Special education staff development activities in Maine are listed, and ways to serve Maine's rural areas are described. Long range goals in Maine's Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (as required by P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) are listed for collaboration, needs assessment, resource/data collection,…

The article outlines the process used in Oregon to initiate a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) in special education. Factors contributing to the CSPD success include extensive involvement of a wide array of people in the process, clear responsibility outlines, and workable size of the cooperative personnel planning council. (CL)

Lessons for gifted education inservice derived from the Illinois Area Service Centers include: attention to real needs, well planned developmental models, training efforts targeted toward specific outcomes for specific groups, opportunity for followup observation and monitoring, and techniques for continuing personal staff development and renewal.…

The first paper (by Jim Jarrett) in this monograph on the Kansas State Inservice Plan offers an overview of one facet of staff development plans, i.e., peer coaching and its effectiveness in teacher inservice education. The next paper (by Dan Neuenswander) reviews the Kansas State Department of Education Inservice Plan, defining inservice and/or…

This handbook is designed to assist staff development committees in planning and conducting effective staff development programs. Administrative rules governing the establishment of staff development programs are set forth and clarified. A model for staff development describes the following steps for developing a program: (1) establish a board…

Changing curriculum, shifting student populations, and technological and societal demands require that school staff remain actively and continuously involved in staff development programs; because of these issues and the new mandated programs, more stable teaching workforce, and numerous and varied programs in Michigan, the Michigan Department of…

In Florida, a legislatively mandated funding program supports statewide staff development efforts, which are primarily school-based. (Author)

This paper describes the Oklahoma Statewide Training and Regional Support (STARS) program, a system of early intervention inservice training developed to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part H. Major challenges included identification of technical assistance needs, facilitation of training attendance, identification…

The Texas Commission for the Blind's (TCB's) braille literacy initiative is an agency-based program designed to enhance the braille skills of teaching staff. In addition, TCB has established braille-production stations in 30 of its district offices and offers technical assistance to regional rehabilitation personnel. (Author)

The Idaho State Department of Education has mandated a professional growth requirement for all certified educators and requires school districts to develop and implement a professional development plan. This handbook is designed to assist in the implementation of these requirements. The following topics are addressed: (1) professional development,…

The concept of staff development and continuous improvement for teachers and administrators is discussed in the context of a state-developed plan that allows teacher certification renewal only after participation in an approved local staff development program. The plan stipulates that local educational agencies identify student needs and…

An in-service program was needed in Rhode Island to open lines of communication among eighteen adult education programs functioning within the State. Swapshop sessions were held in which the participants were asked to share their classroom techniques and materials. Discusses some positive outcomes of these sessions. (EM)

This report on Idaho's grant programs for reading improvement pinpoints two programs, the General Reading Improvement Program and the Reading Improvement with Phonics Program. The report states that the first program makes funds available to support kindergarten through sixth grade "reading recovery" or other locally developed methods…

The Illinois State Board of Education contracted with Eastern Illinois University to survey the local school districts and identify the operating models of programs to assist and support beginning teachers and to ascertain what innovative activities were occurring. Specifically the questionnaire addressed the following areas: (1) demographic…

To assist school systems in establishing computer competencies for inservice teacher training and personnel hiring guidelines, the North Carolina State Board of Education in 1985 approved the recommendations of a state task force, and identified three levels of computer competencies for teachers (K-12), i.e., competencies needed by all educators,…