Over the years, most states and districts have focused professional development on teachers rather than principals. However, evidence suggests that principals can play an important role in reaching our national goals of high achievement for all students. School leaders are powerful levers for change--when given the right training and support. But…

Much research shows that students do not transfer learning well from one class to the next. This study was designed to investigate if students were transferring rhetorical strategies from their disciplinary courses to advanced writing courses. The findings suggest that business majors not only transferred rhetorical knowledge from their other…

The value of experiential learning is widely acknowledged, especially for the development of communication skills, but students are not always aware of their own learning. While we can observe students practicing targeted skills during the experiential activity, the experience can also color their explicit understanding of those skills. Transfer…

Through its engagement with grantees on initiatives to improve school leadership, The Wallace Foundation came to recognize the important role that state organizations play in advancing effective leadership in districts and schools as well as the importance of coordination among state- and district-level policies. The authors have recently…

We explain in this article the need for board training in rural America irrespective of industry or government sector. We discuss how an assessment of training needs has led to the launch of a new project called the National Board Basics Curriculum (NBBC) project. In this project, we have identified four key core competencies that every board…

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

Courses geared to the needs of managerial and supervisory personnel were conducted through Iowa's fifteen area community colleges as in-service training. Using a discussion format and course manuals, over 2000 people in four years have participated in the program, approximately one-half the number is managerial and supervisory positions in Iowa…

The Child Welfare League of America is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

Examination of numerous studies of executives of small manufacturing firms in Iowa offered insights on their attitudes and actions regarding educational seminars. Findings showed that 62.7 percent of manufacturers attended at least one seminar in the last year. The term "seminar" had a better customer satisfaction rating than…

A report, providing guidelines for the Iowa State Advisory Council, deals with inservice training and the role of Title I in providing educational programs. Part I discusses the need for inservice training for local government officials, lists available education and training programs, points out major training gaps, and makes suggestions for…

Scheduled for implementation in 1985, Student Excellence through Educational Development of Staff (SEEDS) is a 3-year cooperative partnership between four rural Southwest Iowa school districts to provide comprehensive, long-term staff development that promises to heighten student achievement through increasing instructional/supervision skills of…

This report examines the types of professional development necessary to implement successful online learning initiatives. The potential for schools utilizing online learning is tremendous: schools can develop new distribution methods to enable equity and access for all students, they can provide high quality content for all students and they can…

This document contains 14 research paper presentations and 5 "mini-tips" from the 1998 American Vocational Education Research Association (AVERA) annual meeting. The first section includes three papers on international and distance education: "Determining Success of Vocational Students Enrolled in Distance Education Courses"…