Under the supervision of a licensed early intervention provider, paraprofessionals play an indispensable role in implementation of home and community-based services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families in Colorado. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 requires that…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the importance of new employee orientation (NEO) programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Findings: Although western…

High-quality care in the earliest years of life has been shown to relate to positive developmental outcomes for children, including improved early academic skills, social-emotional competencies, and cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, the early care experiences of many children are not always high quality; rather, research suggests that…

First implemented in 1987, Success for All (SFA) is one of the best-known and most thoroughly evaluated school reform models. It combines three basic elements: (1) Reading instruction that emphasizes phonics for beginning readers and comprehension for students at all levels, and that is characterized by a highly structured curriculum, an emphasis…

This article uses Wellington City Libraries as the basis for a case study of a future-focused, reorganized staffing structure in a public library network. It covers the change from why, how, departure from a building-based hierarchical structure, new staff and line responsibilities, union involvement, implications for staff training to culture and…

In this article, the author offers his critique on Holburn and Cea's notion on "excessive positivism" that person-centered planners are overconcerned with scientific verification and logical proof. The author believes that Holburn and Cea's notion blurs the important messages they have for person-centered planners by leading toward a debate about…

A description is given of a staff development program designed to bridge the gap between regular teachers and teachers of gifted children. The program is based on the following concepts: (1) teachers must be provided with practical ideas that can be put into place immediately in the classroom; (2) teachers must feel ownership of their own…

Successful implementation of new programs requires planning, an appropriate strategy, and staff development. (Author)

This article examines staff training from a different perspective, as a means of transmitting organizational culture to student employees through a closer communication between career and student part-time employees. Results of a qualitative survey suggest communication supports multigenerational relationships and administrators who invest in…

To determine what effect a series of inservice programs for school administrators had on participating school principals and their schools, principals filled out questionnaires before and after five inservice programs. Changes were noted in three domains of participant characteristics--cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. (JW)

The Urban Education Studies focuses its efforts on the study of promising educational programs in urban school districts. Experience has confirmed the basic assumption that many programs and strategies of demonstrated or potential excellence are to be found in the urban setting. The generalizations gleaned from the data and on-site visits…

Shows that the inconsistencies in implementation of process strategies for reading and writing instruction by a first grade teacher participating in a three-year staff development program are a result of the lack of four components in the program: feedback, planning time, focus on one innovation, and consensus on school goals. (SR)

The National Staff Development Committee of the Vocational Education and Training Sector in Australia is promoting action learning as a preferred professional development strategy to support the implementation of key competencies. Action learning was piloted across five training areas within the Department of Employment, Training, and Further…