The "Walk the Talk" classroom model was developed at Temple Junior College, in Texas, to help teachers include the principles of total quality management (TQM) in the classroom. This report presents results from a pilot project in which 29 teachers implemented the model. Following a brief summary, key elements of the model and the pilot…

This dissertation is a qualitative study that explores how three teams of humanities teachers at Capital High School (Charleston, West Virginia) tried to create and sustain an environment in which they could make decisions over curriculum, pedagogy, and school self-governance. The study also examines what empowerment means to the teachers in a…

In this information packet for special education administrators, the literature on collaboration between regular and special educators is reviewed, issues relative to the implementation of collaboration are discussed, and eight model sites are described. After an introduction, distinctions between collaboration and consultation are drawn. Key…

This study evaluated implementation of a federally funded outreach project, Bridges (Best Practice-Based Services for Including Students with Serious Emotional Disturbance in General Education), at one elementary school in Vermont. The project is designed to build the capacity of rural public schools to fully include students with severe…

Steps are needed to foster in faculty a renewed sense of collective purpose toward society. Communication gaps between policymakers and faculty have exacerbated a separation between higher education and society. Specific proposals may create a fiscal and structural environment to channel nascent faculty cooperation and entrepreneurial tendencies.…

This review summarizes the rapidly growing body of findings on the social and organizational environment of teaching and examines one innovation--the collaborative school--that offers promise of an organizational context more conducive to effective teaching. Chapter 1 characterizes the actual conditions under which teachers work, focusing on…

This annotated bibliography was prepared to serve as background material for the writing of the synthesis paper "From Isolation to Collaboration: Improving the Work Environment of Teaching." Items were selected to represent the range of issues that pertain to the social and organizational context of teaching. The selected materials…

This document contains three papers on action learning. "Action Learning: Case Studies of Most Valued Learning and Application" (Suzanne D. Butterfield) reports on a qualitative study in which longitudinal data was collected from document analysis and first-line consulting managers who had participated in action learning. The study…

This study examined teacher empowerment through the development of individual and collective teacher efficacy. A content-centered staff development program implemented in a Michigan school district by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and Oakland University helped teachers develop efficacy in the teaching of mathematics and in the ability to…

This document contains four symposium papers on linking human resource development (HRD) theory and practice. "Partnership Research: Ensuring More Useful HRD Collaborations" (Ronald L. Jacobs), which proceeds from the premise that most HRD research has limited impact on practice because research problems are usually generated devoid of a…

Surveyed middle school principals to examine middle level programmatic characteristics, appropriateness, and current implementation. The study also examined teachers' perceptions of school climate. Program implementation, rather than principal's perceptions, affected school climate. Intramural programs affected school climate, influencing…

This document contains four papers presented at a symposium on practitioner states moderated by Kay Bull at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "The Effect of Locus of Control and Performance-Contingent Incentives on Productivity and Job Satisfaction in Self-Managing Teams" (Bonnie E. Garson, Douglas…

Findings from a study, which examined the development of leadership skills and roles among the teachers in a professional development school (PDS), indicate the emergence of a nontraditional teacher leadership paradigm at the PDS. In contrast to typical teacher leadership models, in which carefully selected and screened teachers are placed in…

This paper describes the daily interactions between university liaison and K-12 faculty and administrators at a professional development school. It contrasts various levels of collaboration and interaction within professional development schools and student teaching environments, contending that educational community develops in effective…

Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) refers to the collective perception that teachers in a given school make an educational difference to their students over and above the educational impact of their homes and communities. Significant positive relationships were found between CTE and student achievement on the grade 8 math, writing, and English…