A new project, designed by educators in Minnesota, will develop, evaluate, and disseminate model procedures for integrating new information and communications technologies into precollege instruction in rural areas. Consortia of small rural schools using interactive telecommunications will serve as pilot sites for developing and assessing the…

Time, space, money, and educational opportunities were the four major factors considered in upgrading the individual teaching labs at the University of Florida. The program incorporates the use of single processor microcomputers to teach a variety of courses. Software developed for a course on cognition and perception will set up a ready to run…

Issues related to the development and implementation of instructional development programs to assist faculty in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of collegiate instruction are discussed from a review and synthesis of the literature. Three different approaches to instructional improvement programs are identified and described. While the…

Five issues about faculty development are addressed: (1) the nature and extent of faculty development activity; (2) how a faculty development program gets started on campus; (3) the Teaching-Learning Center at Illinois State University (ISU) and what it seeks to accomplish; (4) ISU's Professional Development Center; and (5) the emerging issues in…

Using Madeline Hunter's Clinical Teaching Model as a guide, the Geary County Unified School District (Junction City, Kansas) established a staff development program that increased student achievement, assisted teachers in setting practical goals for the improvement of instruction, served as the impetus for the district's Effective Schools Program,…

To learn the extent to which a revised elementary science program for grades 3 to 6 had been implemented in the 81 elementary schools of the Jefferson County (Colorado) School District, program developers adopted an assessment system based on the innovation configurations concept. The evolution of this system into an ongoing program for…

Research literature supports the contention that teachers should be involved in program design, implementation, and evaluation of inservice education programs. This study was an attempt to gain information concerning the self-perceived inservice needs of teachers in an urban setting. Six areas of need were identified: (1) developing pupil…

Five universities in New York State (SUNY--State University of New York at Stony Brook, Syracuse, Cornell, Binghamton, and New York Universities--are involved in a 3-year project to better prepare graduate students to become teachers. The State University of New York, Stony Brook, English Department is providing graduate teaching assistants with…

A description is given of the activities that occurred during the initial three years of planning and implementing a staff development program aimed at effective teaching and supervision in the Glendale, California, Unified School District. The report focuses on the third component of a five-year master plan, the planning and implementation of a…

The development and implementation of a course to improve instructional skills of dental faculty members is described. Faculty involved in the pilot test of the course were interviewed one year later in regard to the impact of the course upon their teaching practices and educational philosophy. Responses were analyzed in relation to the Concerns…

Many educators and researchers are discussing a shift in national education from an "instruction" paradigm emphasizing measuring inputs and providing instruction to a "learning" paradigm emphasizing outputs and producing learning. The question is how can Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) smoothly shift educational paradigms.…

This paper describes the development of the Meridian (Idaho) Instructional Model which was implemented by a large school district operating with limited funds. Prior to 1981, staff development activities in the district were undertaken on a need basis without any comprehensive plan or approach to the improvement of instruction. Changes in this…

The purposes and approaches of faculty development are discussed, along with specific college faculty development programs. A model for examining such activities and a framework for designing and implementing a faculty development workshop are also examined. Popular faculty development efforts include: faculty mentors for new faculty, conferences…

This presentation offers a design for developing a long term staff improvement program using the talents available in a small or rural school district with low financial resources, limited personnel time, and difficulty in obtaining outside training. The plan focuses on improving teaching skills through a participatory structure involving peer…

District programs developed in 1980-83 to address improvement priorities of the Pittsburgh Board of Education include Monitoring Achievement in Pittsburgh (MAP), Pittsburgh's Research-Based Instructional Supervisory Model (PRISM), and the School Improvement Project (SIP). MAP programs in math, writing, reading, and critical thinking bring together…