School Development Plans (SDPs) were pioneered by individual schools and local education authorities (LEAs) in England as a grassroots approach to school management that was eventually adopted by national education authorities. An empirical investigation of the implementation and impact of SDPs was carried out in primary schools through a…

Suggestions are presented for being successful in publishing research results and for disseminating results once they are published. Writing style is the single most important ingredient for success in publishing, and revision is the usual prerequisite for style. Selecting target journals before writing can maximize the manuscript's chances of…

These four issues of "The Journal of Staff, Program, and Organization Development" contain the following articles: "Faculty Developers: Are They Giving Away the X-Rays?" by Neil D. Fleming; "Alliances for Change: A Procedure for Improving Teaching through Conversations with Learners and Partnerships with Colleagues," by Richard G. Tiberius, and…

Taking as its guiding principle that through peer coaching new teachers can offer each other valuable feedback as they try out teaching techniques in the classroom, this book reports on a longitudinal study in peer coaching. The book aims to give teacher educators a new method for encouraging reflective thinking and professional growth in…

Project TIE (Teams in Early Intervention) was conceptualized to meet the need for: (1) involvement of formerly "ancillary" service professionals in early intervention for children with disabilities, (2) high quality family-centered services, and (3) training in the team approach. The project provides training to four groups that might constitute…

A concise overview is provided of the history of evaluation, focusing on educational evaluation, followed by some observations on program evaluation in Spain and possible future developments. Evaluation was a new concept in Spain at the end of the Franco era, at a time when its development was beginning to gain momentum in the United States. The…

Changing the system of rules, roles, and relationships that determine how the components of school redesign are addressed is the challenge that confronts administrators who seek to create a culture of excellence in schools. This book examines the role of effective leadership in achieving significant educational improvement, arguing that culture,…

Twenty New Zealand lecturers supervising third (final) year student teachers were interviewed and completed questionnaires about their supervision visits. Results focus on the professional development needs of the supervising lecturers and the associate teachers, and the ways in which student teachers could have been better prepared for their…

This annotated bibliography lists print and non-print resources suitable for use by Alberta (Canada) teachers or students of English as a Second Language (ESL) at all levels of language development from early childhood to grade 12. Also, a section on professional resources has been included. Resources are presented in these categories: elementary…

This collection of papers, the seventh in an annual series, presents views of members of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education on classroom research, the fostering of student inquiry, the realities and possibilities of academic life, and the training and support of academic professionals. Articles and authors…

In this paper, Luther College and the Decorah (Iowa) Public Schools suggest that a clinical model for field experience offers a better approach to the problem of teacher empowerment. The model, which shifts instructional methods and student teaching to a public school that consciously identifies itself as a teacher training institution, enhances…

At Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, Florida, faculty evaluation has been redefined as "review for professional development," and faculty professional development has evolved into a program involving many people, with a philosophy of its own--"everyone's responsibility and benefit." It is an ongoing process throughout the…

Preservice peer coaching is a collegial relationship between student teachers who provide reciprocal, in-class assistance to one another as they attempt to incorporate new teaching skills, strategies, and approaches into their teaching. The typical peer-coaching cycle includes a preview conference, during which the student teachers discuss the…

This paper describes the moral role of the education profession, discusses the virtuous educator, and examines H. Sockett's concept of "in loco parentis" for the educator and implicitly the education profession. Sockett holds that teachers must work as ambassadors for public education in promoting the school's mission and concern for…

Information-related competencies and training needed by professionals in the Montana Extension Service in order to acquire and disseminate information to clients electronically were studied in a needs assessment of administrators, specialists, and extension agents. An e-mail survey listing 37 competencies was completed by 96 extension agents and…