Analyzes data from a questionnaire addressing preservice elementary teachers' negative attitudes toward social studies. Identifies and discusses six categories of concern: negative past experiences; lack of personal interest; confusion over the nature of social studies; conflicting beliefs; topic selection; and traditional teaching styles. (MJP)

Evaluation frames offer a practical, adaptable site-based staff development approach that serves as a vehicle for clarifying needs and planning. Evaluation frames within staff development empower teachers to define and design innovations around their unique experiences. The paper describes the method and presents a sample staff development…

Discusses the use of teaching portfolios and portfolio-based conversations with colleagues to enhance teacher effectiveness, presenting a portfolio conversation guide that highlights the importance of conducting the sessions properly, organizing an appropriate group, and focusing on specific portfolio contents. Implications for teacher education…

A unique, successful staff development program in three Louisville (Kentucky) middle schools provides opportunities for teachers of disadvantaged students to build pedagogical skills. The High5 Project promotes strategies for realizing high expectations, content, support, energy, and involvement. The paper examines change strategies and discusses…

Describes the development of a successful, specialized, collaborative training program created by the San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco State University to produce more effective educational leaders for urban schools, thus improving student achievement and enhancing educational environments. (SM)

Explored relationships between school and college faculty, in the context of graduate school and as colleagues collaborating to improve children's education. Data from dialogic inquiry, interviews, and surveys indicated that the collaborative, reciprocal process of struggling to understand inconsistencies created as they worked to transform…

Using music, story, and prayer, this conference presentation describes the African American spiritual experience with curriculum, explaining what African American spirituality is, who African Americans are, why spirituality is critical to African Americans, and where this spirituality is found, then linking it to education. (SM)

Provides examples of schools and districts nationwide that use data-based decision making effectively to enhance beginning teacher induction, multi-age reading classes, literacy education, tracking of student achievement, ongoing staff development, and school discipline efforts. The programs share a commitment to putting data at the center of…

This report summarizes the results of a project to develop a professional competence description for teachers in technical and further education (TAFE) in New South Wales to inform the initial and continuing educational needs of the profession. Chapter 1 discusses the conception of competence that underpins professional practice and includes a…

This paper synthesizes the results of three case studies that focus on urban and suburban elementary teachers who are engaged in new roles: as learners, as clinical educators, and as leaders. Results of the studies suggest that epistemological issues; workplace contexts; and an ethic of care, which is especially noticeable in collegial…

The press for the professionalization of teachers is based on the assertion that a strengthened profession will more effectively meet students' needs and improve the overall quality of education. This volume, the third in a series of three, explains the research and design of a study that examined the design, implementation, and impact of systemic…

This volume is the third in a series of self-portraits of projects that receive funding from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The 31 essays in this volume are grouped around seven main themes: (1) school-to-college transition and retention; (2) rewarding effective teaching; (3) improving teaching and learning; (4)…

This paper reports research from four studies of how teachers come to learn professional knowledge based on theoretical frameworks of the developmental theories of Piaget (cognitive development), Kohlberg (moral development), Loevinger (ego development), and Hunt (conceptual development). Studies proceed on the assumption that a perspective of…

This practical guide for new teachers is written by teachers and offers strategies for the early years of teaching that cover classroom practice and professional development. Seven chapters address teaching practice and cover the following topics: getting to know students at the beginning of the year; strategic planning for the whole year;…

This paper reports the results of a 2-year longitudinal study of the development of primary teachers' understanding of science concepts (specifically, "force" and "energy") following inservice education, and the extent to which movement towards the scientific view was achieved and maintained. The approach to inservice education…