Describes a professional development initiative based on implementing Japanese lesson study in a U.S. school. Japanese teachers acted as lesson study coaches. Researchers documented processes engaged in by participants. There were many crucial differences between groups. American teachers found it difficult to sustain a vision of teaching as a…

Examined how South African teachers enrolled in an inservice program had adopted learner-centered practices, introducing the notions of forms and substance in learner- centered teaching and describing how they were developed in the program. Data from classroom observations and interviews indicated that such teacher characteristics as prior…

Two studies were conducted to assess the effects of teacher training in analogical reasoning on students' performance of analogy tasks. Participants were 25 fourth-grade teachers and their students, and 23 three to eight year old children in special summer enrichment classes. Results and implications for educational practice are discussed.…

Examined the work of four facilitators involved in five different approaches to literacy reform ranging from externally adopted to internally developed interventions. Findings highlight the different roles of facilitation as viewed by the facilitators themselves in relation to these varied approaches to reform. Facilitators gave very different…

Current research in developing countries on the inservice education and training of teachers (INSET) and on the effects of examination systems on teaching is reviewed. Annotated reference lists are provided. (Author/MT)

Examined whether change occurred in the attitudes of Arab teachers in Israel toward Holocaust education following an inservice study course. Survey and interview data indicated that after the course, teachers had a better understanding of what occurred during the Holocaust, and their willingness to know about its effects on Jewish people…

Presents a model of teacher learning and an analytic framework linking professional development to student and teacher learning. The approach begins with an analysis of relevant content standards and uses evidence of student performance to gauge areas of need. Professional development is evaluated using reflection, classroom observation, and…

A study examining the effectiveness of self-assessment in improving the quality of elementary reading instruction was conducted within a staff development program involving 53 elementary school teachers. The development of the program is described. Results of the study are discussed. (Author/MT)

A 23-item questionnaire was used to measure the inservice needs of 246 junior high school teachers of mathematics. Teachers were then sorted into groups according to prior teaching experience and educational credentials. Analysis showed these groups to prioritize the five identified need categories differently. (Author/MT)

Presents a model of teacher professional growth that views professional development as teacher learning. The model includes four analytic domains in which teacher change occurs, indicates potential relationships among change domains, and identifies mechanisms operating to produce these relationships. The article illustrates the model with data…

Examined factors affecting the success of a staff-development program in promoting long-term use of cooperative learning. Surveys of teachers who participated in a statewide cooperative-learning staff-development program indicated that three years after the training, most participants used cooperative learning some of the time. Membership on a…

Examines assumptions that policy for secondary school teachers' continuing professional development should be dominated by such activities as courses and workshops. Research into learning, communities of practice, and complexity establishes a contrary view that subject departments are prime sites of non- predictable professional learning. The…

Dutch 7th grade teachers were trained to apply either cognitive apprenticeship or direct instruction models in reading comprehension lessons. They received teaching guides with adaptations of their current reading curriculum. Control group teachers used the same curriculum with no teaching guides or training. In both experimental conditions,…

Analyzed elementary teachers' discussions in an inquiry group focused on the teaching of mathematics, comparing teachers' responses to four types of activities designed to create dilemmas which might prompt their reconsideration of instructional beliefs and practices. Samples of teacher talk related to each activity are presented. Only one…

Examined the potential and adequacy of the workplace as a site for teacher learning in view of a large-scale secondary education reform in the Netherlands. Teacher surveys and interviews indicated that there were great discrepancies between theory and practice in opportunities for professional learning in the workplace. Rate of participation in…