Art teachers may find student assessment stressful when they fear that the rigid criteria might stifle creativity (Gruber & Hobbs, 2002), while others will see assessment as a valuable tool that sparks possibilities for future projects (Schönau, 2012). In September 2016, the author decided to focus for an entire year on developing new…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the most fair, authentic, and reliable elements to include in a portfolio of faculty work, specifically at teaching-centered institutions. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines and evaluates relevant literature pertaining to faculty portfolios of work and recommends portfolio formats…

Different regions of the world are making increasing demands for educational reform, especially when institutions are dissatisfied with the level of proficiency of their graduates. Since the realization of how important English education is to global success, reform to English education is becoming progressively vital in societies all over the…

Administrative demands, crisis management, and political challenges often strand superintendents miles away from the day-to-day work of teachers and students in the classroom. Even when superintendents strive to focus their work on the instructional core--the interactions among student, teacher, and content--those same commitments and crises…

Scholars argue or imply that schools should build transformative school visions that promote equity, diversity, and social justice. However, little empirical research has investigated the principal's role in this endeavor or analyzed the practical dimensions of transformative vision statements. This study re-examined relevant data from two…

This book compiles several essays about effective evaluation of teaching. Contents of this publication include: (1) Conducting Research on Student Evaluations of Teaching (William E. Addison and Jeffrey R. Stowell); (2) Choosing an Instrument for Student Evaluation of Instruction (Jared W. Keeley); (3) Formative Teaching Evaluations: Is Student…

Monthly meetings and a peer-observation program help novice teachers overcome isolation and practice new skills that support improved student learning. Peer observation is not without its difficulties. Above all else, the point of the program is to make teachers more comfortable observing, sharing instructional ideas, and learning from one…

A rural superintendent used action research principles in conducting a series of focus groups with community members, students, and staff. The focus group data informed strategic planning. At the end of a carefully designed process, district administrators found more agreement among residents than they had expected. Community members were grateful…

The Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005 created an innovative competitive grant program aimed at stimulating faculty to submit more and better NIH research proposals, thereby increasing the probability of success. In this internal competition, three experienced external reviewers critique each proposal and assign a priority…

The professional expertise of educational leaders has been defined through the lens of problem-solving processes. Problem-based learning has therefore become an increasingly popular instructional approach in principal preparatory programs. As such, this study represents an initial attempt to explore learning from success (i.e., success-based…

This book presents a framework for administrator peer evaluation within school districts that is already at work and succeeding. The evaluation design emphasizes results, promotes professional growth and development, models expectations for students and teachers, and meets Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards. Chapter 1…

Outlines how the Writing Response Groups function. This is a cooperative learning atmosphere where trained student peers respond to other students' writing with the Praise-Question-Polish technique. Includes references. (MD)

This study evaluated quality of orientation of reviewers of proposals submitted to the federal program, "Training Personnel for the Education of the Handicapped." The degree of consistency among groups of reviewers (n=184) who received various amounts of orientation training was compared. Findings suggested value in assigning fewer applications…

The role of editors and peer reviewers in detecting and sanctioning scientific misconduct is analyzed, structural problems inherent in the process are examined, and best means of enabling peer and editorial roles in correction of misconduct are discussed. It is argued that the review process plays a limited corrective role. (MSE)

The successful organization of the 1990s will fundamentally remake its employee relationship, especially through increased employee influence on the nature of work, organizational context, and quality of product/service. An employee advocacy peer review conflict resolution process has been useful in improving labor relations and enhancing the…