One of the greatest frustrations of the curriculum developer in adult continuing professional education settings is the diverse entry levels of potential participants. One way of dealing with diversity of entry level, and at the same time relating instruction to individual needs, is through a system that bases curriculum on professional…

Adult learning theory and research on professional development provide a rich background context for examining school leader development for school improvement. The literature on adult learning theory identifies the following generalities about adults as learners: age reduces the speed of learning; adult learners bring life experiences to bear on…

This article relates to two problems: how to deal with individual differences in heterogeneous classes and how to plan and implement professional development programs in this area. The planning and implementation of such a program through a process of collaboration between researchers and teachers is reported in the study. (Author)

Goal 9 of twelve Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Challenge to Lead goals is that every school regardless of its student population, location or surrounding economic circumstances has a leader who can work with faculty to increase student learning. This report discusses progress toward this goal since 2002 in the 16 SREB states. It also is…

This report documents the evaluation of selected Portland, Oregon, Public Schools elementary and middle school literacy instructional programs and professional development models in 2000-2001. The literacy evolution examined the use of four reading intervention programs and professional development models as well as district adoptions of publisher…

This paper describes key issues in conducting impact evaluations of corporate eLearning and reports the results of a study that evaluated the impact (including return on investment) of an eLearning implementation by a large telecommunications company. The program was designed to "multi-skill" over 1,000 Customer Service Officers (CSOs)…

Three policy strategies interpreted as intended to empower teachers within the new policy context of school autonomy were studied. Teacher services in Kentucky's school councils seemed to have little effect on empowering teachers since the researchers found in two studies involving 168 and 318 Kentucky teachers that teachers were not even…

This resource book describes a wide variety of programs designed to help at-risk students. The following chapters are included: (1) "Introduction and Background"; (2) "Program, Instructional, and Curricular Initiatives"; (3) "Comprehensive School-Improvement Initiatives"; (4) "Teacher Training and Professional Development Initiatives"; (5)…

Evaluates Niagara County Community College's efforts to promote instructional improvement and thereby increase students' course completion rates, students' satisfaction with learning and outcomes, and teachers' professional skill levels. Reports effects on faculty motivation and other outcomes and discusses the use of interviews in the evaluation…

The benefits perceived by mentors themselves from serving as mentors in preservice preparation of educational administrators were studied for practicing school administrators assisting in the Danforth Foundation Program for the Preparation of School Principals. Mentors enjoyed participating and learning from program participants, as well as the…

Project Texas is a professional development program for K-8 teachers from districts serving underrepresented populations in order to develop teacher knowledge of Texas' eco-regions. The program provides a meaningful context modeling integration of field experiences, investigative activities, problem-solving strategies, and cooperative learning…

Contends that nongraded primary teachers must develop a deeper understanding of the schooling of primary students. States that Hardin County teachers discovered that professional development in scheduling, classroom discipline, classroom management, collaboration, and common planning time were keys to success in the development of their nongraded…

Today's school counselors are faced with demands to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of their counseling programs. Twenty-eight school counselors from a large Southwestern school district participated in a program evaluation training workshop designed to help them develop evaluation skills necessary for demonstrating program…

There is an established body of research on the effectiveness of comprehensive substance abuse prevention strategies in higher education. There is relatively little research, however, on the characteristics and job functions of prevention professionals and their effectiveness. This study was designed to examine the characteristics of professionals…

This paper presents and discusses an in-service teacher development program that focussed on establishing a materials bank for English language teachers at a private primary school in Ankara, Turkey, and teachers' evaluations of the program. The program aimed to lead to teacher change as growth and learning, to address school-based needs, and to…