This article addresses how teacher preparation programs can best respond to the broad, complex calls for reform in ways that are locally meaningful and honor academic integrity, but that are also true to the intent of the reform mandates. The authors begin with an overview of some of the federal and state initiatives that are presenting challenges…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and challenges of using a virtual learning community (VLC) as a vehicle for workforce development. This paper argues that VLCs provide a flexible vehicle for workforce development. However, workplace realities may lead to unexpected challenges for participants wanting exploit the…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

The English "Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage" refers to the importance of supporting the development of young children's thinking, a teaching role that Kite suggests should be seen as the major focus for education. This paper draws on data from the Froebel Research Fellowship Project, "Ownership and Autonomy in Early…

A report recently released by the Center on Education Policy reveals that the four-year-old No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has indeed served to shine a light on the importance of professional development for K-12 educators. Beyond that basic fact, though, any real broad-based impact on the training of educators remains inconclusive. While the…

This report examines the types of professional development necessary to implement successful online learning initiatives. The potential for schools utilizing online learning is tremendous: schools can develop new distribution methods to enable equity and access for all students, they can provide high quality content for all students and they can…

In 2001, the Australian Government released a report, commissioned by the then Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, entitled "The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools" (Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001). Its recommendations included actions to address raising community…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program in Texas designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Texas…

This report traces the development and major accomplishments of the Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) at South Africa's University of the Western Cape (UWC) since its establishment in 1985. Presented in the introductory section are the CACE's aims and lists of its 1994 staff and 1994 advisory council members. CACE milestones for…

The supervision of neophytes in all professional vocations is a complex and multifaceted process and not really achieved without adequate training and experience. This project's aim was to develop innovative, problem solving, teaching resources in the form of "case knowledge" episodes to provide "strategic knowing" activities…

This training manual is designed for use by local Head Start programs in training current and new entry-level staff to deliver comprehensive social services to Head Start families. The introductory section of the manual provides an overview of Head Start, describes its social service component, and explains the organization of the manual. The…

This research report contains seven papers on students with serious Emotional Disturbances (SED) and/or Severe Behavior Disorder (SBD) who participated in the Georgia Psychoeducational Network Program (GPN). "The 1982 Cohort of GPN Preschoolers--Where Are They in 1987-1988?" (Juanda Ponsell and others) reports the placement of 75…

These three papers address educational improvement through partnerships between institutions of higher education and elementary/secondary schools. In the first paper, "Partnerships for America's Children," Kati Perry Haycock challenges educators in elementary/secondary schools and in higher education to use partnerships to create a continuum for…

Noting the increasing need for public officials, practitioners, business leaders, concerned citizens, and parents to work together to improve the quality of life for young children and families, this book for community organizations provides information needed to begin or enhance local or statewide community mobilization efforts. Included are…

A recurring theme in the social literature is the perceived gap between what faculty in higher education view as the goals of and preferred methods for teaching social studies and those valued and applied by practicing social studies teachers. In 1990, Ohio State University began planning an intensive school-university collaboration in the form of…