What role does academic development have to play in responding to radical cultural shifts in the global landscape? Whose voices and identities are contributing to institutional change? This reflective essay encompasses the perspectives of the four international panellists in the opening plenary of the International Consortium for Educational…

This paper discusses the development and design of an analysis model for governance of teacher centers organized in consortium form. A consortium is descirbed as "an organization of autonomous bodies or individuals which bond together by some relatively formal agreement to secure some benefit." The consortium generally functions in a collaborative…

This report summarizes and highlights the major formal activities and outcomes of the Bay Area Learning Center (BALC) conference. Two major areas of concern are (1) teacher centers and (2) knowledge bases. Excerpts from oral presentations, notes from reporters, summaries of discussions, and an interview with the BALC chairperson are presented. A…

Teacher Centers began less than ten years ago in England. The English Teacher Centers are governed by the teachers themselves and are financially supported by the local educational authority. The various centers have two functions in common: (a) curriculum development; and (b) inservice education. In the United States, there are at least 4,500…

Information Based Evaluation (IBE) is identified as a design procedure for assessing a variety of projects, programs, and educational changes. IBE was used to evaluate a Comprehensive Diagnostic Teaching Center (DTC) which, in addition to providing teacher training and services to handicapped pupils, would bring together and focus all of the…

In this narrative portion of a slide presentation, the Rural Network of the Teachers' Centers Exchange is introduced and described. The Network was begun in 1977 and serves to encourage and facilitate interaction among member teacher centers through conferences and workparties, and by correspondence and visits. Through the Network, the centers…

Changes for the structuring of teacher education are proposed in this paper. The professional status of teachers is emphasized, and the following aspects in teacher training are outlined: (1) In order to provide for professional autonomy and to give practicing teachers more control over their profession, states should establish professional…

Four viewpoints on teacher centers are presented. (1) teacher centers in the context of inservice education, current models and possibilities for success; (2) reservations and attitudes of school district superintendents; (3) the Utah Education Association's position on governance and organization of teacher centers; and (4) the State Board of…

The University of Minnesota's teacher center was established by the University's Board of Regents and the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education. The teacher center functions to: (a) identify common priorities of the school and university systems, and jointly design projects and programs of inservice, preservice, and curriculum development;…

This paper first examines different conceptions of collaborative research. It then reviews problems and benefits in collaborative research as perceived by teams of researchers and teacher center/teacher personnel in 14 projects funded by the Teachers' Center Exchange at the Far West Laboratory. Criteria for effective collaborative research are…

This report summarizes results of a survey of states, teacher centers, and professional organizations on the status of teacher inservice and staff development. The 43 states and the District of Columbia that responded to the survey have a state level plan for both inservice and professional development. Some, by law, require implementation of the…

The author reports on a semester-long study of British teacher centers, an examination that includes purposes, structure, and administration of the British models, and a comparison of these models to current efforts in the establishment and operation of teacher centers in the United States. From the research undertaken, it is concluded that: (1)…

A description is given of the cooperation between the Las Cruces Teacher Center (New Mexico) and New Mexico State University. The university's college of teacher education and the teacher center are now working together to meet the needs of preservice and inservice teachers. The university has interacted with the teacher center at various…

This speech focuses on the role that research and development can and will play in the planning and operation of teacher centers over the next few years. The speech is divided into three sections for the three critical issues that are discussed: a) issues concerning policy analysis related to teacher centers, b) issues in the development and…

Teacher centers began as small-scale, particularistic, dynamic, and tentative organizational forms. Each center developed its own personality, and no single institutional norm became the mold from which centers were cast. This fact has important implications for the kinds of collaborative arrangements into which teacher centers and teacher…