Schon's conception of reflection is conceptualized in a context relative to other work on reflection. Three perspectives are used to conceptualize reflection as instrumentally mediating action, as deliberating among competing views of teaching, and as reconstructing experiences. (SI)

Neoprogressive characteristics of clinical supervision possibilities can be incorporated into the supervision process to enhance teaching and learning through the improvement of instruction within the classroom. The article describes the characteristics and stages of the neoprogressive approach to clinical supervision, explaining why it offers…

Describes a survey of faculty and administrators at Miami-Dade Community College who successfully completed a staff development course on classroom feedback/research techniques. Finds classroom research emphasizing the assessment of teaching over student achievement and learning skills; and reports a positive use of feedback results in planning…

Implications of the research findings of nine papers on instruction in higher education are discussed. Faculty development is defined, and some methods of teacher evaluation that have been successful in improving teacher effectiveness are described. Emphasis is placed on the "class-side manner" of the faculty developer. (SLD)

Discusses the possibility that class size might affect student evaluations of teachers. Reviews existing studies of the relationship between class size and student evaluations. Concludes that student ratings are reasonably valid and that class size does not bias student evaluations. (CFR)

Considers an action-based approach to the development of teaching skills in higher education through peer observation and collaborative reflection. The central features of a three-phase process model are described and explored, and the preliminary results of a pilot scheme at the University of Bradford (United Kingdom) are reported. (Author/LRW)

Describes the results of an ongoing peer observation project at two Washington-state schools (one primary and one high school). Pretesting and posttesting of teachers involved in peer observation indicated that teachers liked the feedback and felt more comfortable with peer rather than administrator observation. Participants considered this a good…

Describes the development of the Subject Online Survey (SOS) at the University of Woolongong (Australia), a Web-based tool to collect student feedback on the teaching process. Discusses its use for faculty evaluation as well as tenure and promotion decisions; SOS evaluation results; and future directions. (LRW)

Competency is defined as a set of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enables an individual to effectively perform the activities of a given occupation or job function to the standards expected in employment. Competencies for professionals in the performance improvement field have received considerable attention in recent years. For…

This paper describes how teacher portfolios could be used to provide teachers with the opportunity to grow professionally in concert with other teachers and in ways that promote school, district, and professional student performance standards. An opening section discusses the lack of progress in developing effective teacher evaluation and…

A description is given of the Descriptive Review Process, a method of analyzing a teacher's personal style in order to promote teacher development and improvement. The process combines teacher self-evaluation with evaluation by an observer and a chairperson. The emphasis of the process is on the teacher. The teacher's role in the process involves:…

This booklet reviews research on the middle school environment, the characteristics of the middle school student, and the factors involved in teaching effectively at the middle school level, and then proposes a method that middle school teachers can use for analyzing their own classroom behavior and their instructional options. The booklet's first…

The research described in this paper was designed to assess how evaluative data were used in instructional decision making in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools. Using the Level of Use of an Innovation (LoU) interview, a component of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), along with data from the Portland Achievement Levels Test (PALT), the…

Recent concern for the quality of education has placed pressure on school administrators to assess and upgrade the competency of their teaching staff. No simple formula exists for measuring teacher competency, however, nor are any new methods guaranteed to improve the quality of instruction. Nevertheless, through a combination of clinical…

Eleven publications are reviewed dealing with tenure laws, establishing criteria for teacher evaluation, due process, relevant state laws, legal case studies, remediation, and the principal's role. The literature agrees that dismissal of tenured teachers is possible if evaluation criteria and evidence of incompetence are clear and if…