An independent study of Baltimore City's Tesseract schools analyzes why the privately managed program failed. Results showed no gains on Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills scores. Baltimore was paying about 11% more per student than in comparison schools. EAI has succeeded in establishing the supremacy of Wednesday afternoons for staff development…

Describes how two university instructors implemented the staff development component of a competitive U.S. federal literacy initiative in two elementary schools. Notes that Reading Excellence Act (REA) was enacted to give schools direct financial assistance to improve reading instruction. Suggests the greatest lesson the authors learned was…

Presents two interrelated stories: one concerning the author's struggles to become an effective teacher of psychology, and the second about the University of New Hampshire's graduate program in psychology and its emphasis on research and teaching. The program's two-semester Seminar and Practicum in the Teaching of Psychology is detailed, and data…

Presents evaluation of countywide professional development programs for school counselors. Surveyed program participants (n=128) and counselor supervisors (n=75). Results indicated the programs had positive effects on counselor who approved of all of the components of the program; counselors' supervisors described changes brought about by their…

Discusses the unique needs of school principals early in their careers, describing ways the needs have been addressed through enactment of an entry-year program in Ohio that involves structured and formal mentoring activities. The program stresses that mentoring and induction should fit a more comprehensive program of professional development. (SM)

Focuses on the growth of training industry in the United States and the increase of its influence. Discusses organizations' expenditures on training; training industry associations; postsecondary programs; credibility of the training profession; intellectual leadership; shortage of skilled employees; and the overall impact of training today. (AEF)

Peter Senge's (1990) theory of organizational change includes teams that perceive the whole of the organization; grow professionally; navigate short- and long-term organizational experiences through exposed mental models; share a vision; and hear each voice in an ongoing communal learning process. The Margaret Sue Copenhaver Institute for Teaching…

This study used qualitative methods to investigate the challenges and professional development needs of elementary and secondary school counselors who work with linguistically and culturally diverse students and families, and their perceptions of the impact of a 9-month professional development program focused on improving school counselors'…

"Realizing Excellence: Structuring Technology Programs" (International Technology Education Association, April 2005) is a pivotal addition to the ITEA Addenda to Technological Literacy Standards Series. In ITEA's graphic model of an educational program, first introduced in the standards document, Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy:…

The premise of this article is that excellent teaching requires ongoing assessment of student understanding--a commitment to knowing what students know. The Integrating Mathematics Assessment (IMA) program provides a well-researched example of professional development that helps teachers interpret children's mathematical thinking and guide…

This article describes the responses to an on-line survey that was sent to 21 universities and colleges funded during 1999-2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) to develop and implement faculty and administrator professional development activities. The projects were asked to respond to a series of…

This paper explores the question of whether it is possible to design professional development programs for teachers that can significantly improve student test results and reduce the achievement gap for students. The Dayton (Ohio) Foundation and the Montgomery County (Ohio) Educational Service Center, sponsors of The Miami Valley Teacher/…

Teaching for the development of students' thinking is not a straightforward matter. It requires pedagogical skills, which are different from those of normal good quality teaching for conceptual development. It follows that providing professional development (PD) for teachers of thinking is a "hard case"--we can learn much of general value to…

The study in this article seeks to understand the learning challenges involved in developing learning-centered leadership in schools. It is based on Southworth's (1998, 2004) ideas of leadership for improving schools, which comprise promoting learning-centered improvement at all levels through professional development and a focus on the quality of…

Investigating University-School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, the fourth book in the PDS Research Series developed by the same editors, includes a collection of organized papers that represent the best and latest examples of practitioner thinking, research, and program design and evaluation in the field at the…