A survey of 164 Pennsylvania general and special education teachers and 1,430 elementary educators nationwide examined their attitudes concerning supports needed for the successful inclusion of students with disabilities. Teachers perceived a need for training, help from personnel outside the classroom, and in-class help such as paraprofessionals.…

An evaluation of two school "telecommunities" in Ohio and South Dakota demonstrated the importance of studying a range of technology effectiveness indicators: standardized measures, behavior, stakeholder involvement, technology competency, multicultural exchange, equity, new student and teacher roles, learning climate, teacher…

Good mentoring is not an easy process. From the research literature on mentoring, people know that there are critical factors that affect the mentoring relationship and process: the selection of mentors, whether or not mentors and proteges are assigned, how formal or informal the relationship is, how mentors might or might not be rewarded for…

This guide describes a teacher mentor program for special education teachers in the Saint Tammany Parish Public School System, Louisiana. The Special Education Mentor Program provides peer support and professional development opportunities for new special education teachers. The program is intended to give immediate as well as long-term support to…

This final report describes the activities and outcomes of a 3-year federally funded project that developed and evaluated interventions aimed at increasing retention of special education teachers. The interventions developed and evaluated consisted of: (1) a series of stress management workshops aimed at preventing or alleviating teacher burnout,…

The seminar represents an effort on the part of the Center for Civic Education to create a forum in which teachers would become emotionally engaged with the artifacts, sites and experiences of those that lived through the Civil Rights Movement. The central hypothesis thereby being that such an engagement would transform the ability and willingness…

This publication assembles the most current research on professional development and change for teachers looking to accelerate their professional growth and the improvement of student learning. Designed as a how-to resource, it reviews the stages of building an effective professional development system. The seven chapters are: (1) "Developing a…

Describes the Pair Tutoring Program, involving 264 preservice general educators and 118 children, either with disabilities or at-risk, a component of the RARE (Reflective and Responsive Educator) program. This early, field-based experience is designed to prepare preservice general education teachers to work more effectively with diverse learning…

Desiring to overcome sharp feelings of disconnection, a year-long participatory action research seminar involving both clinical and tenure-track teacher education faculty was formed. Working in teams with tenure-track faculty support, clinical faculty set research questions but they were reluctant to assume project leadership. In part, because of…

For past two decades, there has been a growing national concern about teacher quality. This presentation discusses Connecticut's Beginning Educator Support and Training Program (BEST) and emulation of its assessment component by a medium sized department of education. The support component of BEST requires that all school districts provide…

This biannual review of research describes promising research models that are helping all students, including students with disabilities, manage their own behavior in school settings. The common features of school-wide systems of behavioral support are identified and include: (1) total staff commitment to managing behavior; (2) clearly defined and…

Key elements of effective teacher development include a focus on curriculum and job-situated problems, hands-on opportunities to apply learning, and collaboration among teachers (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002; National Staff Development Council, 2001). Program developers at The Education…

Language samples from 14 students (ages 6-9 at study start) with communication disorders were obtained over a three-year period to determine the effectiveness of a language-in-the-classroom (LIC) intervention model. Results noted that students in the LIC model had more complete and intelligible utterances and fewer incomplete/unintelligible…

This paper presents a model of a teacher needs-based (TNB) professional development program. The TNB model formed the foundation of three externally funded professional development programs. The objectives of this model are to maximize the effects of a professional development program, and to help participants sustain their learning over the long…

Teacher education in California is currently under attack. Politicians and the general public have lost confidence in the entire educational system. While some critics argue that too many credential courses are required, the majority seem to criticize Colleges of Education for simply failing to produce quality teachers. One question asked by both…