This collection focuses on a particular kind of teacher development, called "guiding teacher learning" or "guided practice" to distinguish it from teachers' independent learning in and from teaching. The papers grew out of a seminar for doctoral students interested in developing their practice as teacher educators and…

This handbook shows how the curriculum can be improved through action research and that teachers and other practitioners are best placed to conduct such research. Chapter 1 explores that historical and philosophical foundations of the action research movement. Chapter 2 discusses the teacher as researcher and professional, and offers criteria for…

During the 1990s, school programs that more explicitly link school and work have been expanded. In order to realize the curricular and pedagogical reforms that underlie these programs, teachers need appropriate staff development. In 1996, RAND staff designed and pilot-tested a 6-week "mini-sabbatical," a prototype course to help teachers in a…

The complexity of technology training for teachers can be partially explained in terms of three phenomena: the historical resistance of teachers to use media, the nature of teaching itself, and the life cycle of technological innovations. Factors that influence teachers' use of technology include: accessibility of hardware and software,…

This report explores the effects of teacher professionalization on elementary and secondary teachers in the United States. The analysis examines the relationships between a set of characteristics traditionally associated with professions and professionals and teachers' commitment to their teaching careers. The report focuses on the following…

This paper presents preliminary findings from a doctoral research project investigating the preparation of teachers to teach ethnoculturally diverse student populations. Census data suggest that some 70 percent of North American teachers are white, female, middle class, and from suburban or small rural communities, while the majority of students…

This qualitative study examined the perceptions that university library faculty members hold regarding the role of the department head in promoting faculty growth and development. Four faculty members at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were interviewed. Axial coding of the individuals' perceptions revealed six categories of perceived roles for…

In 1989, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support a 4-week summer seminar in Greek mythology for humanities faculty. The seminar, entitled "The Nature and Function of Greek Mythology," provided enough financial compensation to free the faculty from summer school teaching,…

Partnership 2000 is a joint collaborative effort of labor, education, and industry in California created to address the needs of employees through vocational and technical education provided by community colleges and affiliated training institutions. Partnership 2000's long-range goals are to: (1) improve student access to vocational education…

Academic advisement has been found to be inextricably intertwined with student retention, and is acknowledged by faculty instructional load policy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) as an important part of faculty workload. At UALR, undergraduate advising is a mandatory process, with responsibility shared between faculty and…

This paper examines the history of teacher compensation in the United States from the 1800s through the present. It examines the three major changes in the method of teacher pay: (1) the rural tradition of paying teachers room and board; (2) the move to a grade-based salary schedule; and (3) the shift to today's single salary schedule. It…

A practicum was designed to devise a system of literacy instruction to train teachers to select appropriate text for at-risk students by an authentic assessment of the 'running record' as a starting point for meeting the literacy needs of each individual student. (The 'running record' is a written record of the student's reading as observed and…

College-level students' achievements may be negatively impacted because college-level instructors, though well educated and informed in their particular subject area, may not be effective classroom teachers. A study was conducted to examine the preparation of postsecondary educators to determine if methodology training is considered to be of any…

This study evaluates the Armed Forces Staff College's implementation of selected recommendations from the April 1989 report of the Panel on Military Education. In particular, this report discusses Phase II officer professional military education (PME) programs taught at the Joint and Combined Staff Officer School in Norfolk, Virginia. The study…

"OATYC Journal," which is published by the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges, is designed as a forum for the exchange of concepts, methods, and findings relevant to the two-year college classroom. Along with commentaries and letters of reaction from the readership, the two issues of volume XI contain the following: (1) "Focus:…