This paper describes the implementation and assessment of a unique model of professional development for teacher educators. Southwest Texas State University's (SWT's) College of Education graduates and certifies more teachers than any other institution in the state; SWT has had a professional development school since 1991. The View and Doing…

This report looks at and identifies emerging trends in the roles that teacher unions play in educational reform and improving the quality of teaching. A description of the efforts of six teacher unions to improve teacher quality within the context of the current systemic reform movement shows a range and depth of union initiatives beyond what is…

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) Department of Early Childhood commissioned a needs assessment of current kindergarten (K2) and preschool (K1) programs (1) to inform the BPS Department of Early Childhood about professional development needs to improve the quality of existing K1 and K2 programs; and (2) to inform the Department of additional…

This collection draws on material from IRA journals and other publications to complement Standards for Reading Professionals. It will enable the reader to visualize how a particular element of the standards might look in their own program. The collection is organized into sections corresponding to the five standards: Foundational knowledge;…

A growing body of research evidence indicates that implementing CREDE's Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy promotes positive learning outcomes for students. The Five Standards are: (1) Joint Productive Activity (JPA); (2) Language and Literacy Development (LLD); (3) Contextualization: Connecting School to Students' Lives (CTX); (4) Challenging…

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is a diverse and dynamic set of projects intent on improving the USA's technical workforce. This book uses the ATE work as a means to focus on key issues for federally funded projects and all community colleges facing the difficult challenges of staying current…

This paper provides Human Resource Development practitioners several methods for enhancing learning projects of new professionals preparing for certification or licensure. Implementation of these activities provides opportunities for new professionals to become more self-directed and therefore immersed in their own learning. While these activities…

HRD professionals struggle with why a higher percentage of skills and knowledge acquired through training fail to transfer to the work environment and why transfer appears to diminish over time (Cromwell & Kolb, 2002). With increased investment in technology and professional development, it is imperative to enhance the learners' transfer process…

Although family child care has the potential to offer young children individual attention and customized, educational programs to help them thrive, the quality of these programs is dependent upon a workforce that is at the bottom of the occupational status and pay hierarchy. This report examines ways to promote high quality in family child care…

This paper addresses the emerging relationship between teams of high school science teachers and ecologists who were paired in a year-long collaborative endeavor. The specific focus is on the benefits reported by the teachers and the ecologists participating in the Teacher Enhancement through Pedagogy and Ecology Project (TEPE). The teachers and…

The set of papers collected in this anthology were developed from presentations given at the 16th meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA), November 5-8, 1994, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. These papers provide conceptual explorations of dimensions of teacher change such as…

There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but primarily in its perception, acceptance, and endorsement by teachers. This essay expresses the concept of power as it applies to school reform that focuses on teacher empowerment and…

Authors represented in this collection challenge the hegemony that is fostered and maintained by the colleges and universities in which these Latino professors function daily. Each of the writers presents the reality of survival in academia. Collectively, these narratives are connected by themes of personal struggle, marginality, and valuing the…

This book uses a traditional focus of educational development (teaching and learning) to examine the theories and practices of staff development in Australasia. The initial chapter reviews the philosophical foundations of staff development, including the basis of the idea of development, along with the problems that concept raises. Chapter 2…

This paper reports on the findings of Year 1 of a three-year project, funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, to study the implementation of the First Steps Literacy Program in a New England urban school district. The study is informed by theories of literacy that view reading, writing, and language as integrated components…