This book provides instructional leaders with guidance and insight to help them work successfully with teachers to improve classroom teaching and learning. It goes beyond the basics of supervision to place the work of instructional leadership within the context of whole-school improvement. The book offers scenarios describing interactions with…

This paper examines the conceptual process of creating an electronic professional portfolio for faculty development. The characteristics of electronic professional portfolios and the benefits of electronic portfolio development are discussed. Additional topics covered include: collection and selection of portfolio contents; reflection on portfolio…

This study examined middle and high school students' attitudes toward and perceptions of student teachers who worked in their college preparatory school. The students completed one survey with a particular preservice teacher in mind, and then they completed a second survey that was more general and reflected all student teachers they had…

Researcher Gary Gruber has stated, "No other singular variable is more important for the health and vitality of a school than the way that it is governed. Teacher competencies, student achievement, parental and community support, adequate facilities and resources are all critical and essential for success. Governance will determine how those…

Finding that no comprehensive report of the extent to which music is taught in the schools of the several States and of the methods used in teaching had ever been made, the author was requested to make a thorough investigation of the subject for the Bureau of Education. This bulletin embodies the results of this study, giving with little comment,…

Notes that many states are establishing educational and training systems to form a coordinated early care and education professional development system that allows professionals to access easily advanced levels of education without redundancy of content or expenditure of unnecessary time and money. Discusses New Mexico's establishment of core…

To ensure that all teacher candidates were computer competent before entering preservice education, one university assessed students' computer skills and determined the type of assessment they preferred. Surveys indicated that students preferred hands-on assessment of computer skills, so the school developed a technology portfolio to assess…

Explains how one university addressed the assessment of technology skills needed by elementary preservice teachers and how it moved to close the gap between those identified needs and the level of elementary student teacher technology preparedness. Discusses technology competencies and skills desired by elementary administrators, acquired by…

Offers four indices and underlying criteria to help teacher education administrators and leaders identify candidates for a multiple subjects teaching credential who are at risk of failing the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) using California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) scores. Yields four indices for cumulative, writing,…

Many governments worldwide have dramatically increased resources devoted to improving educational quality. However, by concentrating on inputs and ignoring incentives within schools, resources have resulted in little overall improvement in student achievement. Reviews U.S. and international evidence on the effectiveness of such input policies,…

Presents a checklist of criteria for a standards-based science teacher. Includes a rubric for scoring the checklist. Focuses on the use of inquiry methods and fostering a student-centered learning environment. (DDR)

Investigated the competencies of special educators on a set of 35 skills identified by the Council for Exceptional Children as important for professionals working in the area of special education. Survey data indicated that special educators perceived themselves as having relatively high competency in a broad range of the skill areas. However,…

Examined the impact of changes in public examinations on secondary school English teaching in Hong Kong, where major changes were introduced into the Certificate of Education Examination in English with the intention of creative positive washback effects on classroom teaching. Data from teacher observations and interviews showed few lived changes…

Describes the public's desire for teaching quality and teacher accountability. Asserts that while teachers and teacher educators must be accountable for their work, this work cannot be determined by narrow conceptions of teaching quality and student learning focused exclusively on test scores and ignoring the complexity of teaching and leaning,…

Explores the limitations of strict adherence to standards, critiquing the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium's "Model Standards for Beginning Teacher Licensing and Development" and suggesting that it emphasizes instrumental thinking (focused on the means to particular ends) rather than an ethical orientation. The…