This letter to the next president of the United States recommends the transformation of teacher in-service learning as a powerful means of education reform. Too often, professional development is perceived by teachers as being idiosyncratic and irrelevant. The authors recommend a reconceptualization of professional learning for practicing…

An inservice summer program provides renewed self-confidence and teaching perspectives by having teachers participate as learners in outdoor experiences. (CMJ)

Current teacher induction programs are reviewed. The North Carolina approach, which is based on collaboration between institutions of higher education and local education agencies, is described. The effects of the program on the teacher educators, the mentors, and the beginning teachers are highlighted. (MT)

Program goals of the Doane College (Nebraska) teacher induction program include: improving teacher performance, retaining promising beginning teachers, promoting personal and professional well-being, satisfying mandated certification and induction requirements, providing strategies for beginning teachers to acquire additional knowledge and skills,…

After teaching a high school physical education class about lifetime sports, the instructor and the class participated in a college laboratory experience, from which the college and high school instructors and the students benefitted. (CJ)

Selected research dissemination practices in California were examined to discover how teacher educators use research findings to educate classroom teachers. Experiences with both inservice and preservice teacher educators are discussed. (DF)

Although colleges of education have paid increased attention to their role in inservice programs for early childhood educators, it is clear that collegiate concern has, in the past, centered on inservice as it relates to the K-12 constituency. (JN)

Describes the Japanese professional development practice of lesson study and its articulation within the Japanese educational system, discussing insights gained from research that explored the feasibility of lesson study in a U.S. setting, noting challenges faced by American teachers trying to adopt the research focus that is inherent in lesson…

Effective inservice programs are necessary to ensure that current reforms in education are properly implemented. Inservice programs must meet the needs of both the educational system and educators. Six basic policy assumptions dealing with what is needed in inservice education are discussed. (DF)

This article describes Virginia's Beginning Teacher Assistance Program (BTAP), implemented to test teacher competence, and to help teachers acquire missing competencies. The effect of BTAP and similar programs on the teaching profession is discussed. Included is an appendix which lists the BTAP competencies and indicators. (IAH)

The National Writing Project is a collaborative effort between teachers and professors aimed at the improvement of teaching. A discussion of the project's history and structure and implications for other cooperative efforts in inservice education are offered. (DF)

When elementary school teachers become learners in staff development activities, they have special needs: (1) practical and concrete instruction; (2) individualized instruction; (3) extended practice time; (4) approval to modify and adapt new techniques; (5) site or team involvement; (6) instructors with teaching experience; (7) professional…

New Hampshire's successful inservice plan has three main characteristics: local control, direct link to recertification, and lack of state funding. The New Hampshire Staff Development Plan is based on locally controlled inservice education. Teachers must participate in the local plan in order to be recertified. Staff development is financed by the…

Effective principals are actively engaged in the continuing education of their teachers and the improvement of instructional performance. Professional development programs designed to improve principal effectiveness should be comprehensive, long-term, and research-based. (IAH)

Some forms of constructivism are emancipatory in intent. The article describes principles of an emancipatory approach to knowledge construction, illustrating the effects of the principles on teachers' knowledge construction and practices with comments by teachers who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Institute for Teachers. (SM)