In 1984-85, a study was conducted to gather information about current professional development policies in New Jersey's county colleges, professional development activities and opportunities, the effectiveness of these activities, variations among campuses and disciplines, and incentives for participation. The study involved surveys of the…

Based on the current drive toward professionalism in early childhood education and the low status and prestige afforded teachers in this field, this paper applies some of the main concepts of professionalism to the current state of the art of early childhood education. Two uses of the term "professional" are delineated: the…

Blacksmiths and their craft have changed with the times, and as times change for teachers, they too should be forgers of links. Teacher-to-teacher links should extend beyond the faculty lounge to support systems and active groups of individuals concerned about each other. Another personal link can be made by developing a grade level, system-wide…

The career training offered to women in school administration by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in 1977 decreased the influence of external barriers on the participants' upward career mobility. Along with 31 non-trainees who served as a comparison group, all 75 AASA trainees responded in 1981 to a questionnaire collecting…

This booklet contains lists of tasks intended to be used by staff support specialists in planning staff development programs for vocational educators. These task lists are to be used by staff support specialists to understand and record the tasks and activities related to the staff development program as a first step in such planning. Task lists…

This report describes several examples of successful academic linkages between state training offices and postsecondary institutions that result in enhanced professional development opportunities for drug abuse workers. The role of federal and state governments in drug abuse training is discussed along with several articles that are designed to…

Employee fringe benefits, characteristics of head librarians, and interlibrary loan activity among Illinois public libraries are described in this compilation of three reports. The first and largest report delineates results of a 1980/81 fringe benefit survey conducted by telephone interview. It is noted that the Chicago Public Library was…

This guide outlines a workshop that was designed to improve the skills of community college career counselors. The eight workshop sessions address issues identified in a 1981 survey of five community colleges and include: defining the counselor's role; multi-cultural counseling; tools, technologies, and assessments; counselor revitalization and…

A 40-item questionnaire was used to collect data in a study that (1) profiled speech communication education graduates of Arkansas colleges and universities from 1975 through 1980, (2) characterized their teaching positions during this time, and (3) determined the nature, effectiveness, and value of the speech communication methods course they…

Drawing from the online experiences of teachers across the United States who participated in online professional development courses, this article focuses on what educators/participants consider to be the roles and responsibilities of the online instructor. They see the online instructor as facilitator, model, planner, coach, and communicator.…

Focusing on the continuing education (CE) of scientists/engineers in North Carolina working in small (1-500 employees), geographically dispersed companies, this study: 1) identified and described CE resources currently being used by scientists/engineers to maintain and extend their professional competence and capabilities; 2) determined the extent…

Two major issues in inservice teacher education are: (1) Who is responsible for teaching these professional education courses?; and (2) Are these courses worthy of graduate credit? College faculty members generally agree that institutions of higher learning are obligated to assist practitioners, but universities have been reluctant to offer…

In order to determine the educational needs of vocational education educators who have responsibility for mainstreaming special education students, a survey was conducted in Massachusetts in 1979. A total of 208 questionnaires were mailed to 52 schools, for a vocational teacher, a special educator, a special education coordinator/supervisor, and a…

This paper discusses what colleges and universities can do to improve the capacity of the public schools to deliver quality education in social studies and other areas to America's children. The quality of public education can be improved by changing the system for delivering education and by improving the quality of teaching. Colleges and…

In this address, the Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District considers the major issues and challenges facing the District and its faculty, staff, and students. The Chancellor first identifies educational quality, especially within transfer programs, as a major challenge facing the colleges. He cites research findings revealing…