During the 2002-2003 academic year, six roundtables were held to explore uses of the data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for improvement of student learning. This paper describes the roundtable discussion held in October 2002 at the Professional Organizational Development conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirteen faculty…

LENs (Learning Exchange Networks) modules and seminars are a series of self-directed learning resources that are written by and for faculty. The intent of the modules and seminars is to enhance faculty learning in the fundamentals of curriculum design and adult learning. The original LENs program was developed at Humber College, Toronto, Ontario,…

This document summarizes a national study of how U.S. community colleges evaluate tenured professors. The report begins with an introduction to the current status of post-tenure evaluation and outlines the common arguments that frame the debate on the purpose and necessity of evaluating tenured faculty. The authors describe current assessment…

Rural schools that reorganize themselves as genuine learning communities can develop and maintain a professional development process that benefits staff and students. Key components of a learning community are trust, respect, and collegiality. In schools that have become learning communities, teams of educators work collaboratively in structures…

This hearing focused on issues related to teacher quality. It examined the role of the federal government in providing funds for professional development and looked at the largest federal program dedicated to this area, the Eisenhower Professional Development Program. After opening statements by Chairman Howard P. McKeon and Ranking Member Matthew…

This training aid is designed to guide an inservice teacher education session on re-engaging students in learning. It can also be used as a self-tutorial for group discussion. The aid offers key talking points for a short training session; a brief overview of the topic; fact sheets/practice notes (e.g., talking with kids, opening the classroom…

This study explored the feasibility of using the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) teacher assessment and certification process as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve professional culture and teaching quality in low-performing schools. Data from surveys of NBPTS California Support Network members were used to…

Professional development opportunities must offer a learning environment that creates a nurturing, creative, successful atmosphere for the learners. Instructional design models, learning styles, and technology implementation strategies impact this supportive environment. This paper discusses the importance of such a learning environment for…

The California State University (CSU) has established the Educational Technology Professional Development Program, designed to encourage institutions of higher education and K-12 organizations to work together to help teachers use technology in their classrooms. The program is intended to help teachers reach the highest level of competency in the…

In 1997, the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas (Nevada) approved a plan to provide released-time coordinators to facilitate technology integration in all of its K-12 schools. This paper documents the implementation of that plan in CCSD's elementary school programs. Data were gathered through surveys and interviews of the Educational…

This paper addresses three major questions: (1) What can be done at the preservice and inservice levels to help teachers become more effective teachers of numeracy? (2) How can teachers be supported to teach numeracy more effectively to children from various ethnic, indigenous, and socio-economic backgrounds? and (3) What are the responsibilities…

This memoir recounts the early years of the National Writing Project (NWP) in the personal, insightful, and humorous stories that James Gray, its founder, tells. NWP, the country's most successful and enduring professional development organization for teachers of writing, evolved from Gray's idea that successful teachers make the best teachers of…

This digest in Spanish examines school districts' efforts to reap the greatest benefit from smaller classes. Although the report discusses teaching strategies that are most effective in small classes, research has shown that teachers do not significantly change their teaching practices when they move from larger to smaller classes. Although…

This paper looks at the analysis leading to and design of a Web-based "hint system." The hints are designed to help middle-grade teachers participating in a mathematics professional development effort, called InterMath, achieve a high degree of success when working open-ended mathematical investigations. The model upon which InterMath is…

This paper focuses on in-service teacher professional development. The purpose of this paper is to: reexamine the definitions and characteristics that are often associated with the community of practice metaphor; clarify that this metaphor is a theoretical tool for educational researchers to make sense of interactions that take place in…