This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of teachers towards their professional development (PD) in a school with a high population of low-income students. The study focus was driven by critical theory with a unique application of attribution theory as a part of the data analysis. This moved the data analysis beyond simply a…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how, through the cultivation of reform ownership in the professional development (PD) program, the Pathway Project, agency was achieved for the development of teacher professionalism and teacher expertise in the cases of Mrs. Cruz and Mrs. Keyes. This, in turn, provided opportunities to advance…

This Special Issues Brief from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center in partnership with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education summarizes the experiences in leadership of six current and former deans who have been identified as engaging in successful collaborative…

Creating an engaged campus is a process that takes support, resources, and programs from all levels of a college or university campus. While some may argue that sustainable change is only possible when directed by university administration, others counter that nothing is sustainable if faculty and staff are not empowered to implement the programs.…

The purpose of this research is to identify factors that influence the functioning of a school working as a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and to analyze the links between these factors and the school's progression. This research was developed within the context of an interpretative research paradigm. The primary data collection tool…

This is a story about how a national Canadian environmental education program (Green Street) evolved in unpredictable ways and about the particular twist in the road that led program stakeholders to focus on scaling up in different ways than originally imagined. The "twist" occurred when the program reached the initially perceived…

The dissemination to 125 schools of a secondary individualized reading program created by P. K. Yonge Laboratory School was accomplished by a workshop and by the formation into implementation teams of persons responsible for different levels of decisions. Evaluations support the use of this team-based change strategy. (SJL)

Initiating a planning effort in school districts requires attention to the mechanics of its adoption as well as the communication of planning concepts. Such a system has been developed by the Administering for Change Program of Research for Better Schools, Inc. This package emphasizes involvement of teachers and administrators through…

If schools rush into Back-to-Basics the way they once rushed into open education, educational quality will not improve and the positive, humanistic attributes of progressive education may be lost. Change must be slowly and carefully planned and provide adequate support to the teachers who must implement it. (SJL)

Conducted by Nancy Brandt and Bernice Haney, this study looked at internal and external forces affecting educational change efforts in four schools of education. The study compared institutions with both high activity and staff involvement in program development to those with low activity and involvement. Data were collected through structured…

Since 1975 the Contoocook Valley District, a small rural cooperative school district in southwestern New Hampshire, has developed a performance-based student competency program which has resulted in a dramatic increase in scores on the Stanford Achievement Test. The district is comprised of 9 towns, covers an area of almost 300 square miles, and…

This is an account of the planning and implementation processes of a new secondary school (Bayridge Secondary School), located in a suburban area of a medium-sized city in Ontario, Canada. This report traces the planning and development of the school's goals, which included involvement of the entire school community, from 1970 through 1974. The…

The contents of this volume are directed to designers and managers of staff development programs. It is designed to provide a systemic consideration of all factors involved, including the long-range goals of staff development, the behaviors of the people involved, the interface of existing organizational structures, and the mechanisms for program…

The planning, design, development, and implementation of a conference of Canadian German teachers to promote a collaborative, decentralized approach to professional development are described. The report begins with an overview of the professional development situation among German teachers in Canada. Particular focus is on efforts to make…

Suggestions are presented on mainstreaming women's studies in the traditional curriculum. Directors of 17 curriculum projects involved in integrating materials on women into the college curriculum participated in a 3-day conference (Princeton, New Jersey, August 27-30, 1981). The material in the handbook is drawn from the experience of these…