On the surface, learning and leading may appear to be opposites. Learners are commonly thought to be na?ve and innocent. Leaders are expected to possess special skills and knowledge. However, these apparent opposites may be like two sides of the same coin, a dynamic combination that generates powerful results. A Maine nonprofit has created a…

This case study examined a professional development experience that was facilitated for career and technical education teachers to help foster the integration of academics and career and technical education. Unlike most professional development experiences that treat teachers as passive learners, this professional development experience was…

If Minnesota public school choice programs were as bad as Judith Pearson's "Kappan" (June 1989) article alleges, most teachers would not support them. There would be declining cooperation among rural school districts, little interest in handicapped or "unattractive" students' needs, and a teacher shortage. As this article…

Describes how members of a training team worked together to obtain funding to make a presentation at the 1997 National Association for the Education of Young Children Professional Development Conference. Details five qualities identified as instrumental in the group's progress: (1) passion; (2) dedication to the mission; (3) self-reflection and…

Shares insights of an English teacher gained through a variety of teaching experiences. Describes how the Bay Area Writing Project provided effective strategies to improve the teaching of writing. (NH)

Social, economic and technological changes on a global scale are challenging traditional forms of knowledge and educational practice. In response, educators worldwide are finding ways to forge new roles, identities and relationships. This paper recognises pressures on the teaching force in a global climate of educational reform. Drawing on data…

An academic year-long teacher research initiative was implemented in an alternative education school in a large school district in the southwestern United States. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to examine participatory teacher research as an active, collaborative means of professional development for teachers, including its…

In 2007, the state of Mississippi conducted a web-based survey of all school-based licensed educators in which they were asked to share their perceptions of the state of teacher working conditions in Mississippi. This report of the Mississippi Teacher Working Conditions Survey, Project CLEAR Voice (Cultivate Learning Environments to Accelerate…

Over the last two decades, researchers have presented convincing evidence that teachers are an important key to school improvement and to closing the student achievement gap. However, ensuring that all students are taught by quality teachers--those with the right talent, skills, and experience--is not enough. Teachers--even the best of them--must…

High school students continue to struggle in algebra, especially in large inner-city schools with underprivileged students. Students are not the only ones skirmishing with algebra. Teachers and school leaders are just as frustrated as they search for answers to complex teaching and learning problems. Two high school principals report the results…

Beginning and veteran teachers are experiencing gross professional neglect. Teachers have been passive far too long about their own professionalism. The National Education Association is currently working with seven teacher-preparation institutions to reinvent teacher education and professional development. As Columbus, Ohio's peer-review program…

The relevance of the teacher to the success of any education innovation is not open to contention. Equally incontentious is the relevance of education and training to the success of the teacher in the attainment of his/her professional goals. It is against this background that this paper examines the continuing education imperatives in the present…

Three policy strategies interpreted as intended to empower teachers within the new policy context of school autonomy were studied. Teacher services in Kentucky's school councils seemed to have little effect on empowering teachers since the researchers found in two studies involving 168 and 318 Kentucky teachers that teachers were not even…

Discusses the importance of empowerment for early childhood teachers. Maintains that empowering early childhood teachers increases motivation, allows for an emergent curriculum, and bridges home and school. Notes that empowering teachers to manage their own classrooms involves extensive on-site training and support but that as teachers grow in…

The article describes a longitudinal professional development project in rural Florida (USA) schools that supports the efforts of inservice teachers to make pedagogical transitions from total reliance on prepackaged commercial programmes to making informed decisions about curriculum and pedagogy autonomously. It demonstrates that in order to…