As part of a larger project aimed at promoting science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students, this study has two objectives: (a) to describe teachers' initial beliefs and practices about inquiry-based science and (b) to examine the impact of the professional development intervention (primarily through…

Recent science and teacher education reports continue to stress the need for radical changes in the way teachers are prepared to teach science to diverse learners. In response, a three-year intervention project was developed to help teachers in culturally diverse schools transform their science teaching practices using learning technologies. Many…

A deeper understanding of the adult-learning process has produced a substantial consensus about the critical attributes that constitute effective professional-development practices. This volume presents findings of a study that examined the design, implementation, and impact of systemic reform efforts to in-depth case studies of three…

The press for the professionalization of teachers is based on the assertion that a strengthened profession will more effectively meet students' needs and improve the overall quality of education. This volume, the second in a set of three, presents detailed individual case studies from a study that examined the design, implementation, and impact of…

To provide information to the Congress in its continuing debates over improving science and mathematics (S/M) education as well as to education policymakers, the General Accounting Office (GAO) synthesized past evaluation and research studies and used other methodologies to examine four issues: (1) the nature of the problem and its remedies; (2)…

Research assessed the effectiveness of the Utah Pupil/Teacher Self-Concept Program in changing specific teacher verbal behaviors related to self concept. Subjects were secondary school teachers in the Logan City and Cache County School Systems, Utah. An experimental pre-post control group design was employed with 12 teachers in the experimental…

To evaluate the effectiveness of a new writing curriculum in the Oak Ridge Schools (Tennessee), modeled after the process-oriented National Writing Project, a three-year study of student writing was conducted. The study consisted of evaluating writing samples collected from 90 students in grades 3 through 12 over 3 consecutive years, and surveying…

This final report discloses findings of a survey team composed of fifteen historians and social studies specialists on 1965 NDEA institutes in history. An attempt is made to identify the nature of a summer institute and how it differs from regular teacher education. Objectives include answering three questions: 1) What kind of teachers attended…

First proposed in the fall of l98l, Pittsburgh's Schenley High School Teacher Center opened in the fall of 1983 with a comprehensive visiting teachers continuing education program involving contact with both resident and replacement teachers. To ensure full realization of its potential, the center uses a databased program to monitor its own…

A successful collaboration resulted in a researcher and a teacher linking professional development with change in small-group reading instruction and student achievement. The context was a two-way Spanish-English bilingual immersion first-grade classroom with many English language learners (ELLs), located in a low-performing, high-poverty school.…

The Training of Trainers (ToT) Evaluation investigated the efficacy of the High/Scope model for improving the quality of early childhood programs on a national scale. To address this question, the High/Scope Foundation undertook a multimethod evaluation that collected anecdotal records from the consultants and 793 participants in 40 ToT projects,…

This seminar, sponsored by the Oregon Council for Continued Professional Development and the Oregon Department of Education, brought together 60 educational leaders from all sectors and from all regions of Oregon to discuss staff development issues. Fostering collaborartion between elementary/secondary and postsecondary institutions was a central…

Much criticism is being leveled today at the teaching profession, both for failure to provide students with high levels of cognitive functioning, and for failure to apply careful and systematic thinking to the execution of the many demanding instructional tasks required of the teacher's role. A special pilot study tested the effects of a…

A study investigated whether instructors in schools with formal staff development programs were more technologically up to date than instructors in schools with less formal programs. The study used existing data from program evaluations of five postsecondary technical institute (TI) instructors. A survey instrument collected data from 120 (of a…

This report of a year-long writing project that involved over 1,600 junior and senior high school students concludes that students taught by teachers trained in writing as a process showed significant improvement over students of teachers who were not so trained. The report describes the goals and objectives of the New Jersey Writing Project, the…