Growing dissatisfaction makes major structural changes requiring legislative, popular initiatives, or the approval of governing authorities possible in U.S. schools. Schools raising academic achievement emphasize high student expectations, classroom management, positive feedback, tailored teaching strategies, professional work environments, and…

The International Working Group on Education (IWGE) met in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2001. Participants came from 26 institutions representing 10 international agencies or institutions, 4 foundations, and 12 bilateral agencies. This publication is a summary of the proceedings of that meeting. It begins with opening and welcoming keynote…

This study evaluated differences between persisters and nonpersisters in a 3-year teacher development program. Participants were K-12 teachers from a large school district with both urban and suburban schools. They were part of a grant to help teachers implement state content standards through cognitive coaching, nonverbal classroom management,…

To promote empowerment, student teachers participated in service learning projects. They had received training for service learning and thus knew more about it than did their cooperating teachers. So they were empowered as leaders in the student teacher setting. Factors contributing to successful empowerment included student teacher initiative and…

Reports how the prolonged 1978 Levittown (New York) teachers strike initially depleted resources and created problems but proved to be the impetus for development of an effective school system. Reviews sources of conflict that led to the strike, reactions of community and teachers, and reforms focused on teacher empowerment. (FMW)

Teachers and students must become empowered to be active participants in educational improvement and school decision making. They need opportunities to develop professionally. Empowered schools and their principals are very different from schools with little empowerment. Their principals understand how to foster empowering environments. Empowered…

Discusses the importance of preparing teachers to be leaders, explaining that the best method is to change teacher preparation curricula to provide explicit education in teacher leadership. The paper describes three preparation programs for teacher leadership, noting that only through partnerships in education will the goal of providing quality…

Examines current proposals and efforts to reform the Russian school system, assessing their prospects for providing an answer to the needs of Russian schools in this era of teacher shortages. The paper discusses new teachers' qualitative and quantitative needs, the teacher education system's response, course organization, and curriculum. (SM)

Outlines 10 areas requiring teacher leadership in schools; discusses benefits for students, teachers, the school, and the principal; and lists impediments (workload, time, testing constraints, colleagues' disapprobation, and unsupportive principals). Determined, goal-driven teachers have the power to unlock one another's leadership potential and…

George Mason University, Virginia, prepares teachers through a professional development school model, which empowers teachers to assume leadership roles as clinical faculty and site coordinators. Classroom teachers and the former Director of Teacher Education describe the effects of teachers' experiences as teacher educators on their roles within…

Parental involvement and participation, partnership with parents, and community-focused development are important features of government initiatives such as the Sure Start project for children under four years of age and their families. A common feature of the rhetoric is "empowerment" as a means of achieving this. This article describes…

This paper reports on a study of the implementation of a new mathematics curriculum and its effect on the teachers implementing it. The study focused on understanding the barriers teachers faced with implementing new curriculum that relies on a different theoretical base than the teachers had previously experienced. Participants in the study were…

This book presents updated research on and examples of teacher leadership, offering practical tips for educators at all levels, tools for self-assessment, and a new vision of the future. The eight chapters are: (1) "What Is Teacher Leadership?" (e.g., definition of teacher leadership, roles for teacher leaders, and who is responsible); (2)…

The introduction of citizenship education as a key cross-curricular focus in Scottish national education guidelines is discussed in relation to New Labor's "Third Way" politics. Data from ongoing qualitative research in 10 Scottish schools provide evidence of pupil and staff participation in school decision-making processes as well as…

The purpose of this study was to train and empower computer teacher facilitators through enabling them to introduce technology to children, instruct peers in use of computers for early childhood education, and improve family literacy and computer literacy through parent education. Found significant differences and implications for empowered roles…