If education is to keep up with social and technological change, teachers must be learning and developing at a rate similar to that of students, requiring the educational staff to render highly diverse and wide-ranging services. The basic strategy essential to such services is the development of differentiated staffing patterns which will allow…

For all the conflict generated by various K-12 education reform efforts, there is one principle everyone agrees on: teachers need to know the subject matter they teach. This principle makes sense to parents, educators, and policy makers alike. On the importance of a teacher's knowledge the views range from those who believe subject knowledge to be…

The faculty of one rural middle school in Ohio received professional development funds to implement a 5-year school improvement plan (Ohio's Venture Capital initiative). A study of the project investigated: (1) how the experience affected teachers' perceptions of their roles as reflective practitioners and as resources to their colleagues; (2) how…

This paper describes how one New York City school district uses staff development to change instruction system-wide, discussing the role local school districts play in systemic school improvement and the role of professional development in connecting reform policy to classroom practice. The paper emphasizes the district's sustained attention to…

Describes POET (Principles of Educating Teachers), an ongoing statewide effort to improve the quality of Georgia's preservice teacher education in middle school mathematics and science. Explores POET's goals, foundations, processes, and activities and notes what POET staff have learned about statewide teacher education reform. (SM)

The first part of this article looks at new roles and responsibilities for teachers, and how they develop from the mission and goals of the professional development school (PDS). The second part examines how experienced and preservice teachers are being prepared and supported for these new roles, and explores implications for schools,…

Describes Thinking Mathematics, a research-based approach to teaching mathematics. Value is placed on thinking and communicating mathematically and using what is known to find the unknown. The program requires teachers to rethink their beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning mathematics. Examples of program implementation are given.…

Examines two concepts: subjective theory and teacher-as-researcher. Two research models (the subjective to scientific exchange approach and action research) are applied to two case studies of teachers participating in an inquiry-based INSET course to test the usefulness of theoretical change concepts for the understanding of individual change…

Addresses various Professional Development School (PDS) functions (teacher preparation, staff development, research, and student learning), describing the development of one urban PDS. Highlights issues raised by an exploratory study of a cohort of interns at the PDS and by a collaborative effort of the school and a field-based teacher-education…

Describes a partnership among English-education faculty members and secondary English teachers, arguing that a multisite, discipline-based professional-development faculty provides an alternative for secondary-level Professional Development School principles-in-action. The paper discusses reform, departmentalization of high school and college…

This report provides state policymakers with a review of current issues and challenges in the professional development of teachers. The changing role of states in professional development is examined, and it is argued that while state involvement in professional development programs has increased, inadequate attention is being paid to the quality…

The National Education Goals were adopted by the nation's governors in 1990. The March 1994 enactment of the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" made the National Education Goals federal policy and the guiding principles for a fundamental restructuring of the public education system. These goals have created a climate of education reform…

In the spirit of education reform, this paper presents a literature review that provides a framework for discussing methods of teacher evaluation, their effectiveness in assessing what they purport to do, and the concern for better evaluation methods that can lead to improved teaching. The chief concerns addressed are what actually defines an…

States have enacted a variety of far-reaching educational reforms in recent years which have focused on a mix of standards for improved programs and greater accountability for both students and teachers. In California, teacher professionalism reforms, including induction reform, have been introduced. Research, now in its third and final year, has…

The articles in this issue reflect the theme effecting change in reading programs. Titles and authors of the articles include the following: (1) "Commentary: Becoming a Nation of Readers--the Undergraduate's View" (Michael P. French); (2) "Implementing a Reading Curriculum for the 80s and 90s" (Doris M. Cook); (3) "Strategic Teaching/Strategic…