Project ESTEEM (Earth Science Teachers Exploring Exemplary Materials) is designed to improve earth science teaching by providing materials and personnel to reverse the decline in activity-based instruction. During an intense summer program, precollege teachers examine and present activities for earth-science courses. These materials are assembled…

Explores the need for teacher leadership in the context of national trends in teacher education, portraying the teachers-as-leaders concept as a natural outgrowth of the convergence of several forces in educational change. The article describes two professional education programs at Johns Hopkins University that prepare teachers for new roles as…

Because technology is changing rapidly, teachers must keep up with new developments. This article recommends that teachers be proactive, creating their own staff development options and asking questions in order to get started. Suggestions for resources and options are provided, including attending conferences, using video training, and bringing…

Describes the Teacher-as-Ethnographer inservice training program, an anthropological model for training Israeli educators to diagnose and cater to the learning needs of culturally diverse students. Participants, including teachers of all levels and other school staff, learned and used ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis to conduct…

Methods drawn from educational counseling (clarifying processes and bibliotherapy) were applied to groups of Israeli elementary teachers in a continuing education program designed to facilitate mainstreaming practices. Surveys on teachers' attitudes indicated a more positive change in attitude toward mainstreaming among intervention group teachers…

Reports a study of eight teachers identified as empowered or having become more empowered, focusing on influences on and the developmental process of teacher empowerment. Journal entries, interviews, and observations as teachers conducted reading and language arts instruction demonstrated that gaining empowerment was a spiraling process. (SM)

Two studies identified the characteristics of high-quality middle school classroom assignments and their explanations, as indicated by 10 teachers, 13 students with learning disabilities, and 14 students without LD, and then developed an assignment completion routine for teachers and students based on the identified characteristics. Teachers were…

Argues that society ought to provide all its school children with access to computers. The authors explain that the dearth of computers in inner-city schools is compounded by the students not having access to computers in their homes. A New York City project that evaluated how technology can improve learning among at-risk students is described.…

Explores the importance that teachers place on affective goals, how they integrate them into their teaching, and how they plan the integration process, based on interviews during inservice teacher training. Instructional goals relating to students' motivation, anxiety, attitudes, and values are discussed, and implications for further research are…

This study followed up teachers two years after they had attended a summer institute on gifted education to identify changes teachers made in their classrooms. It identified factors that either supported (student success, personal challenge, and increasing self confidence) or impeded (feelings of isolation, school bureaucracy, large class size,…

Discussion of new educational information technology applications focuses on faculty use and the gap between expectations and available time and resources. Highlights include the library's role; academic support; and faculty training in using criteria for evaluating new instructional options and using them to meet educational goals that support…

Describes the Technology-Based Teacher Education (TBTE) Program at Lehigh University. Discusses the Seminar in Elementary and Secondary Education, in which preservice teachers regularly work in classrooms with inservice teachers, and the partnership with a K-12 independent school--which addresses the needs of both inservice and preservice…

Describes how simulations, role plays, and other experiential exercises can be used in educational settings to reduce resistance and encourage discourse on equity issues. These techniques can bring new insights into professional development in multicultural education, raising awareness of hidden biases so teachers feel more comfortable in the…

Discussion of distance education for nontraditional students in higher education via the World Wide Web focuses on student attrition rates and how to increase persistence. Highlights include a profile of distance learners; theories of persistence; and persistence and retention strategies, including technical resources, pretests, human resources,…

A survey of 25 participants in a Nevada " externship" program providing teachers with real-world business experience revealed that urban externs participated to further their academic pursuits, while rural externs participated to enhance their teaching skills. Nevertheless, both groups gained understanding of necessary employability…