This article is a critique of David Stoesz' descriptions of organizational issues in child welfare, and more specifically, the relationships between the U.S. Children's Bureau and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The focus is on Stoesz perspectives and assessments of sub-entities (cartels) that are currently influencing funding and…

This article offers a conversation with Dr. Jane Piirto, author, and professor at Ashland University, where she teaches in the Department of Inclusive Services & Exceptional Learners and the Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies. Here she discusses what she is currently working on, how the five dimensions of overexcitability relate to ADHD,…

This account of practice considers action learning within an accredited leadership course at a post-1992 university. It outlines a more individualistic approach than that envisioned by Reg Revans and questions how this technique, inherited from a Staff Development colleague, could potentially be improved.

Charter schooling continues to grow apace. The nation's four-thousand-plus charter schools now enroll more than a million students and are approaching (or have exceeded) traditional district enrollment in communities like Dayton, Ohio; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Washington, D.C. Many of the most successful charter school providers are embarking…

People use souvenirs as an aide-memoire of their holiday experiences, much in the same way as the postcards were used to remind participants of the event they attended. But many people also use souvenirs as a catalyst to share their holiday experiences with others. In this article, the authors explore the role of souvenirs in academic development.…

The statutory right to request time to train for all employees is the right way forward for UK plc and for workers. The coalition government not implementing this legislation in full would be a backward step. The author says this with such certainty because the status quo in which a third of employers don't train their workers and 10 million…

In this article, the author laments that too much of what goes on in schools are shaped by politicians who are more interested in winning elections than in winning good futures for children, who know that being tough but simplistic about "getting results" wins votes, whether or not it fosters learning. As such, the author calls on school leaders…

Shifts in the ways that science is being undertaken and marshaled toward social change argue for a new kind of professional competence. Taking the view that the science of social work is centrally about the relationship of research to social impact, the authors extend Fong's focus on transdisciplinary and translational approaches to science,…

This article features an open letter written by the author to her school library media colleagues, applauding those who are providing informative and interesting staff development activities for teachers, administrators, and their library media peers. She reminds her colleagues about their role in staff development and not to underestimate the…

In this article, the author offers his critique on Holburn and Cea's notion on "excessive positivism" that person-centered planners are overconcerned with scientific verification and logical proof. The author believes that Holburn and Cea's notion blurs the important messages they have for person-centered planners by leading toward a debate about…

Asserts that an essential element in the school improvement process is the creation of a professional staff-development program. Outlines recent literature that offer guidelines for implementing these programs, and addresses program and participant evaluation. Contains 19 references. (VWC)

Effective organizational learning must build on individual learning. Continuous work-centered learning is a sequential process of interaction, implementation, integration, and iteration. A learning organization should aim to improve individual capacity to recognize and use learning opportunities. (SK)

After a nationwide search, the NASP PREPaRE Workgroup recently invited Brian Lazzaro, Christina Conolly-Wilson, and Melinda Susan to join the workgroup. This was done in an attempt to meet the ever-increasing demand and associated duties that accompany the dissemination of the PREPaRE Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum. In this…

The way public school educators respond to emerging information technologies will be the defining event for public education over the next decade. This author, however, worries about whether public schools have the capacity to take advantage of the revolution going on around them--a revolution that is affecting not only the way students learn, but…

These guidelines were developed to provide an overview of faculty development issues and concerns. The first section reviews the principles of faculty development, citing the California Postsecondary Education Commission's (CPEC) classification of faculty development activities into the categories of professional, instructional, curriculum, and…