Principals who are strong, effective, responsive leaders help to inspire and enhance the abilities of their teachers and other school staff to do excellent work. Such principals also tend to retain great teachers and create opportunities for them to take on new leadership roles. This leads to the following key question: What can state policymakers…

The Career Ladder Program, one aspect of Tennessee's Better Schools Program, includes a career ladder for all school personnel, substantial incentive pay for performance and responsibility, competency-based performance evaluation for all school personnel, professional development programs addressing needs identified in evaluation, and new…

Presents a statement of "professional concerns," to echo Jeanne Simpson's exploration of beginning a writing center. Presents the story of the author's first year as one way of reading the factors that both constrain and enable educators to reach levels of professional status that ensure security and stability, both for educators personally and…

Describes operation and benefits of Cincinnati Public Schools' Career-in-Teaching Program. Program consists of seven career steps: Intern, apprentice, novice, career, advanced, and accomplished. Program supports continuous professional development and provides performance-based compensation. Contends that districtwide program successfully attracts…

The relevance of the teacher to the success of any education innovation is not open to contention. Equally incontentious is the relevance of education and training to the success of the teacher in the attainment of his/her professional goals. It is against this background that this paper examines the continuing education imperatives in the present…

Teacher centers serving teachers in Great Britain differ from those in the United States. London's University Centre for Teachers (UCT) provides a range of part-time inservice activities that result in various diplomas. The Philippa Fawcett Math Centre concentrates on improving mathematics understanding and instruction. Two other centers, the…

Valencia Community College's (VCC's) Faculty Academy was established to assist new tenure-track faculty successfully meet the college's criteria for tenure. In planning the Academy, surveys were conducted with administrators, full-time faculty and staff, and 34 new tenure-track faculty who were to participate in the Academy regarding their…

Through No Child Left Behind, states receive funds that can be used to address "challenges to teacher quality, whether they concern teacher preparation and qualifications of new teachers, recruitment and hiring, induction, professional development, teacher retention, or the need for more capable principals and assistant principals to serve as…

Criteria suggesting standards and characteristics for inservice education programs are described. In an introductory table, the purposes of inservice education are illustrated. They include advanced degrees, school improvement, professional advancement, retraining for new assignments, and personal professional development. The process, setting,…