Interview with Thomas Guskey examines the benefits of staff development, presenting reasons for interest in the topic, advice for educators who want to trace the impact of staff development programs on participants and students, and the need for staff developers to identify some targets and monitor movement toward the targets. (SM)

Michael Kirst argues that staff developers need to develop a clear set of policy positions and specific strategies to influence policymakers, noting that policymakers have traditionally held staff development in low esteem. The paper presents suggestions for what staff developers can do to further their cause. (SM)

Teachers need focused staff development to improve content knowledge and pedagogy for specific subject areas. An interview with Lee Shulman, professor of education, discusses advantages of content-specific development, noting the important role of case studies and the changes necessary for helping teachers become lifelong students of content and…

An interview with Robert Garmston, California State University professor, details the cognitive coaching model for supervision or peer coaching of principals, department heads, and teachers. The model is based on the principles that all people can change and therefore develop intellectually, and that teacher performance is based on decision-making…

Discusses the work of Larry Dixon, assistant superintendent for resources in the Junction City (Kansas) school district, who supports principals in their efforts to improve schools. The paper describes Project TurnAround Teacher, which works in a nontraditional manner to help at-risk students who are discipline problems. (SM)

Prior research has documented the failure of both staff development and teacher evaluation practices in schools to serve as sources of accountability and improvement for teachers. Few districts coordinate these two aspects of a human resource management system. Using a concept of organizational control, this study employs a qualitative methodology…

The Support Teacher Program is a professional development program created to increase teachers' mathematical knowledge, improve instructional practices for conceptual understanding, and prepare teachers to conduct staff development activities in their schools with their colleagues. This paper is presented in three sections. The first section…