In the 1950s and 1960s, students practiced ducking under their desks in case of an atomic bomb attack. We know that this was silly and provided no protection and many school practices that are popular today are equally silly. This book explores a wide range of what the authors label "duck and cover" policies--ideas that may have started…

Physical education contributes to the physical, mental, and emotional health of young people. Administrators must recognize these contributions and ensure an effective program by evaluating and retraining teachers to keep abreast of the recent knowledge explosion in physical education. (CJH)

Nine recommended guidelines for teacher performance appraisal are offered as a basis for evaluating an appraisal system. Guidelines, involving a reward system, evaluation training, teacher involvement, classroom improvement, peer observation, alternative-data collection, paperwork, and supervisors, emphasize the positive qualities of teacher…

This study represents an initial effort to determine the content of induction programs to improve beginning teachers' instructional performance. The study investigated the perception of beginning teachers' instructional performance problems and explored its relationships with demographic characteristics such as years of teaching experience and…

The purpose of this book is to help practitioners and policy makers understand how important it is to assist beginning teachers, and what it involves in terms of policy, procedures, pitfalls, personnel, price in time and money, and prospects. The book is divided into the following chapters: (1) "Beginning Teacher Assistance Programs: An…

This presentation examines the history of merit pay and analyzes studies and research on merit pay to discover directions for developing effective procedures. Reasons for failure of merit pay plans include administrative problems, personnel problems, collective bargaining, financial problems, unsatisfactory evaluation, staff dissension,…

"Education for a Digital World" contains a collection of strategies and tools for effective online teaching, based on the principles of learning as a social process. Narrative is supplemented by real-life examples, case studies, and resources to supply comprehensive perspectives about structuring and fostering socially engaging learning…

This publication, one of a series examining the issue of faculty workload and productivity, argues that the key to institutional change in higher education is the role of college faculty and offers recommendations for improving and measuring college faculty productivity. The paper begins with a conceptual model for discussing faculty productivity,…

Physical education teachers needed to reach a consensus among themselves as to the direction and scope of elementary school physical education, and they needed to work with other groups to produce a document that could be used as a resource to educate others about the importance of elementary school physical education. "Essentials of a Quality…

Discusses the use of coaching to establish a communal learning effort among teachers and reinforce skills introduced through inservice. Issues examined include the length of coaching, who should coach, training coaches, coaching's effects, the relationships of evaluation and supervision to coaching, the principal's role, and implementation. (MCG)

Reviews educational reforms of the past 10 years as they relate to visual arts education. Finds that progress has been made in the development of theoretical rationales for art education and in assessing teacher performance. Also finds that little progress has been made in evaluating student learning and performance. (CFR)

Briefly outlines five ways to ensure accountability: scrutinize student achievement, conduct surveys of teacher and community attitudes toward district performance, carefully review how funds are spent, ask administrators to look closely at programs, and evaluate administrators and teachers regularly. (Author/JM)

This publication assembles the most current research on professional development and change for teachers looking to accelerate their professional growth and the improvement of student learning. Designed as a how-to resource, it reviews the stages of building an effective professional development system. The seven chapters are: (1) "Developing a…

Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) is examined as a means of providing a systematic approach to handling educational complexity which will lead to modernizing teacher education. Analysis and discussion are offered on: (1) what CBTE consists of and how it functions; (2) CBTE as an educational reform movement in the United States; (3)…

An accountability model has been derived from a research based staff development model used in secondary school classrooms. This accountability model contains four components: (1) baseline/pretest; (2) inform; (3) guided practice; and (4) post-test observations. In the first component, teachers are observed; individual profiles of behavior are…