Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York, adopted James Kinneavy's aims of discourse theory as the basis of its composition program. The program is a two-semester course for students who intend to transfer to four-year colleges. In a comparable nontransfer sequence, the first semester doubles as a remedial course for ill-prepared transfer…

Alternatives in vocational education personnel development may be considered for four areas: alternative audiences, alternative programs, alternative approaches, and alternative settings. Two major surveys of personnel development needs provide some data to use as a starting point for looking at alternative audiences. A 1979 study concluded that…

In fiscal 1973, Ohio elected to concentrate training for staff in adult basic education (ABE) in eight cities. A review of records indicated that 143 ABE teachers in 5 of those cities attended 1 to 4 workshops that year. This study sought to answer three questions about these teachers: their long-term (7 years or more) retention in adult…

An exploratory study was conducted to identify the characteristics and behaviors related to effective instruction in an urban community college. The 30 instructors selected for the study taught introductory courses in biology, English, mathematics, or social sciences at the City Colleges of Chicago. All had exceptionally high levels of student…

In late February 1977, questionnaires were sent to all special education, kindergarten, third, and fifth grade teachers who visited Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre during early October 1976, late November 1976, and early February 1977 and to their principals to obtain information concerning their perceptions of the degree to which the…

The paradigm upon which this report rests is the cause and effect relationships resulting from the explosion of knowledge and technology in the twentieth century. The first section of the report explores change and technology and their impact on present and future roles for classroom teachers. The second section provides descriptions of current…

Most serious staff development programs share the characteristics of strong administrative support, needs-based planning, widespread faculty participation, and a well-defined program of activities. Unfortunately, these activities are often ad hoc affairs, influenced by what is fashionable and financially feasible. Formal degree programs can…

Noting the diminishing interinstitutional mobility among community college faculty, this paper examines current staff development practices and outlines recommendations for improving staff development at Valencia Community College (VCC). The paper first argues that traditional staff development activities, such as sabbatical leaves and research…

The Career Education program in Social Studies was designed to achieve two major goals; (1) to assist school districts in developing a career education program that would be more meaningful to students and would help them make better, more informed decisions about life in the world of work; and (2) to assist teachers and curriculum decision makers…

Peer observation is discussed as an aid in instructional development, rather than a method for teacher evaluation. A team effort, consisting of from three to four peers who observe each other from four to seven times during the span of one term offers the greatest likelihood that instruction will be improved. Whether these groups are elective or…

A third-party evaluation was conducted during the second year of operations of the project Statewide Infusion of Career Education into the Preparation of Teachers, Counselors and Administrators. Sponsored by Oregon's Interinstitutional Consortium for Career Education (ICCE, which is composed of all Oregon institutions of higher education which…

Implementation of a successful college faculty development program is discussed. A faculty development coordinator working in concert with the college's administration and the faculty is considered of prime importance. The characteristics of the person placed in such a role are outlined: (1) an effective teacher and scholar, a tenured associate or…

The Ways to Improve Education in Desegregated Schools (WIEDS) project's purpose are to develop an information base of successful desegregation/integration strategies and to construct a set of models and guidelines for use by schools in planning staff development activities. Empirical research literature yields data showing that teacher behavior…

This handbook describes an approach and provides guidelines for establishing a school-based inservice education program. The program is based on a single, local school staff that determines its own needs for professional development and uses its strengths and talents to meet those needs. Four basic phases for establishing a school-based program…

After examining the foundation of Florida Junior College's (FJC's) Faculty Exchange Program, which involved gaining administrative support and making necessary contacts with other colleges, this descriptive report goes on to recount the experiences of the first three sets of instructors to be exchanged. First, the report describes the selection of…