This paper describes the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Beginning Teacher Assistance Program. The program, operational since 1974, is collaborative, uniting the personnel and resources of the University, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and small to medium sized school districts. Beginning teachers are provided with a structured…

A Pittsburg (Kansas) State University program for individualizing preservice elementary teacher preparation is described, which emphasizes learning by doing through exposure to alternative teaching strategies. Intensive preparations made by the teaching faculty are discussedd (identifying needs and goals for students, formulating program…

This anthology of articles is intended to encourage broad study in the field of bilingual education as a basis for the acquisition of knowledge which will enable practitioners to make intelligent decisions about the programs in which they participate. An overview is provided of the policy and legal factors which had an impact on the efforts to…

In semi-structured interviews, 11 British university lecturers were prompted to discuss their motivations for starting, continuing, and achieving closure in collaborative staff development. Motivations included learning how to teach and involve students in learning, and drawing support from faculty development experts. Findings suggest that…

A Tel Aviv University (Israel) study applied qualitative methods to evaluate a model for improvement of university teaching. A departmental instruction specialist treats instructional quality issues comprehensively within a department. Two years of implementation in the physics department have resulted in increased instructional quality, faculty…

A comprehensive medical school faculty-development program should include four elements (professional socialization, particularly for new faculty; instructional development skill-building; leadership development; and organizational development) to empower faculty to excel as educators and to create vibrant academic communities that value teaching…

This paper reviews staff development research related to rural schools. Only a limited number of studies have described, or evaluated the effects of, particular staff development programs in rural schools, or have assessed the perceived needs of rural faculty and administrators for inservice training. However, rural educators can draw implications…

Staff development activities for teachers in 20 Teacher Corps projects were analyzed for this report. The primary sources of data were documentation essays and interviews, although self report and demographic questionnaires and training logs were also used. Hypotheses were generated from Teacher Corps Rules and Regulations, research literature,…

An effective staff development program for rural teachers will have identified the needs to be met, will incorporate good management principles, and will make use of a variety of resources--the community itself, nonprofessional staff, business and industry, and shared teaching efforts. Distinctive staff development needs of rural teachers may…

This study on barriers to online staff development for classroom teachers was conducted as part of the planning activities of a delivery models project designed to develop guidelines for implementing large-scale online staff development programs. The study involved engaging 54 general and special educators in several professional roles from nine…

An approach to organizing and implementing a conflict resolution workshop for elementary and secondary teachers, developed for use in the Lubbock, Texas public schools, is presented in this paper. Before describing the approach, the paper cites the need for training teachers in human relations and conflict resolution, outlines a step-by-step…

The commitment of a small liberal arts college to academic and administrative computer use and to the computer literacy of its students is described and illustrated. Some of the potential problems are discussed, including faculty burnout, the institution-wide impact of program development, and additional planning needs. (MSE)

This State Policy Update provides background on professional development (PD) in adult education. Section 2 describes survey methods used to document how states funded and designed their PD systems. Section 3 reviews data collected by the survey of state PD systems, highlighting PD activities in Kentucky, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. It…

Australian society in the 1990s has been marked by the gradual disenfranchisement of rural communities due to the urban bias of political and economic decision-makers. In Victoria, curriculum changes based on strategic centralism, consumer capture, and educational accountability were accompanied by a more controlled, urban-biased approach to…

A national survey of 140 college and university presidents concerning the design, content, and status of faculty development programs suggests that renewed institutional efforts are needed to ensure that faculty will understand the changing nature of their disciplines. Major retraining in informational and educational technology is urged, with…