An effective staff development program for rural teachers will have identified the needs to be met, will incorporate good management principles, and will make use of a variety of resources--the community itself, nonprofessional staff, business and industry, and shared teaching efforts. Distinctive staff development needs of rural teachers may…

In the first chapter of this book, which deals with the world and work of teachers, themes are explored that capture the essential "dailiness" of working in schools, and a general description is given of what it is like to be a teacher. The cyclical rhythms and patterns of the school year are considered, as are the formal and informal…

This executive summary of a report on the Ways to Improve Schools and Education (WISE) Project study of local school-business collaboration focuses upon the private sector voluntary efforts to help schools become more effective through staff development/inservice education. Topics covered in the report include: (1) rationale for the project; (2)…

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining the role of digital teaching portfolios in teachers' professional development and classroom practice. The participants, all teachers, took part in a formal course in which they develop a digital teaching portfolio. The findings suggest that the processes involved in creating digital…

This study on barriers to online staff development for classroom teachers was conducted as part of the planning activities of a delivery models project designed to develop guidelines for implementing large-scale online staff development programs. The study involved engaging 54 general and special educators in several professional roles from nine…

The education literature has increasingly called for collaboration between teachers as a way to enhance the quality of teaching. In the TESOL field, content-based language teaching and English for Specific Purposes approaches are being more widely adopted. These developments call for increased collaboration between language teachers and colleagues…

This document describes a staff development and induction model used at Los Medanos College for the purpose of professionally preparing teachers as community college instructors. The model proposes a campus-based and managed program that involves a four-week, preservice seminar in August and regular meetings throughout the subsequent fall and…

Three conference papers comprise the bulk of this report on understanding "new students" and their academic needs. "The Promise of Learning Through Developmental Programs", by Johnnie Ruth Clarke, deals with the effectiveness of developmental studies while shattering misconceptions surrounding the labels typically assigned these students, such as…

As the accountability movement has brought forth renewed interest in the quality of teaching and new demands for faculty evaluation, it could be expected that the relationship between the two would have created the foundation for a rigorous program of faculty evaluation. Instead, educators continued a fruitless search for qualities and behaviors…

In the financing of higher education there are at least three major complications: (l) identifying the multiple outputs produced by an institution; (2) determining the costs associated with producing particular outputs; and (3) relating sources of income to costs of production. The use of several different budgets is essential. Every institution…

Based on the work of a 22-member research team in the San Diego Community College District, this booklet offers guidelines for developing cultural awareness and presents instruments for conducting an ethnic heritage search, i.e., a systematic examination of a culture to, for example, reveal reasons for customs or practices or clarify the modes of…

The characteristics and structures of school-focused inservice teacher education are explored by educators and researchers in 16 essays. An introductory article gives the rationale for more and better school-focused inservice education, particularly because of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142). School-focused…

A bibliography of materials authored, coauthored, or edited by Paul L. Dressel on programs and principles in the evaluation of higher education is presented. Entries are from 1939 through 1980. Topics include the following: curriculum development, external and nontraditional graduate programs, professional development for institutional…

Information is presented on policies and administration of professional leave activity in the public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education in Washington State. The survey of a sample of 1979-81 leaves sought information on selection criteria, purposes, and evaluation of accomplishments. Questions provided data on the following:…

The process by which the sociology department at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, has changed character and resolved situations of conflict and polarization is examined. The sociology department experienced rapid growth and the university as a whole shifted from teaching as a single function to teaching and research. It is suggested…