This is the sixth in a series of six practitioner training modules developed as part of the Career & Technical Education (CTE) Research Network Lead. Designed for CTE practitioners and state agency staff, these modules are designed to strengthen the capacity to access, understand, and use CTE data and research as well as conduct one's own…

High-quality, evidence-based professional development is essential to ensure that teachers obtain the knowledge, strategies and skills necessary to positively impact student learning. While the primary form of professional development, training has rarely been evaluated for quality beyond the satisfaction of those being trained. The Observation…

Any organization with a comprehensive training program has a leadership development curriculum. These programs include everything from conventional classroom learning with guest speakers to high-tech simulations and lavish retreats. There also may be mentorship thrown in, as well as multiple job rotations. Despite the well-rounded curricula, many…

The Summer Curriculum Writing Institute (SCWI) supports graduates of a university-based teacher education program during the induction years and beyond with the aim of impacting teacher quality. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, goals, research, and lessons learned during SCWI from 2005-12. The week focuses around the…

The fact that many companies outsource jobs and contracts for manufactured products can be attributed to the shortage of technically trained and skilled workers in America's workforce. Today, business and industry, educators, parents, and students are significantly interested in STEM education and technological literacy. With the majority of…

Successfully preparing frontline counseling staff in an integrated student services model is a challenge--one that management staff in One Stop Student Services at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMTC) have been fine-tuning for almost ten years. The effort has required collaboration across units in a series of trial and error attempts…

In this article we describe our work in trying to influence whole service teams to move their practice towards greater involvement of affected family members. Work with five teams is described. The process varied but in all cases it included recruitment of the team, training, continued support and evaluation of results. Use of a standard…

This article questions commonly held beliefs about training as a component of performance improvement solutions. Rather than being based on theoretical and empirical support, many beliefs about training are based on little more than myth. Part 1 of this article presents myths about the relationship of training and performance and myths about…

A brief examination of research on the relationships among the training of teachers, their classroom behavior, and the learning of children suggests a general framework for studying both the intermediate and ultimate effects of teacher training. The idea behind this model is that such effects are more plausibly demonstrated if the argument is…

Describes a formalized library media specialist mentoring program in the Iowa City Community School District. Discussion includes characteristics for successful mentoring; the role of mentors; benefits for mentors, proteges, and library media programs; and the evolution of the mentoring relationship. (AEF)

Discusses the systematic approach to training, how this approach increases training impact, and how it evolved and identifies the four components of this approach, describing three components in detail--pretraining briefing sessions, review of individual training objectives, and group followup. (MBR)

Briefly outlines the types of job training provided by the Travelers Companies, the five major challenges facing this financial services enterprise as it pursues its varied training missions, how it defines high technology, and some features of its high technology training approach. (MBR)

Describes a training program that can provide volunteer child advocates with effective techniques for organizing, assessing, and gathering data on relevant public policy; educating others; winning public officials to their aims; and evaluating how enacted legislation affects children. (Author/HOD)

Discusses the development of a national accreditation scheme for volunteer assessors in the expeditions section of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program for young people. Stages of accreditation include wild country experience, introductory learning and preparation, accreditation weekend, and induction assessments. Performance criteria are…

Reviews efforts to prevent sexual abuse of children. Discusses the nature of sexual abuse and what an understanding of that nature implies for programs to prevent sexual abuse of children. Summarizes the research on sexual abuse prevention programs. Outlines major policy implications of this research. (JS)