Reports a study of eight teachers identified as empowered or having become more empowered, focusing on influences on and the developmental process of teacher empowerment. Journal entries, interviews, and observations as teachers conducted reading and language arts instruction demonstrated that gaining empowerment was a spiraling process. (SM)

A survey of 123 teachers enrolled in a university principal- preparation program revealed that teachers valued three kinds of principal behaviors: empowering (23 percent), supporting (36 percent), and communicating (41 percent). Praising is less important than treating teachers professionally, demonstrating support, and having an open-door policy.…

Purpose: Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has received much attention in the past decade as scholars have recognized its significant impact on the success of organizations. The current study seeks to enrich our understanding of citizenship behavior in the school setting by identifying the main factors that may enhance this behavior among…

As an increasing number of schools undertake restructuring efforts, an instrument to measure teacher empowerment would be a useful took for researchers and evaluators. Such an instrument was used in a census survey of 10,544 teachers in 307 Venture Capital Schools in Ohio to obtain baseline measures of classroom teachers' participation in school…

Pennsylvania school reform in the decade following the publication of "A Nation at Risk" can be divided into three distinct phases. As these phases parallel those of the nation, Pennsylvania is a representative state in which to explore the nation's efforts to repair its ailing school system. The first phase was that of adding inputs, of…

This report presents the results of a study that examined the role and activities of reform coaches. Positions for reform coaches have been developed in a number of schools and districts in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). The study examined the reform coach role, the functions it provides to the…

Constructivism is a response to the depersonalized hugeness of our society and institutions. The constructivist model for education offers a way to decentralize the authority of a large and distant administration and return decision-making to the local level, that is, to learning communities, teaching teams, and individual classroom teachers. This…

There is a growing need in the field of teacher education to bridge the gap between theory and practice while creating dialogue for exploration, change, and growth. Proactive teacher educators should seek change in traditional inservice training and create more authentic and empowering professional development opportunities that are proactive as…

During the 1990s, Virginia implemented statewide Standards of Learning, but several school districts did not have the capacity to meet these new content and performance standards. In 1996, a "high-need" rural Virginia school district was selected as a development site where elements of a technical assistance system to improve student…

Faculties must pass through several stages when becoming learning organizations: the honeymoon, conflict, confusion, messy, scary, and mature-group stages. Mature school communities have learned to view power differently, make learning more meaningful for students, and model a just and democratic society. Consensus is the starting point. (MLH)

Debra Eckerman's response to the author's May 1998 "Kappan" article shows she sincerely, but mistakenly believes that the Minnesota standards-based reform movement will raise academic expectations for all students by attempting to control educational outcomes. Teachers should jettison their complacency to improve professionalism and…

As the search to increase the quality of individuals entering and remaining in the teaching profession, people are simultaneously faced with a teacher shortage, often leading to fast track certification and lateral entry programs circumventing teacher preparation. This article points out that the major predictor of teacher retention is job…

Education has emerged as a leading national issue for the 1990s. To address some of the current and future issues facing education, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company asked members of the Metropolitan Life Foundation Education Advisory Council to articulate their views about recent and future directions in public-school-improvement efforts. This…

Teachers know how to educate young children, but many feel ill-prepared when faced with students' emotional issues in the classroom. This book is intended as a resource for early childhood teachers who find themselves in the middle of such "sensitive situations." The information is presented by using a fictional, but typical, scenario…

This paper uses teachers' voices to explore transformation processes in teachers as a result of participation in an innovative school-based Master's degree program at the Institute for Educational Transformation. The program is built around a set of beliefs and principles that enunciate a philosophy of teaching and learning emphasizing work within…