Showing papers on "Professional development published in 1998"

Beyond curriculum reform: confronting medicine's hidden curriculum.

Abstract: Throughout this century there have been many efforts to reform the medical curriculum. These efforts have largely been unsuccessful in producing fundamental changes in the training of medical students. The author challenges the traditional notion that changes to medical education are most appropriately made at the level of the curriculum, or the formal educational programs and instruction provided to students. Instead, he proposes that the medical school is best thought of as a "learning environment" and that reform initiatives must be undertaken with an eye to what students learn instead of what they are taught. This alternative framework distinguishes among three interrelated components of medical training: the formal curriculum, the informal curriculum, and the hidden curriculum. The author gives basic definitions of these concepts, and proposes that the hidden curriculum needs particular exploration. To uncover their institution's hidden curricula, he suggests that educators and administrators examine four areas: institutional policies, evaluation activities, resource-allocation decisions, and institutional "slang." He also describes how accreditation standards and processes might be reformed. He concludes with three recommendations for moving beyond curriculum reform to reconstruct the overall learning environment of medical education, including how best to move forward with the Medical School Objectives Project sponsored by the AAMC.

Developing science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge

Abstract: This article discusses the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) within the context of science teaching. First, an attempt is made to define this concept within the tradition of research on teachers' craft knowledge and to identify possible purposes of research on PCK. From this point of view, recent research on science teaching is investigated. This investigation identifies teaching experience as the major source of PCK, whereas adequate subject-matter knowledge appears to be a prerequisite. Finally, an empirical study is presented which focuses on PCK with respect to a specific topic—that is, chemical equilibrium. The effects on teachers' PCK of participation in an in-service workshop and conducting an experimental course in classroom practice are reported. This leads to the identification of elements of PCK teachers can use to promote student understanding. It is concluded that research on topic-related PCK may complement research on student learning of specific topics. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 673–695, 1998.

Clinical governance and the drive for quality improvement in the new NHS in England

Abstract: A commitment to deliver high quality care should be at the heart of everyday clinical practice. In the past many health professionals have watched as board agendas and management meetings have become dominated by financial issues and activity targets. The government's white paper on the NHS in England outlines a new style of NHS that will redress this imbalance.1 For the first time, all health organisations will have a statutory duty to seek quality improvement through clinical governance. In the future, well managed organisations will be those in which financial control, service performance, and clinical quality are fully integrated at every level. #### Summary points Clinical governance is to be the main vehicle for continuously improving the quality of patient care and developing the capacity of the NHS in England to maintain high standards (including dealing with poor professional performance) It requires an organisation-wide transformation; clinical leadership and positive organisational cultures are particularly important Local professional self regulation will be the key to dealing with the complex problems of poor performance among clinicians New approaches are needed to enable the recognition and replication of good clinical practice to ensure that lessons are reliably learned from failures in standards of care The new concept has echoes of corporate governance, an initiative originally aimed at redressing failed standards in the business world through the Cadbury report2 and later extended to public services (including the NHS). The resonance of the two terms is important, for if clinical governance is to be successful it must be underpinned by the same strengths as corporate governance: it must be rigorous in its application, organisation-wide in its emphasis, accountable in its delivery, developmental in its thrust, and positive in its connotations. The introduction of clinical governance, aimed as it is at improving the quality of clinical care at …

Promoting reflection in professional courses: The challenge of context

Abstract: Reflection and the promotion of reflective practice have become popular features of the design of educational programmes. This has often led to learning being more effectively facilitated. However, alongisde these positive initiatives have grown more disturbing developments under the general heading of reflection. They have involved both misconceptions of the nature of reflection which have led to instrumental or rule-following approaches to reflective activities, and the application of reflective strategies in ways which have sought inappropriate levels of disclosure from participants or involved otherwise unethical practices. The article examines the question: what constitutes the effective use of reflective activities? It argues that reflection needs to be flexibly deployed, that it is highly context-specific and that the social and cultural context in which reflection takes place has a powerful influence over what kinds of reflection it is possible to foster and the ways in which this might b...

Does Professional Community Affect the Classroom? Teachers' Work and Student Experiences in Restructuring Schools

Abstract: School reform efforts have focused on the development of professionally enriching work groups for teachers as a vehicle for improving student achievement. This study examines the impact of school professional community on the intellectual quality of student performance (assessed using authentic measures) and on two dimensions of classroom organization, the technical (measured as authentic pedagogy) and the social (measured as social support for achievement). Employing quantitative (multilevel) and qualitative analytic methods, we show that in 24 nationally selected, restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools professional community is strongly associated with these dimensions of classroom organization. Both professional community and social support for achievement have a positive relationship to student performance, but the strength of their association with authentic pedagogy accounts for that effect.

Strategies for improving teaching practices: a comprehensive approach to faculty development.

Abstract: Medical school faculty members are being asked to assume new academic duties for which they have received no formal training. These include time-efficient ambulatory care teaching, case-based tutorials, and new computer-based instructional programs. In order to succeed at these new teaching tasks, faculty development is essential. It is a tool for improving the educational vitality of academic institutions through attention to the competencies needed by individual teachers, and to the institutional policies required to promote academic excellence. Over the past three decades, strategies to improve teaching have been influenced by the prevailing theories of learning and research on instruction, which are described. Research on these strategies suggests that workshops and students' ratings of instruction, coupled with consultation and intensive fellowships, are effective strategies for changing teachers' actions. A comprehensive faculty development program should be built upon (1) professional development (new faculty members should be oriented to the university and to their various faculty roles); (2) instructional development (all faculty members should have access to teaching-improvement workshops, peer coaching, mentoring, and/or consultations); (3) leadership development (academic programs depend upon effective leaders and well-designed curricula; these leaders should develop the skills of scholarship to effectively evaluate and advance medical education); (4) organizational development (empowering faculty members to excel in their roles as educators requires organizational policies and procedures that encourage and reward teaching and continual learning). Comprehensive faculty development, which is more important today than ever before, empowers faculty members to excel as educators and to create vibrant academic communities that value teaching and learning.

Theory, Practice, and the Education of Professionals

Abstract: In "The Relation of Theory to Practice in Education," John Dewey compares professional education for teachers to the education of other professionals, especially physicians. He distinguishes between 2 general approaches, the apprenticeship and the laboratory, generally favoring the latter. This article proposes 6 commonplaces characteristic of all forms of professional education and critically examines Dewey's views of teacher education through those commonplaces. Proposals are offered for conceptualizing the education of teachers in general and the connections between theory and practice in particular.

Service-Learning: Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Professions Education.

Abstract: In 1995, the Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation (HPSISN) program was launched under the auspices of the Pew Health Professions Commission as a national demonstration of an innovative form of community-based education called service-learning. The foundation of service-learning is a balanced partnership between communities and health professions schools and a balance between serving the community and meeting defined learning objectives. This article offers a definition of service-learning and an outline of its core concepts; it also describes how service-learning differs from traditional clinical education in the health professions. Further, the author discusses how service-learning programs may benefit students, faculty, communities, higher education institutions, and the relationships among all these stakeholders. The article concludes with brief descriptions of recommended resources for integrating service-learning into the medical school curriculum.

Mathematical Tasks as a Framework for Reflection: From Research To Practice.

Abstract: A to the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991), a primary factor in teachers’ professional growth is the extent to which they “refl ect on learning and teaching individually and with colleagues” (p. 168). Refl ecting on their classroom experiences is a way to make teachers aware of how they teach (Hart et al. 1992) and how their students are thriving within the learning environment that has been provided. Although all teachers think informally about their classroom experiences, cultivating a habit of systematic and deliberate refl ection may hold the key to improving one’s teaching as well as to sustaining lifelong professional development. One of the most diffi cult aspects of refl ection is fi guring out on what to focus (Hart et al. 1992). In our fi ve years of experience with middle school teachers in the QUASAR Project (see Silver and Stein [1996]), we have seen how focusing on mathematical tasks and their phases of classroom use can assist teachers in the refl ection process. QUASAR (Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning) is a national reform project aimed at fostering and studying the development and implementation of enhanced mathematics instructional programs in six urban middle schools. It is housed at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh and is directed by Edward A. Silver. In this article, we describe a framework for refl ection based on the mathematical tasks used during classroom instruction and the ways in which it has been used by teachers. In the framework, a task is defi ned as a segment of classroom activity that is devoted to the development of a particular mathematical idea. A task can involve several related problems or extended work, up to an entire class period, on a single complex problem. Defi ned in this way, most tasks are from twenty to thirty minutes long.

Teachers and Teaching: Testing Policy Hypotheses From a National Commission Report

Abstract: —What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future W ith these words, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future summarized its challenge to the American public in September 1996. Following two years of intense study and discussion, the commission concluded that the reform of elementary and secondary education depends first and foremost on investments in teaching aimed at (1) increasing teachers' access to knowledge to meet the demands they face and (2) redesigning schools so they can better support serious teaching and learning. Since that time, the report and the commission's subsequent work have stimulated dozens of pieces of federal and state legislation, more than 1,200 news articles and editorials nationally and abroad, and at least two major federally funded research and development initiatives—one for a National Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy and the other for a National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching—that bring together researchers, professional associations, state and local education agencies, policymakers, and practitioners to work on deepening knowledge and practice in the fields of both teaching and policy. Twelve states are working collaboratively, with the support of their governors, state education departments, legislative leaders, and education leaders to develop strategies for implementing the commission's recommendations. They include Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Several others will join this group of partner states in the coming year.

Junior faculty members' mentoring relationships and their professional development in U.S. medical schools.

Abstract: Purpose To determine (1) the prevalence of mentoring relationships for US medical school junior faculty; (2) the quality of these mentoring relationships; (3) any variation by gender or race; and (4) the relationship between mentoring and junior faculty members' perceptions of institutional professional support; research-, teaching-, and clinical-skills development; allocation of time to professional activities; and career satisfaction Method In 1995 a 177-item survey was mailed to 3,013 full-time faculty at 24 randomly selected US medical schools stratified on an area of medical specialization, graduation cohort, and gender Mentoring was defined as "dynamic reciprocal relationship between an advanced career incumbent (the mentor) and a junior faculty member (the protege) aimed at fostering the development of the junior person/protege" Because mentoring is most crucial for junior faculty, the study focused on mentoring relationships within the previous three years ("recent mentoring") for faculty who were not full professors Chisquare tests, analysis of variance, and principal-components analysis were used to analyze the data Results In all, 1,808 (60%) of the 3,013 faculty surveyed, of whom 72% were junior faculty, returned completed questionaires Fifty-four percent of the junior faculty had had a recent mentoring relationship There was no significant difference between the men and the women faculty or between majority and minority faculty in the prevalence and quality of the mentoring relationships The faculty with mentors rated their research preparation and research skills higher than did the faculty without mentors Most of the women faculty (80%) and the minority faculty (86%) who had had mentors reported that it was not important to have a mentor of the same gender or minority group Conclusion Mentoring relationships are prevalent in academic medicine and should be promoted to support the career growth of junior faculty

The reflective (and competent) practitioner: a model of professional competence which seeks to harmonise the reflective practitioner and competence‐based approaches

Abstract: In an earlier article, published in 1996, the authors described a provisional model of professional competence which attempted to harmonise the “reflective practitioner” paradigm (developed by Schon and now espoused by many professional education programmes) with competence‐based approaches. The latter included both the “functional outcomes” approach and the “personal competence” approach. Views on the composite model were sought from readers of this journal. The model was also tested as part of a programme of empirical work across 20 different professions. This paper offers a revised version of the model which takes account of the suggestions made by a significant number of respondents, as well as observations from the empirical work.

The emotional politics of teaching and teacher development: with implications for educational leadership

Abstract: This paper explores the emotions of teaching and teacher development in times of rapid change. It treats the emotional lives of educators not only as matters of personal disposition or commitment, as psychological qualities that emerge among individuals, but also as social and political phenomena that are shaped by how the work of teaching is organized, structured and led. The paper develops a conceptual framework of seven interrelated elements that are formed by sociological and social‐psychological literature, to cast light on how emotions are located and represented in teachers’ work and professional development. The paper closes with ten implications and recommendations for leaders and policymakers to embrace and engage the emotions as part of their own and other educators’ work.

Form and Substance in Inservice Teacher Education

Abstract: Much of the reform rhetoric about professional development is geared toward the form that such development should take. This literature advocates collaboration among teachers, schoolwide participation in professional development, programs that extend over time and are interspersed with classroom practice, programs that include classroom visitations, and so forth. Much less has been said about what the content of such programs should be. This paper reviews studies of inservice programs that aim to enhance mathematics and science teaching. It focuses exclusively on studies that examine effects of programs on student learning. The review suggests that the differences among programs that mattered most were differences in the content that was actually provided to teachers, not difference in program forms or structures.

Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K-12 Education in the United States

Abstract: President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology Panel on Educational Technology, Executive Office of the President, March, 1997, $-no charge This report describes the findings of the President's committee of advisors on science and technology Within the report, a study of the issues on the effects of technology on the educational process and the progress to incorporate technology in the classroom is detailed and discussed The conclusions of the commission and panel are succinct and to the point and the problems of incorporating, on a large scale, technology into the classrooms in the United States is considered The following topics are covered: The significance of technology in the classroom; hardware and infrastructure; software, content and pedagogy; needs of teachers; economic considerations; equitable access; research and evaluation; and programs and policy Each of the points are discussed in full with numerous citations dealing with the subject matter The layout of the topics is orderly and each topic builds on the one before it There are numerous referrals to previous studies done in the area of educational research and these studies aid the reader in making sense chronologically, of what has taken place in these areas The executive summary does an admirable job in setting up the report It is well thought out and presents the main recommendations of the committee without being wordy or overpowering The introduction explains how and why the report was done and gives justification as to why the report was written Chapter two focuses on the problems facing education and the role that technology can play in overcoming those problems A number of references are made to schools around the country and the successes they are having using technology These references allow the reader to see the successes attained with the utilization of technology in education Chapter three deals with the hardware/infrastructure of today's schools Numerous statistics are used to show the problems in setting up a viable infrastructure in schools that, all too often, are too old to support the electrical and wiring needs of modern computer networks The costs of maintaining systems and the problems in effective utilization of those systems is also addressed Chapter four addresses software issues, how software is used today, and the problems with the educational software industry Some key points are made in comparing computer assisted instruction (CAI) and the constructivist model of educating children A good bit of this chapter talks about current technology usage and the problems that the educational software industry is having to produce quality educational software This chapter deserves some careful reading, especially by those involved in staff development and software purchasing Chapter five deals with teachers and teacher training This chapter, in my opinion, is the most important chapter done in the report It details what teachers need, how support of the teacher's needs are being met and how they should be met, and the problems of preparing teachers and future teachers to meet the technological needs of today's students If there is a chapter that made me sit up and take notice, this was it Teachers need to know how to utilize the technology with which they've been provided in a classroom setting, not just how to use a computer …

Handbook of instructional leadership : how really good principals promote teaching and learning

Abstract: Foreword - Stephen P Gordon PART ONE: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP The Craft of Teacher Supervision The Conference Heart of Instructional Supervision Staff Development Promoting Professional Growth Reflection Encouraging Critical Study PART TWO: HOW SUPERVISORS' BEHAVIORS - POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE - AFFECT TEACHERS Being Visible vs Interrupting and Abandoning Praising vs Criticizing Extending Autonomy vs Maintaining Control Conclusion Building a Learning Community

Informal Learning in the Workplace: Unmasking Human Resource Development

Abstract: Informal learning has become an extremely important issue as post-industrial workplaces seek to harness its productive potential. Managers and HRD practitioners have attempted to deploy informal learning in the design of corporate cultures, however, most discussions of the subject have tended to be uncritical expositions which do not challenge the underlying economic, philosophical and organisational rationale. Uniquely, this book goes against this tendency. It critically examines definitions of informal learning, and focuses on its application in a variety of workplace contexts. It features: * theories of informal learning * the unmasking of contemporary corporate rhetoric * the implications for accounts of workplace learning of poststructuralist and post-modern perspectives. Incorporating case studies based on interviews with practising managers and HRM practitioners, and a detailed glossary of key concepts and issues, this book will be a valuable reference for students of workplace learning. (http://books.google.fr/books?id=sjEzx4vw8voC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Capability and quality in higher education

Abstract: Embedding capability in the curriculum building a learning community - developing an integrated strategy for the 21st century capabilities across the curriculum the TEC experience learner managed learning work-based learning and learning organisations development of skills and the career management initiative an institutional strategy for transferable skills and employability linking capability to levels and assessment an assessment topic capability through HE profiling, learning outcomes and learning contracts building a learning organisation through institutional capability the capability experience at Bournemouth University the partnership framework and personal and professional development independent study programmes and autonomous learning.

Charting Chicago School Reform: Democratic Localism As A Lever For Change

Abstract: In 1989, Chicago began an experiment with radical decentralization of power and authority. This book tells the story of what happened to Chicago's elementary schools in the first four years of this reform. Implicit in this reform is the theory that expanded local democratic participation would stimulate organizational change within schools, which in turn would foster improved teaching and learning. Using this theory as a framework, the authors marshal massive quantitative and qualitative data to examine how the reform actually unfolded at the school level.With longitudinal case study data on 22 schools, survey responses from principals and teachers in 269 schools, and supplementary system-wide administrative data, the authors identify four types of school politics: strong democracy, consolidated principal power, maintenance, and adversarial. In addition, they classify school change efforts as either systemic or unfocused. Bringing these strands together, the authors determine that, in about a third of the schools, expanded local democratic participation served as a strong lever for introducing systemic change focused on improved instruction. Finally, case studies of six actively restructuring schools illustrate how under decentralization the principal's role is recast, social support for change can grow, and ideas and information from external sources are brought to bear on school change initiatives. Few studies intertwine so completely extensive narratives and rigorous quantitative analyses. The result is a complex picture of the Chicago reform that joins the politics of local control to school change.This volume is intended for scholars in the fields of urban education, public policy, sociology of education, anthropology of education, and politics of education. Comprehensive and descriptive, it is an engaging text for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates. Local, state, and federal policymakers who are concerned with urban education will find new and insightful material. The book should be on reading lists and in professional development seminars for school principals who want to garner community support for change and for school community leaders who want more responsive local institutions. Finally, educators, administrators, and activists in Chicago will appreciate this detailed analysis of the early years of reform.

On the culture of student abuse in medical school.

Abstract: The abuse of students is ingrained in medical education, and has shown little amelioration despite numerous publications and righteous declarations by the academic community over the past decade. The culture of abuse conflicts with the renewed commitments of medical educators and practice professionals to imbue students with a higher degree of professionalism and cultural sensitivity. The authors describe the profiles of student abuse, drawn from recent national surveys of medical students using the AAMC Medical School Graduation Questionnaire, and focus on the most common forms of reported mistreatment--public belittlement and humiliation--that appear to be misguided efforts to reinforce learning. Along with others, the authors believe that the use of aversive methods to make students learn and behave is likely to foster insensitive and punitive behaviors that are passed down from teacher to learner, a "transgenerational legacy" that leads to future mistreatment of others by those who themselves have been mistreated. The undesirable result is compounded when these behaviors are adopted and directed toward patients and colleagues. The authors advocate more concerted action to curtail the abuse of medical students, citing current and proposed accreditation standards that will be employed more stringently by the LCME, and propose a series of more assertive actions that schools should take. The authors stress that the attitudes, behaviors, and values that students acquire in medical school are as much the products of their socialization as the outcomes of curricular design and pedagogy, and implore medical educators to tidy up the environment for learning.

The Influence of Teacher Education on Teachers' Beliefs about Purposes of Education, Roles, and Practice:

Abstract: Infusion of social constructivist theory into teacher education has prompted focus on change in teachers' cognition and thought processes with teachers creating their own socially constructed teaching (Buchmann, 1986; Buchman & Floden, 1990; Cochran, De Ruiter, & King, 1993; Condon, Clyde, Kyle, & Hovda, 1993; Schon, 1987; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). Teacher education has no unified conception of constructivism (Black & Ammon, 1992; Mosenthal & Ball, 1992; O'Loughlin, 1992). However, constructivist educators agree teacher change requires learning opportunities supporting in-depth examination of educational theories and practices in light of teachers' beliefs and experiences if they are to help pupils develop conceptual understandings of subject matters and a critical view of education. Several conditions are necessary for the development of learning opportunities allowing teachers freedom to develop new understandings of teaching and learning. A necessary point of departure is the development of a theoretical view of learning to guide teacher education in which knowledge, curriculum, and learning are socially constructed; the curriculum and instruction are discipline based; the focus is on teachers' and children's sense making; and authority is socially accorded (Cochran et al., 1993; Condon et al., 1993; Schon, 1987; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). Constructivist teacher education requires learning opportunities that encourage reflection, dialogue, critical thinking, knowledge ownership, and understanding in context and within learning communities (Black & Ammon, 1992; Cochran et al., 1993; Condon et al., 1993; Mosenthal & Ball, 1992; O'Loughlin, 1992; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). This reconceptualization of teacher education requires the creation of norms of discourse, which provide cohesiveness of purpose and facilitate constructive dialogue about teaching and learning within and across learning communities. Constructivist-oriented approaches often require teacher education students and teacher educators to engage in dialogue, reflection, and inquiry and are more likely to influence teacher change in desired directions. Why Is Changing Teachers' Beliefs Important to Teacher Education? Purposes of education may shape teachers' beliefs about what is appropriate in teaching and teachers' conceptions about their professional role. Conceptions of their role may, in turn, shape their teaching practice (Buchmann, 1986). Reflecting and attempting to understand how their beliefs influence their teaching are critical to teachers' development and change in role conceptions and teaching practices. Little empirical evidence exists in the teacher education literature on the influence of teacher education on teachers' values and beliefs. Consensus exists that teacher education has little effect on altering teachers' beliefs (Weinstein, 1989) and that changes in practices do not necessarily accompany changes in beliefs (Prawat, 1992) and that changes in practices and beliefs do not necessarily generalize across the teaching of different subject matters. Preservice teachers' previous experience as pupils, the apprenticeship of observation, and schools' organization and culture have more influence than formal teacher education in shaping their teaching (Lortie, 1975). Some researchers find that positive change depends on attention to teachers' previous beliefs, attitudes, and experiences (Florio-Ruane & Lensmire, 1990) and that meaningful change in instruction entails fundamental change in what teachers know and believe. The question of whether teacher education can alter teachers' beliefs is important for empirical research and relevant to teacher education policy. In this article, I explore beliefs of teacher educators and teacher education students regarding education's purposes, teachers' professional role, and teaching practice, and the degree to which teacher education shapes these beliefs. …

Reflective systems development

Abstract: The ways in which we approach systems development practice and research play a major role in shaping professional development within our field. This paper investigates a particular approach, Reflective Systems Development, which has been developed over the past twenty years by a small group of mainly Danish researchers in collaboration with practitioners and students. In this approach, researchers focus on how computer-based information systems are developed in practice; they emphasize the important role played by the local organizational environment; and they combine interpretive understandings of practice with normative propositions to support professional development. The purpose of the paper is to present and evaluate the underlying assumptions and practices of Reflective Systems Development focusing on the following questions: How should we understand, support, and improve practice? How should we organize and conduct research? How should we relate practice and research? The argument draws on the literature on systems development and on the author's experience as an active participant in developing the approach.

The use of portfolio learning in medical education

Abstract: SUMMARY Portfolio learning is a method of encouraging adult and reflective learning for professionals. Derived from the graphic arts it is based on developing a collection of evidence that learning...

Teacher development : making an impact

Abstract: This study began as an update of promising practices in teacher education programs that have been particularly successful in enhancing student learning in their own context. Along the way of undertaking case studies, the study expanded to include the impact of teacher education on children's learning; effective teaching; trends in teacher development from around the world; recruitment and retention of teachers; incentives; and evaluation, supervision, and management, including cost-related issues. Some of the ideas are drawn from the case studies. Other ideas come from additional research literature. Key findings include: 1) Teacher education can make a difference to student achievement. 2) Teachers need to be actively involved in the change process. 3) Teacher development is about ongoing professional growth and support. 4) Teacher development is a process along a continuum of learning. 5) Alternative teacher education programs should be considered. 6) It is important to create conditions that lead to sustainability. The study also recommends fundamental changes in: system support, ongoing professional development in the early years, and ongoing professional development in the years after initial preparation.

Teaching for High Standards: What Policymakers Need to Know and Be Able to Do

Abstract: Recent emphasis on raising standards has attracted Americans' attention to factors that improve student learning. An examination of the relationship between teacher knowledge and student performance is offered in this report. The text summarizes what research suggests about various kinds of teacher education, the professional development teachers need in order to learn how to teach to high standards, and the relationship between teacher knowledge and student achievement and what matters for teacher effectiveness. It details what states are doing to provide these opportunities for teacher learning and with what effects. The narrative focuses on problems in the preparation of U.S. teachers and provides international comparisons of teacher development. It discusses whether other countries are able to support teaching more effectively than the U.S., and it reports some of the recommendations of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Some examples of effective professional development programs are described along with some promising state strategies for improving teaching, such as standards-based reforms of teaching. It is suggested that professional discourse develop around problems of practice and that learning from the analysis of practice be emphasized in teacher