Included in this document is an address by the governor of Pennsylvania to fellow citizens stressing the need to improve the quality of public education in the state. Presented in outline format, the agenda has three main sections. The first section discusses shared responsibility between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the state's boards of…

Six attributes of the successful music teacher are identified on the basis of research and personal experience. These are enthusiasm; warmth and personal interest; a rehearsal technique combining clarity, brevity, fast pace, and variety; a balance of praise and meaningful criticism; a discipline technique focusing on communication; and the desire…

Three dimensions for faculty development are proposed: the professional, which embodies critical conceptual questions; the curricular, including improvement of instruction and designs for learning; and the institutional, a set of new demands on higher education. Based on these, a set of principles for planning and a matrix for programming are…

A teaching improvement program is suggested that is based on four models now in use. Designed for individual, departmental, and institutional levels it includes diagnosis, help with problem-identification, linkage to new information, involvement of authorities, increase in organizational health, support for implementation, and more diagnosis. (JT)

Summer employment and participation in professional programs offer the vocational agriculture teacher the unique opportunity to attain excellence in his program. Most administrators appreciate the teacher's efforts and the resulting well-planned and implemented programs. (MW)

Three business education teachers permitted students in their high school classes to evaluate their teaching. The article analyzes and compares teacher ratings and offers specific suggestions for improving classroom management. (MW)

The Education Improvement Act of 1984 provided for the establishment of a teacher incentive program to reward teachers who demonstrate superior performance and productivity. Three incentive program models were developed by school districts in South Carolina and approved program models were pilot-tested. Each school district in South Carolina…

Research assesses the attitudinal factors that characterize outstanding first-year elementary and secondary school teachers as nominated by their superintendents and judged for the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) by a panel of experts selected by the American Association of School Administrators. Sallie Mae nomination forms…

The factors that influence the formation and development of teacher perspectives among preservice social studies teachers were studied. Answers were sought to two questions: (1) what linkages exist between the development of teacher perspectives and the experiences provided by university teacher education?; and (2) what role does the individual…

This paper focuses specifically on paper and pencil testing as a tool contributing to a quality teaching force. Information is presented for those who have responsibility or interest in state level policies for using such tests to promote educational quality. Using institutional stages of a teacher's career as an organizing scheme for test use,…

The major underlying assumptions of the Peer-Centered Coaching Model are that teachers are experts with respect to instruction and, because they believe that they can help each other with classroom problems better than help can be given from other sources, they trust each others' advice. The fundamental element of this coaching model is the use of…

Intended for teachers seeking computer training or persons responsible for such training, this paper presents a list of computer competencies for reading teachers. The first section of the paper lists the beginning level competencies, which require very little computer knowledge and are sufficient for using instructional software in reading…

This monograph, one of the nine-booklet Teacher Quality Series, explores the state/local control boundary and suggests how state policy can encourage local strategies to improve teaching. The following topics are covered: (1) understanding the developmental process in teachers; (2) clarifying goals in policy formation; (3) policies indirectly…

As part of a research project on "Patterns of Successful Assistance in Urban School Programs," this paper presents a case study of an assister's work in a Teacher Growth Program (TGP) at an elementary school in Staten Island, New York. The school has an experienced teaching staff, a supportive principal, a cross-sectional student…

Procedures and rationales for teacher appraisal are examined. The target-output model calls for agreed-upon objectives to be compared with professional work. The performance criteria model compares professional work to agreed criteria of competencies. A diagnostic model of appraisal of teacher needs and potentials is joined with the others in a…