The accomplishments of the Educational Cooperative Service Unit of the Metropolitan Twin Cities Area (Minnesota) are described. The unit serves a seven-county metropolitan area, 13 associate member agencies, and 48 member public school districts and provides effective programs for school and educational personnel. During the 1985-86 school year,…

A brief program description, recommendations to the sponsor, and an evaluation report are presented for a 6-day summer workshop to train public school teachers and administrators (K-12) to use community resource people in career awareness and exploration programs. Activities reported include large- and small-group training sessions, community site…

Variables that affect the use of knowledge gained by educators at workshops were investigated. Knowledge use is significantly associated with: (1) school climate variables such as staff treatment, goal direction, and problem solving; and (2) workshop features such as clear explanations, job relevance, and amount and qualities of instruction. (FG)

A practicum was designed to increase the lines of positive and effective communication between parents and teachers in a preschool setting. Poor parent-teacher communication (due to lack of knowledge or experience) was documented. The program sought to improve communication regarding the child's developmental and personal progress. The 8-month…

Eight preschool and primary school teachers participated in workshops on planning creative dance instruction. Four months after the workshops, all eight were using dance as an educational tool. Reasons for teachers' choice to use dance in the classroom are discussed. (MDM)

Selected research studies which have potential utility for and impact upon the conduct of staff development programs in school settings are reviewed in this paper. The context, assessment, content, and process of staff development programs are defined, and 27 validated studies are introduced and discussed. Trends in findings are noted, and gaps in…

An accountability model has been derived from a research based staff development model used in secondary school classrooms. This accountability model contains four components: (1) baseline/pretest; (2) inform; (3) guided practice; and (4) post-test observations. In the first component, teachers are observed; individual profiles of behavior are…

This practicum report describes an intervention to improve children's experiences of transitions to and from a day care center and from one activity to another throughout the day. Training workshops for parents and staff were held for 32 weeks. The purpose of the training, which included lectures for large groups and meetings for small groups, was…

The project was assigned with the purpose of providing adult basic education directors in Regions 1, 2, 5 and 10 of the U.S. Office of Education with the technical capability of using staff and volunteers to organize and manage the training of volunteers to tutor adults in basic reading and writing. Two training workshops were conducted in each…

Daycare directors in northern Canada, with little or no post-secondary education, face the difficulties of programming for children from diverse cultures. Directors often feel isolated in their small communities, and a lack of programming expertise and early childhood development training for them has become a concern. This practicum designed,…

A Teachers Corps staff development project involved the collaboration of a school district, the community, and a college of education in a variety of activities designed to improve school climate and to reduce teacher stress. Descriptions are given of the needs assessments conducted among school staff, students, and community members from the…

The effectiveness of two approaches used by the Ventura-Santa Barbara County (California) School Resource Network to meet district-wide staff development needs is evaluated in this report. A new inservice training method, characterized by facilitation teams working within schools on site-specific needs, is contrasted to a district-wide topical…

A training program was implemented for teachers to increase the quality and quantity of developmentally appropriate multicultural education for 2-year-olds at a child care center in which the children and teachers were predominantly Euro-American. The 10-week training program used readings, videos, discussions, and guided imagery to: (1) raise…

This guide is designed for supervisors and trainers who are helping teachers of young children implement the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood: a curriculum that is based on child development theory and is developmentally appropriate for preschool and kindergarten children. The guide gives particular emphasis to a carefully organized, rich…

At a small, northeastern suburban elementary school, the records used to characterize the skills and to anticipate the needs of the diverse students in transition (between grades, school levels, or special to regular education programs) did not provide receiving teachers an effective assessment of current performance levels; nor was there adequate…