This investigation examines the relationship between prior disability-focused training and university staff members' attitudes toward students with learning disabilities (LD). A survey containing items pertaining to prior disability-focused training experiences and attitudes about students with LD was administered to 300 university staff members.…

As early childhood programs and schools become more culturally and linguistically diverse, professionals need to create settings that welcome "new voices" and help all children succeed. This comprehensive professional development course gives them the in-depth practical guidance they need. Developed by respected scholar Dina Castro and her expert…

Little is known about the impact of staff development programs on student reading comprehension performance. This study examined the impact of staff supported through "Reading Next"'s Project C.R.I.S.S. on middle and high school student remedial reading performance in one Southwestern U.S. school district from 2005 to 2010. This…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) provide schools with a tool to meet the professional development needs of their teachers through ongoing, job-embedded staff development designed to improve instruction and student learning. While research exists on the development of PLCs, there is a gap in the literature concerning the principal's role in…

This study investigated the use of organizational learning community principles to effectively manage organizational change. Target is a pseudonym for a small public school in Southern New Jersey that has provided educational services to students with special needs since 1969. In 2004 Target began providing services to a new population of students…

A survey of 800 public school educators in New Hampshire revealed inconsistencies between staff development goals and practices. While teachers and administrators agreed on program goals, they disagreed on how effectively staff development projects meet individual needs. Differences between inservice activities and staff development activities…

Reviews a number of factors that should be considered in preparing instruments to evaluate inservice programs. Offers a sample evaluation form. (FL)

Several in-service models are presented including a provision of services model, job maintenance model, personal development model, and three problem-solving models. (JMF)

Examined factors affecting the success of a staff-development program in promoting long-term use of cooperative learning. Surveys of teachers who participated in a statewide cooperative-learning staff-development program indicated that three years after the training, most participants used cooperative learning some of the time. Membership on a…

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…

Support for Innovative Teacher Projects was a 12-month program implemented by the Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) of Nassau County, New York, designed to encourage and assist teachers in developing innovative projects in priority areas and in applying for funding. In collaboration with a university school of education, the project…

This study was undertaken to provide information to policymakers and school administrators about the process of staff development in desegregated schools, characteristics of staff development programs, and district level perceptions of staff development. The study was based on data collected during field visits to 16 desegregated school districts.…

This paper describes a successful, low-budget 2-day training session designed to prepare trainers for the presentation of a quality inservice program. A presentation on "training of trainers" was videotaped for use on the first of the two training days. The second training day was devoted to working with principals and administrative…

A review of the literature concerning the effectiveness and quality of staff development programs focuses on factors that affect the success of such programs. These factors include: individual concerns, training activities, applications, qualifications of consultants, scheduling, strategies, facilities, feedback, collaboration, and outcomes. It is…

Human relations is an essential ingredient in education and teacher effectiveness. Suggests that since teachers have not received appropriate preservice training in human relations, such learning must come from in-service and staff development programs supported by and originated from the local school district. The elements of good in-service…