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century,""The Revolution That Is Overdue: Looking Toward the Future of Teaching and…

Rural education trends in the 1980s--influenced by decreased federal, state, and local funding and demands for higher academic standards and greater accountability--will have a significant impact on staff development in small and rural schools. Along with ebbing support for compensatory education and increased focus on math and science…

An understanding of the professional development of educators involved in career education is necessary for an understanding of changes occurring in the field of education. Changes brought about in education have caused shifts in the professional and occupational behavior of educators, only some of whom perceive themselves as change agents.…

This study, based on an examination of five improving high-poverty school districts, identified key factors to improving instruction across entire school systems. All of the participating districts had seen a rise in poverty over a decade, had experienced significant changes in ethnic and racial makeup, and had seen increases in the percentage of…

To examine how Kentucky teachers perceive their needs and how to best meet those needs in the context of systemic reform, researchers examined teachers' plans for their own professional development. Data came from case studies of 21 Kentucky schools that were part of the Professional Development in the Service of Systemic Reform project and a…

This paper presents one educator's experiences at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, in leading teacher education reform from 1990-1996. It is written from her perspective as the head of a school of teacher education. The school is primarily concerned with preparing elementary educators, with smaller programs for secondary educators…

This research report offers a theoretical frame for examining recent instructional improvement efforts. First, it develops a theoretical view of instruction and an analysis of the environments of instruction. It analyzes the relations between instruction and its environments and the circumstances under which intervenors must operate. The report…

This paper reports a review of journal articles listed in the British Education Index and the Cumulative Index of Journals of Education under the keywords of "inset" or "inservice" and either Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, or one of the 50 sub-Saharan African countries by name. Reports from Nigeria and South Africa form a…

Asserts that while some students will become Internet "fanatics" most will never tap the enormous power of the Internet without a coordinated system of instruction. Discusses the components of an acceptable use policy and gives examples from various schools. Recommends teachers review the technology section of educational journals. (MJP)

One of five articles in the section on the "Promise and Purpose of Professional Development Schools," this article examines the six propositions originally put forth for professional development schools (PDS) by the Holmes Group (1990) in "Tomorrow's School." The paper recommends revisiting the six propositions in terms of…