Awards for exemplary staff development programs from the National Center for the Improvement of Learning are announced for 17 school districts, selected from 55 submitted to the award competition. Nine of the programs are featured in this issue; the remaining eight will be described in the March issue. (MLF)

The Adaptive Learning Environments Program can provide appropriate individualized instruction to students of all ability levels. The program has undergone more than a decade of development and data-based testing. (MLF)

School leaders should realize that consultants cannot substitute for developing collective actions within the organization. The "Consultant from Oz Syndrome" stems from placing undue confidence in external sources, confusing consultants with magicians, and denying their limitations. While journeying down the yellow brick road of…

Describes a Texas educational program that uses interactive instructional television to teach fully accredited high school classes, staff development workshops, and preservice and inservice education classes. (MD)

Describes how 16 superintendents spurred district reform efforts by creating a positive environment through a four-step process: establishing trust, planning the district's future, communicating their vision effectively, and following through. An inset provides advice to other change-oriented superintendents. (MLH)

The 1988 American Association of School Administrators Leadership Development Awards went to North Gibson School Corporation (Princeton, Indiana) for a bottom-up approach to staff development called Teachers Teaching Teachers and to Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville, Florida) for an innovative Principal Preparation Program. (MLH)

The 1990-91 AASA/National Staff Development Council Award for Outstanding Achievement in Professional Development went to Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Public Schools. Top educational research honors went to graduate student Dianne E. Ashby, for an HIV project at Illinois State University, and educational psychologist Lou Ann S. Dickson, for a project…

The American Association of School Administrators is concerned that past federal professional development activities have centered on colleges and universities rather than on school districts where teaching and learning occur. When reexamining the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress should fund only local initiatives aimed at quality change and…

Educational supervision must be tied to improving staff skills in several critical areas--planning, diagnosis, monitoring, evaluating, and modifying programs to meet individual students' needs. To address supervisors' training deficiencies in these areas, this article recommends a workable training model and outlines desirable supervisor…

Before schools purchase computer hardware and software, the district should set goals for their use, establish effective teacher training, and determine a realistic schoolwide implementation plan.(MD)

To help improve reading instruction, a California district developed an effective staff development plan featuring learning-support teams, a 30-week training schedule, and recommended reading resources. Teachers selected San Francisco State University's Consortium for Reading Excellence program for its training in phonics instruction and…

The AASA Instructional Leadership and Technology Committee this year honored five school districts with Outstanding Achievement in Professional Development awards. Honored were Deer Valley Unified School District (Arizona), South Windsor Public Schools (Connecticut), Fort Knox Community Schools (Kentucky), West Orange Public Schools (New Jersey),…

To recognize high performance administrators, a South Carolina school district has added a performance incentive to the basic salary plan for administrators. Criteria for comparing job targets that are selected by the administrators are based on scope, complexity, and anticipated impact. (MLF)

Describes staff development components for veteran and beginning teachers planning to teach in blocked classes. Teachers need training and practice in information-sharing methods, learning-theory applications, assessment strategies, student mastery, curriculum mapping and integration, classroom organization, and lesson development. Block…

There are usually three reasons for hiring consultants: to inspire or motivate staff, to provide staff with new ideas, or to glean information from research and evaluation studies to make informed decisions and changes. To benefit from hiring consultants, administrators should know their speakers, consider timing, get their money's worth, verify…