An evaluative study was done of Project THISTLE (Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning), a program designed to improve the basic skills of urban college-bound high school students by working with their teachers in an integrated process of curriculum and staff development. In particular, the evaluation looked at the impact of the program on…

An Illinois elementary school district concerned about unnecessary referrals for possible special education designed and piloted a regular education assistance team system which brought about greater regular teacher collaboration and increased accuracy in referral for case study evaluation. The building level teams consisted of regular education…

The Joseph Klingenstein Summer Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York), was established in 1982 for 50 beginning independent school teachers who demonstrated outstanding potential. The Institute's purpose is to increase teaching effectiveness and to encourage career commitment. The three weeks of the Institute introduce…

A study assessed the effectiveness of the delivery and content of the Human Relations course and the technical updating activities for postsecondary, full-time preparatory program instructors in Iowa. Faculty members from 15 community and technical colleges were asked to identify how necessary they feel each competency is to the teaching process,…

The purpose of the Basic Skills portion of this project was to improve the reading and mathematics skills of students in the Junior High Schools Transition program, grades 7 through 9, in 27 junior high schools and 4 middle or extended elementary schools. The goal of the Mathematics Teacher Resources Development portion of the project was to…

The insights of various theoretical perspectives on school improvement can be integrated in a common framework called "the institutional perspective" when the sensitivity of each theoretical perspective to the nature of decision making for school improvement is taken into account. The institutional perspective thus generated considers the…

To help young adolescents reach their potential, middle schools must provide high quality intellectual climates that foster the development of adaptive skills which students can use throughout their lives. Accordingly, practical advice is presented for 12 interrelated dimensions of schooling at the middle level that merit the highest priority…

An accountability model has been derived from a research based staff development model used in secondary school classrooms. This accountability model contains four components: (1) baseline/pretest; (2) inform; (3) guided practice; and (4) post-test observations. In the first component, teachers are observed; individual profiles of behavior are…

Based on a synthesis of research and on telephone interviews with representatives of 22 school districts, this study analyzes the effectiveness and problems of two types of motivational plans for teachers: merit pay plans in which at least part of a teacher's pay is linked to performance, and nonmonetary performance-by-objectives plans in which…

The Archaeology and African Cultures program was a collaborative effort among the New York City Public Schools' Division of Curriculum and Instruction and four New York City museums. The program was designed to provide teachers of the gifted and talented with a rigourous series of seminars in the field of archaeology as well as on each museum's…

Teachers from the Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, completed a black vernacular inservice program during the 1979-80 academic year. This final report of the program was submitted to the superintendent of schools in compliance with a court order and is divided into four sections. The overview summarizes the…

Three South Carolina school districts and a university formed a partnership to train, mentor, and support 24 special education teacher leaders as they developed and practiced new leadership skills. The article describes the selection and training of teachers, reviewing the first year's activities and presenting observations from program…

An elementary school staff development program was designed to reduce disparity in educational achievement across race and sex. Researchers compared achievement test scores, attitudes, perceptions of teacher practices, and grade retention for students of teachers who did and did not complete the program. Results showed the program had few positive…

Describes the results of a nine-week inquiry-oriented student teaching program designed to help preservice teachers become reflective practitioners. Five program components were teaching, supervisory conferences, seminars, journal writing, and action research. Results indicated that teachers grew in reflective thinking practices when programs…

A systematic communication skills workshop for teachers was investigated for its effectiveness in enhancing both teacher attitudes toward children and selected teacher behaviors associated with effective teaching. The training model was found to improve teacher attitudes and skills for 378 elementary school and secondary school teachers in South…