Recently there has been significant emphasis on changing teacher preparation programs to ensure that new teachers are prepared to use technology in the classroom. There are several illustrations of this increased attention across the nation, including: the U.S. Department of Education's "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers" program; the…

Personal vignettes are used throughout this book to describe one counselor's developmental journey during his 30 years of counseling practice. Section 1 highlights learning about self discovery and methods of assisting others that developed early in his career. Section 2 discusses the process of determining what interventions worked with clients,…

Peer counseling is a method for improving educational and counseling effectiveness in which counselors work together to implement strategies through a systematic process of following group formation in supervision. It has the goal of improving counseling and educational activities and developing an atmosphere of collegiality and experimentation.…

This yearbook addresses critical issues in science learning and teaching. Contents are divided into four sections: (1) "How Do Students Learn Science?"; (2) "Designing Curriculum for Student Learning"; (3) "Teaching That Enhances Student Learning"; and (4) "Assessing Student Learning." Papers include: (1) "How Students Learn and How Teachers…

Counselor development is a topic of great interest to both trainers and counselors-in-training. Several models of counselor development as presented in the literature are described. Recent research has investigated developmental factors relating to counselor identity and sense of self-efficacy from a trainee perspective. A model of five recurring…

Increasing questions about the value and efficacy of aquatic and boating education programs have led to demands for scientifically based guidance for improving and evaluating those programs. The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation commissioned 11 aquatic, environmental, and outdoor education professionals to provide summaries of research…

This paper describes a model developed at one urban university to guide student teachers through a semester-long process of reflecting upon their teaching skills using state and national standards. The model required analysis of professional abilities using a self-assessment of teaching skills tool. Under this model, preservice student teachers…

Embedded in the framework of a Professional Development School (PDS) culture, this paper explores how interns in a learning community experienced collegial interactions, conversations, and collaborative reflection. The PDS intern community was a transformative learning forum in which empowered novice teachers articulated and examined their beliefs…

The effects of a nearly complete standards-based system in mathematics were evaluated. The Pittsburgh Public School system, Pennsylvania, has adopted a standards-based system that has been largely put into place between 1992 and 1998. The program includes content and performance standards, standards-based assessments, standards-based instructional…

States, school districts, and individual schools have created standards that indicate what content teachers should teach and students should learn. This document suggests that in order to have substantive effect in mathematics and science classrooms, other components must be addressed and linked to the content standards which include establishing…

This evaluation of mini-conferences conducted for Alabama teachers who completed training in the 1996 Summer Space Orientation for Professional Educators (SOPE) examines the effectiveness of follow-up sessions for teachers (N=69) and provides baseline data on teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward teaching science. Conclusions about the 1996…

To make the transition from traditional assessment, which was often counterproductive, to an array of assessment applications that will be more constructive for students, teachers must expand their vision of the relationship between assessment and effective schools. Assessment must be used to inform classroom decision making, and it must become…

"My Learning Curve" is a visual rapid appraisal technique that was developed in Canada for exploratory use in one of a series of loosely coupled evaluation studies of a redesigned teacher education plan. It is designed to allow teacher candidates enrolled in the program to depict quickly and visually, rather than verbally, their…

This book provides a critical examination of the major issues that social work education and practice must confront if social work is to remain as a mainline profession. The book explores issues that are not normally covered in social work literature, such as the challenge of reconstructing the social work profession, the use of technology in…

Title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities is a compensatory education program supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Education through the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994. The purpose of Title IV is to enable schools to supplement local efforts to eliminate violence and the use of drugs, tobacco, and…