Examined how fifth-year teachers from an innovative preservice program resolved significant issues during their first teaching year. Interviews in their first and fifth years produced case studies that described teachers, contexts, interactions between teachers and contexts, and teacher beliefs and practices, providing important information for…

Describes the Georgia Instructor Academy, established to enhance the quality of Georgia's postsecondary technical teachers through technical training and professional development. Discusses the development of program standards and curriculum guides by Georgia's Board of Technical and Adult Education, the Technical Education: Guaranteed program,…

A teacher incentive/reward program is presented based on the view that teachers should be assessed in part with regard to their success in fostering learning in the students taught. The major issue in teacher evaluation must be the outcomes achieved. The case study of an Oregon high school illustrates such a system. (SLD)

Describes a professional development program created by a community of teacher educators. The collaborative program divided student and faculty participants into three cohorts, with equal representation across departments and grade levels. Each cohort was led by a cofacilitator skilled in three topics: diversity, technology, and educational…

College faculty and students play important roles in maintaining a tension-free, democratic, and effective learning environment for a diverse student body. Although many instructors feel unprepared to manage disruptive or harmful behaviors, they must receive training to learn to negotiate difficult dialogs, especially as the student population…

Describes the National Education Association Teacher Education Initiative, a national collaborative of schools, professional teacher associations, and universities designed to accelerate the pace of change and renewal in teacher preparation and public education. The collaboration is organized around principles that apply to the continuum of…

In discussing the preparation and development of U.S. science teachers, this paper presents a historical overview of events leading to the present situation, describing the current national challenge for science-teacher educators and concluding with some examples of promising practices aligned with recommended reforms. Each subsection begins with…

A portfolio of achievements, experiences, and reflections can help English-as-a-Second-Language teachers attain professional development goals and offer administrators greater insight for making informed hiring and job-performance decisions. This paper focuses on what teacher portfolios are, what their contents should be, and what their uses are…

Describes the origins and development of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, noting challenges it faced; critical documents guiding its work; five core propositions central to its work; the role of teachers in defining and improving their profession; and the partnership of teacher unions, local school districts, and schools in…

Four authors provide a profile of one school district's efforts to recruit and support a teacher willing to meet the challenge of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. A partnership among the district's teacher union, the superintendent, a school principal, and the teacher emerged to produce the district's first…

Examines a professional-development center established by a consortium of Seattle school districts that integrates technology into constructivist classrooms. Interviews with participants and program directors and observations of teachers participating in seminars and interacting with students and teachers provided data on four elements deemed…

Discusses the need for colleges to develop strategies for integrating information technology and allocating appropriate funds, and describes a study at Temple University that investigated student and faculty computer literacy and experience in the College of Allied Health Professions. Results of questionnaires were also used to identify faculty…

Edmonds School District (Washington) was a winner in the 1999 National Awards Programs for Model Professional Development. Teacher participation in district decisions, district funding for professional development at six times the national average, mentoring for new teachers, research into best practices for professional development, and teacher…

Investigated Japanese beginning teachers' perceptions of their initial teacher preparation and induction. Surveys indicated that teachers gave low ratings to their initial preparation and initial development of knowledge and skills. They believed they gained skills through their work as teachers. First year teachers' perceptions of knowledge,…

Assessed junior high school teachers' work satisfaction and perceptions of teaching difficulties before and after participation in a faculty inservice instructional change project. Pre- and post-inservice surveys indicated that satisfaction remained stable, whereas dissatisfaction declined over time. Students were the main source of difficulty.…