Describes one university's graduate teacher education programs, which reflect continuous teacher development to stimulate teacher expertise, explaining how student achievement depends upon teacher quality. The paper describes the graduate licensure program, alternative licensure for bilingual teachers, the Master's degree for inservice teachers,…

The Johari Window is a communications tool to help school staff effectively explore who they are and who others are. Using the Johari Window with the core issues of diversity provides a framework to help assess how successfully staff development providers address diversity issues. A diversity-sensitive framework can be incorporated into a variety…

Discusses a study of 23 (response rate 86%) California State University system deans of education, regarding the purpose and usefulness of new faculty orientation programs. Reports that deans generally agreed with the focus of orientation programs and that they perceived orientation to be of value to social integration of the new faculty members.…

Discusses the results of a national study of 930 (response rate 71%) community colleges' evaluation methods for faculty who have achieved tenure or who have long-term status. Identifies current practices and perceptions regarding post-tenure faculty reviews in community colleges. Asserts that faculty evaluation practices need to be changed if they…

Examines the context and organization of Norway's teacher education, discussing teacher roles and responsibilities, preservice and inservice teacher education programs, and society's expectations that teachers will act as masters, mentors, and mothers. The paper describes recent curriculum developments and the organization of Norway's educational…

Eighteen schools in the Baltimore City Public School System have developed a successful whole school reform model. The components of the entire whole school reform package (focused professional development with the staffing to support it, a balanced literacy education program, and monitoring of the instructional program) have enabled the schools…

Describes a professional-development project designed to establish a community of learners among high school teachers. Diverse English and history teachers met twice monthly for two-and-a-half years to read and discuss fiction and history, develop an interdisciplinary humanities curriculum, and videotape and view classroom instruction. Teachers at…

Describes how one school improved after a new principal put data-based decision making (via a detailed needs assessment) at the heart of school reform and staff development efforts, discussing the school's evolution. The paper examines key factors that support the effective use of data in schools: focus to answer questions, reflection to provide…

Reviews the impact of a professional development project for primary school teachers developed in England. Finds that teachers' subject knowledge and confidence increased and that children in the target group progressed in attitude and achievement. (WRM)

Examines how spatial, thermal, visual, acoustic and aesthetic factors singly or collectively affect learners and educational systems in Nigeria. Suggests that the importance of appropriate educational environments should be emphasized and that teachers should be encouraged to properly select and use educational media. (AEF)

Discusses the recent interest in teacher research and inquiry, arguing that part of what makes it an official movement is that teacher research stems from various intellectual traditions and educational projects. Identifies five trends that characterize the movement and discusses the future of the movement in the face of current reforms that…

A qualitative research methods course, offered for faculty at an Israeli school of education, was a significant "cultural event" promoting inclusion of qualitative methods in a strongly positivist setting. A profound change in faculty attitudes was eased by administrative support and by participants' ability to find entry points to ideas…

Describes the HyperTeaching workshop series, developed to get teachers in one school district to use technology by showing them how to use it with their own curriculum. Teachers selected topics they felt could be enhanced using the Internet, developed activities that would require students to use the Internet, and learned how to use Microsoft's…

The preschool years ages 3 and 4 are extremely important for social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of preschool to heighten awareness and inform administrators, educators, families, and policymakers about the value of preschool and in particular preschool literacy…

This paper describes the professional growth of two teacher educators. It notes obstacles to teachers' professional development, and investigates the factors which make some teachers less vulnerable to challenges. The paper observes that teacher educators who engage in self-study can reach a renewed understanding of their roles both in and beyond…