Describes how action research as a model for professional development helped teachers enrolled in a graduate course at the University of Nevada Las Vegas gain insight into the process of school change and provided them with opportunities to facilitate change involving the implementation of technology in specific school contexts. (Contains 26…

Proposes an alternative conceptual framework for social work practice. Describes the present model as lacking a clear, easily articulated identity. Details social problems, including family structure changes, mental illness, physical disability, delinquency, and poverty. Provides key steps to alleviating these problems, emphasizing more active…

Describes development of NAEYC accreditation and offers a description of the process. Highlights the effects of accreditation and discusses its future. Notes that accreditation provides opportunities and motivation for valuable professional development, and that quality control is the greatest challenge faced by accreditation efforts. Notes…

A library school dean, a public library director, and a recent graduate working as a public librarian give their reactions to a set of competencies recently developed by the Public Library Association's Education for Public Librarians Committee. Background and future plans for the document are also explained. (SLW)

Maintains that classroom teachers, often underpaid and overworked, can avoid job dissatisfaction by constantly evaluating their worth to the students they teach. Many teachers may find graduate school, a sabbatical, or a career move into administration or higher education an alternative to teacher burnout. (MDM)

A Finnish program of professional development among entry-level teachers over one year used teacher portfolios to promote reflection and self-assessment on teaching experiences. Developmental essays written by participating teachers were analyzed for their reflectiveness, degree of professional autonomy, and focus on contextual factors and…

Explores the educational quality of the Postgraduate Awards Scheme in the Faculty of Strathclyde University (Scotland) that facilitates programs of continuous professional development through a flexible structure of credit accumulation leading to a postgraduate certificate, a diploma, and ultimately, a master's degree. (AEF)

This study examined the use of telecommunication networks as a mechanism for professional development, and found that most teachers of children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing are not prepared to use this technology. Training needs are addressed, and an Internet-based telecommunications network that is currently being developed is outlined.…

Explores culture clashes experienced by school library media specialists that have influenced the development of the library profession. Highlights include educators and noneducators; different levels of education; varied access to information technology; male versus female; print versus electronic media; intergenerational relations; and present…

Descriptions are offered of in-house leadership development programs for faculty and staff at Arizona State University, Kennesaw State College (Georgia), Seattle Community Colleges (Washington), the University of Kentucky, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Western Kentucky University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (MSE)

Teacher mentors in urban schools need particular characteristics to promote development in beginning teachers because the urban school is a unique environment. Urban mentor teachers need to be able to articulate their beliefs and practices, and they need well-developed coaching skills. (SLD)

Describes the decline of public schools in Chelsea (Massachusetts) and discusses the educational and fiscal improvements made through an agreement between the Chelsea school system and Boston University (Massachusetts). Among these accomplishments are new collective bargaining services, better professional development, better health-care delivery…

Discusses the importance of professional development and maintains that the summer offers an ideal time for such activities. Describes informal activities such as composing and arranging and encourages professional collaboration. Identifies formal study such as graduate study, workshops, and professional conferences. (CFR)

The article outlines the use of reflective journal writing to help develop preservice teachers as reflective practitioners. Journals allow students to determine their own focus and what they want to understand, and to have their ideas seriously valued as knowledge being personally constructed. The importance of collaboration is examined. (SM)

This study examined whether using teaching portfolios would affect the meaning given to basic concepts in education by preservice teachers. Preservice teachers from two universities completed surveys before and after an experimental group was trained in teaching portfolios. At the semester's end, there were noticeable shifts in meaning…