Although school administrators hold a key position in educational improvement, strategies designed to help in the development of their knowledge and skills have not been fully examined. A review of research on administrator inservice offers a research agenda that may be followed to expand the knowledge base on this issue. (DF)

Assessing school administrator training involves comparing what administrators do with what they are trained to do in university preservice programs and non-university inservice programs. Research on educational administrators shows their work activities are brief, discontinuous, unpredictable, verbal, and generally unrelated to school instruction…

This document is a monograph in a personnel development series addressing issues that are pertinent for policy-making personnel concerned with inservice personnel development of vocational/special educators. Chapter 1 addresses the state of the art in inservice education and includes a definition and information on legislative provisions, the…

Pertinent research literature and existing practices in the area of leadership for school climate improvement are reviewed in this document. The report first turns to the literature to establish working concepts of "leadership" and "school climate," enumerating the major characteristics by which each concept is recognized. The…

Reports findings concerning (1) identification of inservice needs of teachers, (2) the effects of different styles of inservice programs, and (3) an evaluation of the impact of inservice programs. (Author/RH)

This monograph surveys the literature relating to the role of the principal as change agent and the process of educational change, and reviews those characteristics that research has found to make principals more effective and efficient change agents. The introduction identifies four relevant perspectives in the research on instructional…

Professional development (PD) has emerged over that last decade as a recognised area of study (Evans 2002). PD of teachers is seen as an essential ingredient for creating effective schools and raising students' performance (Rhodes & Houghton-Hill 2000; Wood & Millichamp 2000; Birman, Desimone, Porter & Garet 2000). Since teachers have the most…

A review of research on evaluation of inservice and preservice teacher education notes that the lack of outcome data reflects a lack of consensus about the choice of evaluation measures. The use of both trainee and child performance measures is proposed, and an example of such an approach is given. (Author/CL)

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

The article represents a literature based set of practical guidelines regarding mainstreaming in the areas of inservice method, format, planning, goals and objectives, location, scheduling, evaluation, incentives, training personnel, school administration, and instructional materials. (Author/CL)

An evaluation of the in-service education and training (INSET) of teachers in Britain is based on careful analysis of the characteristics of the evaluation task, target, and agent and, more specifically, upon the way in which these three factors interact in any one cell of the model. (JMF)

This monograph analyzes an experimental program that ran from 1976 to 1980 to train Pacific/Asian American social work students in community mental health. The students, who were awarded stipends, were recruited from three associate in arts programs in human services and from two universities that offered both bachelor's and master's programs in…

This paper reviews issues and trends in inservice teacher education, focusing on state-of-the-art activities, criticisms levied against inservice programs, objectives, structure, basic models, and program evaluation methods. Trends identified focus on efforts to improve programs, innovations, program length, teacher involvement in program…

In a recent canvassing of American teachers about their inservice education experiences; 75 percent categorized these experiences as "fair to bad." Five major reasons for the lack of valuable inservice education are discussed. Supporting and constraining factors are highlighted. (MT)

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…