This module on staff development is intended to help guidance personnel in a variety of educational and agency settings to assess staff members' needs and competencies related to program development and provide appropriate learning activities for them. The module is one of a series of competency-based guidance program training packages focusing…

A project was initiated to disseminate staff development materials which provide a model for systematically planning comprehensive systems of guidance, counseling, placement, and follow-through and to help Illinois educational agencies in efficiently operating comprehensive guidance and counseling programs. In the first of a two-phase project,…

Recommendations of the West Virginia Commission on Mental Retardation are summarized for both legislative action and major supplementary requests, and basic principles of the state plan are given. Descriptions are given of the state plan organization as a whole and programs for community facilities (diagnostic and treatment centers and community…

One of twelve individualized performance-based modules, each based on a major competency needed by vocational administrators for effectively administering vocational education in local education agencies, this module focuses on developing an understanding of competencies needed, and the self-concept necessary, to organize and direct a total…

The project was designed to demonstrate the use of a college credit course to provide inservice training for key elementary, secondary, vocational, and college staff numbers. They were selected by school administrators and given the reponsibility of leadership in developing plans to initiate career selection teaching teaching procedures in each…

The mini-center concept described in the guide is an attempt to consolidate adult education services into a more effective instructional program by extending adult class meetings to four straight nights a week at a centrally located facility especially designed for adult education purposes. The guide discusses advantages and disadvantages of…

This project manual from the Partnerships for Rural Resource Teams Project, a project designed to build upon the foundation of services for children and youth with deaf-blindness in Montana, opens with guiding principles of the project and a description of the types of available services. Grounded in a framework that draws upon the principles of…

The staff development model described in this paper involves collaborative planning in which the teachers are involved, while also providing a mechanism to assist participants to identify their inservice needs. The model consists of three major components: (1) the preliminary input of a selected committee which produces a needs assessment survey;…

A description is given of the development and implementation of an inservice program, "Project Excel," which was designed in accordance with andragogical theory. This theory is based upon four major assumptions: (1) as people grow, they become increasingly self-directed; (2) as people grow, a reservoir of experiences which provide a…

In this digest the functions of an administrator in gifted and talented education are explored. Administrators are seen to have responsibilities in awareness of the students, in community, and the curriculum. Among specific tasks outlined for administrators are developing plans for continuing identification of gifted students, ensuring that…

The position paper developed by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities stresses the need for systematic inservice programs for service providers. Deterrents cited to quality inservice programs include lack of planning and program availability. It is explained that the committee's recommendations were made after reviewing model…

This digest focuses on the evolution of beginning teacher induction programs over the past two decades, and discusses the reasons why such programs are essential to the professional development of teachers. An overview is presented of existing induction programs, and observed outcomes of these programs are briefly discussed. In considering what…

The Single Skill Training (SST) Courses were developed to meet staff development needs by providing short, concentrated training modules in the areas of mainstreaming handicapped students, providing individualized instruction, and implementing a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). The program was set up to offer staff development courses to public…

The facilitator's guide is for an inservice training module on the development of a least restrictive environment for handicapped children by regular and special education teachers. The guide includes an introductory lecturette providing an overview of least restrictive learning. Activities are suggested to help participants identify the school's…

Step-by-step instructions are provided for implementing the Professional Development Priorities Process (PDPP), an educational needs assessment process, by a school faculty member with groups of eight peers or more. The essence of PDPP, which was designed at the Southeast Idaho Teacher Center Consortium, is a dynamic group process in which needs…