The Continuing Professional Education Inventory (CPEI) was field-tested with a group of 348 teachers throughout Tennessee who attended summer educational conferences at four different locations. The survey included 35 statements regarding barriers to continuing professional education which respondents rated on a Likert scale. Fifteen demographic…

Regular classroom teachers should be provided with inservice training for teaching handicapped students mainstreamed in their classes. Courses in teaching exceptional children should be required at undergraduate and graduate levels. States should require teachers to obtain competencies for teaching mainstreamed students and should appropriate…

The Whole Language Pilot Project in Tennessee was designed to respect teachers' judgments, to assume that their current practices are effective given the circumstances in which they work, and to offer whole language principles and practices as alternatives for teachers' consideration. The major vehicle for helping teachers understand whole…

To improve elementary science instruction in rural and small schools, the University of Tennessee at Martin developed a successful research-based model for inservice teacher education that included teacher developed curricular materials, multidisciplinary content, hands-on science instruction, local team leadership development, and joint training…

In 1986, the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) established a minigrant program to foster collaboration between K-12 schools and colleges of education. Between 1986 and 1991, AEL minigrants offered seed money for 63 college-school partnership projects in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Prior to 1991, college-school…

In a sweeping effort to improve science education in Tennessee, a new curriculum framework was developed that mandated "hands-on" experiences for students, beginning in kindergarten. To smooth out problems in elementary science instruction arising from the mandate, the Center of Excellence for the Enrichment of Science and Mathematics…

A survey of 62 early childhood educators in North Carolina and Tennessee found that respondents had frequent and significant concerns about their knowledge and utilization of assistive technology. Training areas were identified that address the concerns and barriers regarding assistive technology. Implications for preservice and inservice training…

Eleven articles on professional continuing education are presented. Titles and authors are as follows: "Teacher Perceptions of Roles of University Instructors" (Alvin M. Kilgore, L. James Walter, Charles Moore); "Non-Traditional Education and Institutional Reform" (Willis D. Moreland); "Basic Bifurcation in Adult Education…

This publication focuses on the teaching quality goals and priorities of nine Southeastern U.S. states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee), reviewing each state's Title II proposals. The report highlights seven priority areas of focus for regional alliances: constructing…

A mediated peer coaching program implemented in rural Middle Tennessee in 1984-85 was designed to improve classroom instruction within the constraints imposed by poor, rural schools. Participants were 35 teachers in 9 rural schools, each assigned to a peer coaching team consisting of teachers in the same school but with different grade and/or…