Provides a list of 35 suggestions to help new principals avoid pitfalls and strengthen their position as administrator. (MD)

Reviews of professional literature identify characteristics of effective staff development programs and inservice activities. Purposes for staff development include: pedagogical growth and understanding and discovery of self as well as cognitive, theoretical, professional, and career development. (DF)

The excellence of a school lies in the way it directs itself--particularly its professional staff--to improve performance. To meet its obligation to be ever self-improving, the faculty should focus on studying students, creating tailored learning experiences, evaluating long-term school effects, and encouraging diversity. (PGD)

Describes a study that evaluated the effectiveness of a one-day inservice workshop to assist teachers in using a new state curriculum guide. Results implied that a one-day workshop can be effective in stimulating the professional development of teachers and improving school practice. (NRJ)

The Secretary amends the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) regulations to reflect changes made to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). These regulations are effective March 3, 2004. [These final regulations were prepared by the Office of Innovation and…

This Research Brief focuses on the methodology used to measure professional development (PD) effectiveness. It examines the needs that generated this research, what PREL did to meet those needs, and lessons that have been learned as a result. In particular, it discusses the development of a new instrument designed to measure the quality of PD as…

As professionals, teachers can become more effective and powerful by developing the skills to recognize scientifically based practice and, when the evidence is not available, use some basic research concepts to draw conclusions on their own. This paper offers a primer for those skills that will allow teachers to become independent evaluators of…

This book is designed to help educators move from a system that measures students against students to one that values mastery of central concepts and skills, striving for proficiency in publicly acknowledged standards of academic performance. It aims to connect the operative parts of standards-based education (standards, assessment, curriculum,…

This paper describes the establishment of a professional growth and evaluation system in Connecticut's New Canaan Public Schools. The effort included various significant opportunities for teachers to assess themselves and guide their own professional thinking and action. These opportunities resulted in richer feedback to teachers about their…

This study investigates whether the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) professional standards are appropriate for a two-year college developmental mathematics courses. The NCTM professional standards of worthwhile mathematical tasks, classroom discourse, and teacher reflection were all part of this preparatory mathematics course.…

This paper presents data from an ongoing study of the role of coaches in facilitating whole-school reform, analyzing teacher and administrator perceptions of coaching practices in their schools and how those practices influence school reform. Teachers and administrators from five schools that received coaching from the Center for Collaborative…

This study examined new teachers' perspectives of the mentoring they were or were not receiving, who their mentors were, types of mentoring they were receiving, and roles played by facilitators at the Teachers College New Teacher Institute (NTI). Data came from focus groups and interviews with nine past NTI teachers, needs assessment focus groups…

HRD research has historically focused on business-related organizations, and so have HRD practitioners. Another major organizational entity that can benefit from HRD practitioner attentions is public education. Research in both areas have utilized similar theoretical frameworks, but have focused on a different "product." HRD practitioner…

This paper reports on an ongoing process of identifying and meeting the professional needs of faculty in higher education environmental programs in the United States. It includes the self-reported strengths and weaknesses of environmental studies programs and the analysis of them by Kormondy, Corcoran, and Tchen (1997). It contains a descriptive…

This paper reports the results of a literature review on the subject of beginning teacher induction, presenting a conceptually oriented discussion of the induction literature. It examines the multiple meanings associated with induction as a phase in learning to teach, a process of teacher socialization, and a program for beginning teachers. The…