Showing papers on "Professional development published in 2000"

Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence

Abstract: Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states. The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance. Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status. State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states. This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work. The implications for state efforts to enhance quality and equity in public education are discussed. (Note 1)

Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work

Abstract: Background. This paper explores the conceptual and methodological problems arising from several empirical investigations of professional education and learning in the workplace. Aims. 1. To clarify the multiple meanings accorded to terms such as ‘ non-formal learning’, ‘ implicit learning’ and ‘ tacit knowledge’, their theoretical assumptions and the range of phenomena to which they refer. 2. To discuss their implications for professional practice. Method. A largely theoretical analysis of issues and phenomena arising from empirical investigations. Analysis. The author's typology of non-formal learning distinguishes between implicit learning, reactive on-the-spot learning and deliberative learning. The significance of the last is commonly overemphasised. The problematic nature of tacit knowledge is discussed with respect to both detecting it and representing it. Three types of tacit knowledge are discussed: tacit understanding of people and situations, routinised actions and the tacit rules that underpin intuitive decision-making. They come together when professional performance involves sequences of routinised action punctuated by rapid intuitive decisions based on tacit understanding of the situation. Four types of process are involved-reading the situation, making decisions, overt activity and metacognition-and three modes of cognition-intuitive, analytic and deliberative. The balance between these modes depends on time, experience and complexity. Where rapid action dominates, periods of deliberation are needed to maintain critical control. Finally the role of both formal and informal social knowledge is discussed; and it is argued that situated learning often leads not to local conformity but to greater individual variation as people's careers take them through a series of different contexts. This abstract necessarily simplifies a more complex analysis in the paper itself. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000709900158001/abstract)

Teacher Quality and Student Achievement

Abstract: Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work The implications for state efforts to enhance quality and equity in public education are discussed

From Preparation to Practice: Designing a Continuum to Strengthen and Sustain Teaching

Abstract: This paper was written to stimulate discussions and debate about what a professional learning continuum from initial preparation through the early years of teaching could be like. Drawing on a broad base of literature, the author proposes a framework for thinking about a curriculum for teacher learning over time. The paper also considers the fit (or misfit) between conventional approaches to teacher preparation, induction and professional development and the challenges of learning to teach in reform-minded ways and offers examples of promising programs and practices at each of these stages. The paper is organized around three questions: (a) What are the central tasks of teacher preparation, new teacher induction, and early professional development? (b) How well do conventional arrangements address these central tasks? (c) What are some promising programs and practices at each stage in the learning to teach continuum that promote standards-based teaching and enable teachers to become active participants in school reform?

The Effects of Professional Development on Science Teaching Practices and Classroom Culture

Abstract: The current science education reform movement emphasizes the importance of professional development as a means of improving student science achievement. Reformers have developed a vision for professional development based upon intensive and sustained training around concrete tasks that is focused on subject-matter knowledge, connected to specific standards for student performance, and embedded in a systemic context. Using data from a National Science Foundation Teacher Enhancement program called the Local Systemic Change initiative, this study employs hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationship between professional development and the reformers' vision of teaching practice. The findings indicate that the quantity of professional development in which teachers participate is strongly linked with both inquiry-based teaching practice and investigative classroom culture. At the individual level, teachers' content preparation also has a powerful influence on teaching practice and classroom culture. At the school level, school socioeconomic status was found to influence practice more substantially than either principal supportiveness or available resources.fl 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 963 - 980, 2000

Instructional Policy and Classroom Performance: The Mathematics Reform in California

Abstract: Educational reformers increasingly seek to manipulate policies regarding assessment, curriculum, and professional development in order to improve instruction. They assume that manipulating these elements of instructional policy will change teachers’ practice, which will then improve student performance. We formalize these ideas into a rudimentary model of the relations among instructional policy, teaching, and learning. We propose that successful instructional policies are themselves instructional in nature: because teachers figure as a key connection between policy and practice, their opportunities to learn about and from policy are a crucial influence both on their practice and, at least indirectly, on student achievement. Using data from a 1994 survey of California elementary school teachers and 1994 student California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) scores, we examine the influence of assessment, curriculum, and professional development on teacher practice and student achievement. Our results bear out the usefulness of the model: under circumstances that we identify, policy can affect practice, and both can affect student performance.

SuperVision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach

Abstract: All chapters conclude with â Exercises,â â References,â and â Suggested Readings.â I. INTRODUCTION. 1. SuperVision for Successful Schools. SuperVision: A New Name for a New Paradigm. Supervisory Glue as a Metaphor for Success. Who Is Responsible for SuperVision? Organization of This Book. Supervision and Moral Purpose. Practitioner Reflection: When is Collegiality Real? II. KNOWLEDGE. 2. The Norm: Why Schools Are as They Are. The Work Environment or Culture of Schools. The Legacy of the One-Room Schoolhouse. Blaming the Victim and Structural Strain. Viewing School Culture in the Context of the Larger Culture. To Qualify, Summarize, and Propose. 3. The Exception: What Schools Can Be. Background to School Effectiveness Studies. Early Effective Schools Research. The Second Wave of Effective Schools Research. Context Studies in Effective Schools Research. Has Effective Schools Research Outlived Its Usefulness? The Legacy of Effective Schools Research. From Effective Schools to School Improvement. A Cause Beyond Oneself. Connecting School Improvement to the Local Community and Larger Society. What to Do with Successful Schools Research: Some Propositions. 4. Adult and Teacher Development within the Context of the School: Clues for Supervisory Practice. Adults as Learners. Adult and Teacher Development. Developmental Theories of Motivation and Teacher Development. Development: Ebb and Flow. Propositions. 5. Reflections on Schools, Teaching, and Supervision. Effective Teaching Research: A Historical Perspective. Cautions Concerning Effective Teaching Research. The Coast of Britain. Effective and Good Schools: The Same? Changing Views: New Emphasis on Constructivist Teaching and Learning. Instructional Improvement and Effective Teaching. Beliefs about Education. Supervision Beliefs. Supervisory Platform as Related to Educational Philosophy. Checking Your Own Educational Philosophy and Supervisory Beliefs. What Does Your Belief Mean in Terms of Supervisor and Teacher Responsibility? The Authors' Supervisory Platform. Summary, Conclusions, and Propositions. III. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. 6. Supervisory Behavior Continuum: Know Thyself. Outcomes of Conference. Valid Assessment of Self. Johari Window. Cognitive Dissonance. Comparing Self-Perceptions with Other Perceptions. Summary, Conclusions, and Preview. 7. Developmental Supervision: An Introduction. Case Study One. Case Study Two. Case Study Three. Case Study Four. Developmental Supervision. Summary and a Look Ahead. 8. Directive Control Behaviors. Directive Continum of Behaviors. A History of Overreliance on Control. Issues in Directive Control. When to Use Directive Control Behaviors. Moving from Directive Control toward Directive Informational Behaviors. 9. Directive Informational Behaviors. Directive Continum of Behaviors. Comparing Directive Control and Directive Informational Statements. Issues in the Directive Informational Approach. When to Use Directive Informational Behaviors. Moving from Directive Informational toward Collaborative Behaviors. Practitioner Reflection: The Lesson Plan (by Julie N. Diehl) 10. Collaborative Behaviors. Collaborative Continum of Behaviors. Collaborative Behaviors with Groups. Issues in Collaborative Supervision. When to Use Collaborative Behaviors. Moving from Collaborative toward Nondirective Behaviors. Collaboration and Cooperation. 11. Nondirective Behaviors. Nondirective Continum of Behaviors. Initiating Nondirective Supervision. Nondirective, Not Laissez Faire, Supervision. Issues with Nondirective Supervision. When to Use Nondirective Behaviors. Nondirective Supervision, Teacher Collaboration. Practitioner Reflection: A Nondirective Approach as Iâ m Developing (by Lynn M. Rasmussen) 12. Developmental Supervision: Theory and Practice. Rationale for Developmental Supervision. Applying Developmental Supervision. Not Algorithms, But Guideposts for Decisions. IV. TECHNICAL SKILLS. 13. Assessing and Planning Skills. Personal Plans. Assessing Time. Changing Time Allocations: Planning. Assessing and Planning within the Organization. Ways of Assessing Needs. Analyzing Organizational Needs. Planning. Models Combining Assessment and Planning. Strategic Planning. Planning: To What Extent? 14. Observing Skills. Formative Observation Instruments Are Not Summative Evaluation Instruments. Ways of Describing. Quantitative Observations. Quantitative and Qualitative Instruments. Qualitative Observations. Tailored Observation Systems. Types and Purposes of Observations. Further Cautions When Using Observations. 15. Research and Evaluation Skills. Alternative Approaches to Research and Evaluation. Judgments. Key Decisions in the Evaluation Process. Evidence of Program Outcomes. Overall Instructional Program Evaluation. Other Considerations for Evaluation. Teacher Evaluation. V. TECHNICAL TASKS OF SUPERVISION. 16. Direct Assistance to Teachers. Clinical Supervision. Comparing Clinical Supervision with Teacher Evaluation. Integrating Clinical Supervision and Developmental Supervision. Peer Coaching. Other Forms of Direct Assistance. Establishing Procedures for Direct Assistance. Developmental Considerations in Direct Assistance. 17. Group Development. Dimensions of an Effective Group. Group Member Roles. Applying Developmental Supervision of Groups. Dealing with Dysfunctional Members. Resolving Conflict. Preparing for Group Meetings. Procedures for Large-Group Involvement. Practitioner Reflection: Working Toward the Big Picture (by Susan Maxey) 18. Professional Development. Why the Need for Professional Development? Characteristics of Successful Professional Development Programs. Integrating Schoolwide, Group, and Individual Professional Development. Alternative Professional Development Formats. Examples of Effective Professional Development Programs. Stages of Professional Development. Matching Professional Development to Teacher Characteristics. The Nuts and Bolts. Teachers as Objects or Agents in Professional Development. Practitioner Reflection: Professional Development as Time Will Spent (by Cheyl Granade Sullivan) 19. Curriculum Development. Sources of Curriculum Development. Teacher-Proof Curriculum. Curriculum Development as a Vehicle for Enhancing Collective Thinking About Instruction. What Should Be the Purpose of the Curriculum? What Should Be the Content of the Curriculum? How Should the Curriculum Be Organized? In What Format Should the Curriculum Be Written? Curriculum Format as Reflective of Choice Given to Teachers. Relationship of Curriculum Purpose, Content, Organization, and Format. Levels of Teacher Involvement in Curriculum Development. Integrating Curriculum Format with Developers and Levels of Development. Matching Curriculum Development with Teacher Development. 20. Action Research: The School as the Centerof Inquiry. Action Research: The Concept. How Is Action Research Conducted? A Developmental Approach to Action Research. Decisions about Action Research. Action Research: Vehicle for a Cause beyond Oneself. Examples of Action Research. Action Research Leagues. Shared Governance for Action Research. Examples of Shared Governance for Schoolwide Action Research. Suggestions for Action Research. Conclusion: Focus, Structure, and Time for Development. VI. Cultural Tasks of Supervision 21. Facilitating Change Chaos Theory Postmodern Theory Close to Home: Education Change Theory Change at the Individual Level 22. Addressing Diversity Achievement Gaps Among Economic, Racial, and Ethnic Groups A Society or School Problem? Cultural Clashes Culturally Responsive Teaching Culturally Responsive Schools Gender Equity Equity for Sexual Minorities Overarching Patterns Connecting the Technical Tasks of Supervision to Cultural Responsiveness 23. Building Community Democratic Community Moral Community Professional Learning Community Community of Inquiry Engagement with the Larger Community Five Attributes, One Community Conclusion Appendix A: What Is Your Educational Philosophy? Appendix B: Review fo Interpersonal Behavior in Four Supervisory Appraoches. Name Index. Subject Index.

A Survey into Mainstream Teachers' Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Children with Special Educational Needs in the Ordinary School in one Local Education Authority

Abstract: Attitudes of mainstream teachers towards the inclusion of children with special needs in the ordinary school were surveyed soon after the release of the Green Paper. The survey was carried out in one Local Education Authority in the south-west of England and the sample comprised of 81 primary and secondary teachers. The analysis revealed that teachers who have been implementing inclusive programmes, and therefore have active experience of inclusion, possess more positive attitudes. Moreover, the data showed the importance of professional development in the formation of positive attitudes towards inclusion. In particular, teachers with university-based professional development appeared both to hold more positive attitudes and to be more confident in meeting the IEP requirements of students with SEN. The role that training at both pre-service and post-service levels has in the development of teachers' support for inclusion is discussed.

How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice

Abstract: How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice provides a broad overview of research on learners and learning and on teachers and teaching. It expands on the 1999 National Research Council publication How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Expanded Edition that analyzed the science of learning in infants, educators, experts, and more. In How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice asks how the insights from research can be incorporated into classroom practice and suggests a research and development agenda that would inform and stimulate the required change. The committee identifies teachers, or classroom practitioners, as the key to change, while acknowledging that change at the classroom level is significantly impacted by overarching public policies. How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice highlights three key findings about how students gain and retain knowledge and discusses the implications of these findings for teaching and teacher preparation. The highlighted principles of learning are applicable to teacher education and professional development programs as well as to K-12 education. The research-based messages found in this book are clear and directly relevant to classroom practice. It is a useful guide for teachers, administrators, researchers, curriculum specialists, and educational policy makers.

Effective instructional leadership: Teachers’ perspectives on how principals promote teaching and learning in schools

Abstract: Few studies have directly examined teachers’ perspectives on principals’ everyday instructional leadership characteristics and the impacts of those characteristics on teachers. In this study, over 800 American teachers responded to an open‐ended questionnaire by identifying and describing characteristics of principals that enhanced their classroom instruction and what impacts those characteristics had on them. The data revealed two themes (and 11 strategies) of effective instructional leadership: talking with teachers to promote reflection and promoting professional growth.

What Teachers Need To Know about Language.

Abstract: Today's teachers need access to a wide range of information to function in the classroom. They need a thorough understanding of how language figures in education, and for that reason they must receive systematic and intensive preparation in educational linguistics. A thorough grounding in linguistics would support teachers' undertakings overall, and in particular in teaching literacy skills and working with English language learners. If approached coherently, such preparation would also cover many of the desired teacher competencies, relating to skills in assessing children, in individualizing instruction, and in respecting diversity. This paper lays out a rationale for why current and prospective teachers need to know more about language, and what specific sorts of knowledge they need. Requisite knowledge about oral language, oral language used in formal and academic contexts, and written language is discussed. In the final section, courses are suggested that teacher preparation programs should offer to teacher candidates. This course list may also be seen as specifying aspects of an integrated, in-depth professional development program for inservice teachers. A glossary is appended. (Contains 53 references.) (KFT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. What Teachers Need to Know About Language Lily Wong Fffimore University of California at Berkeley Catherine E. Snow Harvard Graduate School of Education

Professional Development That Addresses School Capacity: Lessons from Urban Elementary Schools

Abstract: We argue that professional development should address five aspects of school capacity: teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions; professional community; program coherence; technical resources; and principal leadership. A two-year study of nine urban elementary schools in the United States found considerable variation in schools' use of professional development to address capacity. More comprehensive professional development occurred through both externally developed programs and school-based initiatives. Comprehensive professional development was most strongly related to the school's initial level of capacity and principal leadership, less related to per teacher funding, least related to external assistance and district/state policy. Implications are discussed.

Multicultural teacher education for the 21st century

Abstract: This article explains several reasons why multicultural preservice teacher education is important and suggests some ways it can be better accomplished. The authors make a strong case for teacher education programs to be more deliberate about preparing European Americans to teach ethnically diverse students of color. They argue that this explicit professional preparation is needed because of the increasing racial, cultural, and linguistic divide between teachers (predominately European American) and K–12 students (increasingly from ethnic groups of color). Two other factors underscore the need for more multicultural teacher education: the fear of diversity and the resistance to dealing with race and racism frequently expressed by students enrolled in teacher education programs. To overcome these problems and better prepare preservice teachers to work effectively with ethnically diverse students the authors suggest a two‐part program of professional development.

Profound Improvement: Building Capacity for a Learning Community

Abstract: This text positions the learning community as a vehicle for professional learning and school development. The learning community develops in response to building capacity in three domains: personal, interpersonal and organizational. In the personal domain, educators deconstruct and reconstruct their professional narratives to enhance student learning and professional practice.In the interpersonal domain, educators generate norms and values that foster experimentation and critical analysis of educational practice and that promote collective and individual learning. In the organizational domain, visible and invisible structures are constructed that enable community members to enact educational practices in support of profound improvement in teaching and learning. The book focuses on the life of educators as it relates to professional learning and growth. It is concerned with human growth and development, human cognition and affect and human interactions and actions in the context of a school community. It places at the centre of the discourse some of the less controlable aspects of professional development - the undercurrents of professional presuppositions and beliefs as well as the surface waves of professional knowledge and learning. From this perspective, building a learning community is a dynamic process that engages the individual, the group and the organization in embedded interdependencies and mutual influences.

Action research and reflective practice: towards a holistic view

Abstract: Two concepts that have captured the imagination of the educational community in the last 60 years have been those of ‘reflective practice’ and ‘action research’. Both, in their various forms, are considered to be critical dimensions of the professional development of teachers. However, whilst both were receiving academic attention during the 1930s and 1940s (Lewin, 1934, cited in Adelman, 1993; Lewin, 1946; Dewey, 1933), it was not until Stenhouse's (1975) notion of the teacher-as-researcher that the two came most compellingly into relationship and educational action research as a process, which held at its centre different kinds of reflection, began to be reformulated in Britain (Carr, 1993). This article considers the important part played in teachers' development by different kinds of action research. Its central thesis is that, although action research has a critical role to play not least as a means of building the capacity of teachers as researchers of their own practice, there has been ins...

Power and empowerment in nursing: three theoretical approaches.

Abstract: Power and empowerment in nursing: three theoretical approaches Definitions and uses of the concept of empowerment are wide-ranging: the term has been used to describe the essence of human existence and development, but also aspects of organizational effectiveness and quality. The empowerment ideology is rooted in social action where empowerment was associated with community interests and with attempts to increase the power and influence of oppressed groups (such as workers, women and ethnic minorities). Later, there was also growing recognition of the importance of the individual’s characteristics and actions. Based on a review of the literature, this paper explores the uses of the empowerment concept as a framework for nurses’ professional growth and development. Given the complexity of the concept, it is vital to understand the underlying philosophy before moving on to define its substance. The articles reviewed were classified into three groups on the basis of their theoretical orientation: critical social theory, organization theory and social psychological theory. Empowerment seems likely to provide for an umbrella concept of professional development in nursing.

Computers, Teachers, Peers: Science Learning Partners

Abstract: Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I: Student Learning Partners. How Do Students Respond to Science Instruction? Four Case Studies. Part II: Classroom Learning Partners. Making Science Accessible to All Students. Making Thinking Visible. Helping Students Learn From Each Other. Promoting Autonomy for Lifelong Science Learning. Part III: Student Learning Partners Revisited. Science Learning Partners and Science Inquiry in High School. Building on Middle School Science in High School. Part IV: New Design Partnerships. Planning for Technology in Education. Partnerships for Professional Development. Outcomes and Opportunities. Appendices.Student Interviews--Lee and Pat. Table of Contents From CD-ROM.

Continuing medical education and continuing professional development: international comparisons

Abstract: Editorials by du Boulay and Asbjorn Holm Continuing professional development is the process by which health professionals keep updated to meet the needs of patients, the health service, and their own professional development. It includes the continuous acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enable competent practice. There is no sharp division between continuing medical education and continuing professional development, as during the past decade continuing medical education has come to include managerial, social, and personal skills, topics beyond the traditional clinical medical subjects. The term continuing professional development acknowledges not only the wide ranging competences needed to practise high quality medicine but also the multidisciplinary context of patient care. #### Summary points Internationally there is a move from continuing medical education (or clinical update) to continuing professional development, including medical, managerial, social, and personal skills Continuing professional development is a process of lifelong learning in practice Although the international systems vary in detail, there are many common features of content and process that allow international mutual recognition of activities in professional development Most systems are based on an hours related credit system Where revalidation or recertification of practitioners is required, demonstration of continuing professional development is an important integral part of the process We obtained information from an assessment of the relevant policies, and interviews with directors of continuing professional development of the UK medical royal colleges, the UK Joint Centre for Education in Medicine, the European Union of Medical Specialties, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American Medical Association and other American specialty societies, and the US Accreditation Committee for Continuing Medical Education. We also assessed research by the Australian and New Zealand Committee for the Maintenance of Professional Standards. Although there are wide variations across systems for professional development in different countries and healthcare systems, …

MindMatters, a Whole-School Approach Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing:

Abstract: Objective: MindMatters is an innovative, national mental health promotion program which provides a framework for mental health promotion in Australian schools. Its objectives are to facilitate exemplary practice in the promotion of whole-school approaches to mental health promotion; develop mental health education resources, curriculum and professional development programs which are appropriate to a wide range of schools, students and learning areas; trial guidelines on mental health and suicide prevention and to encourage the development of partnerships between schools, parents, and community support agencies to promote the mental wellbeing of young people. Method: A team of academics and health education professionals, supported by a reference group of mental health experts, developed MindMatters. The program was piloted in 24 secondary schools, drawn from all educational systems and each State and Territory in Australia. The pilot program was amended and prepared for dissemination nationally. Results: The program provides a framework for mental health promotion in widely differing school settings. The teacher professional development dimension of the program is central to enhancing the role of schools in broad population mental health promotion. Conclusions: Promoting the mental health and wellbeing of all young people is a vital part of the core business of teachers by creating a supportive school environment that is conducive to learning. Teachers need to be comfortable and confident in promoting and teaching for mental health. Specific, targeted interventions, provided within a whole-school framework, address the needs of the minority of students who require additional support.

A Co-Evolutionary Model for Supporting the Emergence of Authenticity.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to share our experiences using emerging technologies to create an authentic learning context where preservice teachers at a university and practicing K-12 teachers collaborate in the conduct of real-world (as opposed to “textbook”) tasks. In this paper, we demonstrate and evaluate the design of professional development that involved a partnership between two universities and eight surrounding K-12 schools. This partnership provides the foundation for supporting a learning community of preservice and practicing teachers that situates in collaborative practices that are both authentic and valuable to all involved. Specifically, we studied how issues of ownership, power, authenticity, and collaboration contribute to students' successes and the success of the program through four case studies. We also explored how asynchronous conferencing tools might be used to facilitate communication across geographic and chronological boundaries, breaking down traditional barriers to distributed communities of practice and making possible the creation of a co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of a context that was authentic to both preservice and in-service teachers. In contrast to claims that suggest authenticity for an individual can be prescribed to a learner by the instructor, we deny the legitimacy of preauthentication. Instead, an assumption underlying this research is that authenticity is an emergent process that is actualized through individuals' participation in tasks and practices of value to themselves and to a community of practice. The co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of authenticity described in this study provides a means of overcoming some of the challenges associated with simulation and participation models for establishing authentic learning experiences.

Will Teacher Learning Advance School Goals

Abstract: The authors contend that, to be effective, professional development should address three dimensions of school capacity ' teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions; the strength of the schoolwide professional community; and the coherence of the school program. REFORMERS HAVE implemented tighter accountability, curriculum standards, organizational restructuring, school choice, professional development, and a variety of other strategies to improve schooling. Since teachers have the most direct, sustained contact with students and considerable control over what is taught and the climate for learning, improving teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions through professional development is a critical step in improving student achievement. According to critics, however, professional development has not substantially improved teaching, because conventional professional development violates a number of key conditions for teacher learning. ' Teacher learning is most likely to occur when teachers can concentrate on instruction and student outcomes in the specific contexts in which they teach. Yet because professional development often presents information that teachers see as irrelevant to student learning in their specific school settings, teachers often don't learn and apply what professional development programs offer. ' Teacher learning is most likely when teachers have sustained opportunities to study, to experiment with, and to receive helpful feedback on specific innovations. Yet most professional development activities entail brief workshops, conferences, or courses that make no provision for follow-up and long-term feedback. =95 Teacher learning is most likely when teachers collaborate with professional peers, both within and outside of their schools, and when they gain further expertise through access to external researchers and program developers. Yet traditional professional development relies almost exclusively on outside experts and materials, without integrating these resources into existing systems of peer collaboration. ' Teacher learning is most likely when teachers have influence over the substance and process of professional development. Influence over the course of professional development increases teachers' opportunity to connect it to specific conditions of their schools and facilitates a sense of ownership. Yet conventional professional development is often dictated by school, district, or state authorities without significant input from teachers. Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers express substantial agreement that professional development should change in these ways, but the actual conduct of professional development has been slow to respond.1 We agree that learning by individual teachers would be enhanced if professional development were more consistent with these principles, but an approach to professional development that focuses only on the learning of individual teachers would still be insufficient to advance student achievement across a substantial proportion of schools. Teacher success in boosting student achievement depends on the teacher's ability to implement knowledge and skills within a particular school. But each school contains a unique mix of teachers and students with varying competencies and attitudes and a unique set of social, cultural, and political conditions ' all of which influence what teachers do with students.2 While individual teacher learning is the foundation of improved classroom practice, teachers must also learn to exercise their individual knowledge, skills, and dispositions to advance the collective work of the school under a set of unique conditions. To the extent that professional development focuses only on the individual learning of teachers, we should not expect substantial achievement gains in the student body as a whole. Moreover, since student outcomes and how teachers teach are profoundly influenced by the schools in which the students and teachers work, the design of professional development itself should be grounded not only in a conception of how individual teachers learn, but also in a conception of how schools as organizations affect teachers' learning, teachers' practice, and student achievement. …

Knowledge management practices within a knowledge‐intensive firm: the significance of the people management dimension

Abstract: This paper draws attention to the potentially focal role that appropriate people management practices can and do play in facilitating knowledge management within the context of a specialist consulting firm that sustains its competitive advantage through processes of knowledge creation. The paper highlights the way in which traditional approaches to people management issues such as recruitment and selection, professional development etc. are not necessarily appropriate or relevant when managing an expert workforce that expects and demands considerable levels of autonomy. The findings highlight that perhaps too much reliance has been placed on technological solutions to KM to date. Hence the paper emphasises the highly situated and contextual nature of KM and the practices or systems in support of KM, which existing literature in this field has failed to adequately address.

Mentoring Effects on Protégés' Classroom Practice: An Experimental Field Study

Abstract: The classroom practices of proteges assisted by mentors who participated in a formal mentoring program were compared with proteges mentored by experienced teachers with no formalized mentoring preparation. Forty-six protege-mentor pairs (23 treatment; 23 comparison) participated in this study conducted in 2 large school consortia in a mid-western state. Data include ratings and narrative records from classroom observations, weekly summaries of mentoring activities, and ratings of students' classroom behavior. Results indicate that proteges of mentors participating in the mentoring program could more effectively organize and manage instruction at the beginning of the year and establish more workable classroom routines. Also, their students had better behavior and engagement. Findings are discussed in light of the possible relationships between particular mentoring practices and proteges' learning to teach.

Reconstructing Teaching: Standards, Performance and Accountability

Abstract: One of the greatest resources a school has is its staff. How teachers themselves, and their work, are defined are therefore matters of utmost importance. Major trends of increased control and 'new mangerialism' are occurring in most OECD countries, radically altering both the content and form of teacher education. This book outlines recent changes in teacher education and professional development and, by drawing on recent research findings, explores the positive and negative impacts on the nature of teaching and the shape of the profession.

On the Nature of Teaching and Teacher Education: Difficult Practices that Look Easy

Abstract: The effort over the past 150 years to create an effective and respected system for preparing teachers in the United States has not been easy. A large body of research on the history of teacher-education reform is a tale of persistent mediocrity and resistance to change. The author's aim in this article is not to revisit this sad story, but to examine an old and enduring problem that has long blocked the path to a truly professional education for teachers, that teaching is an enormously difficult job that looks easy. The author explores the roots of the gap between the reality and the perception of learning to teach by first spelling out some of the characteristics of teaching that make it such a difficult form of professional practice. He then examines key elements in the nature of teaching that make the pro- cess of becoming a teacher seem so uncomplicated.

A paradigm shift: Technology integration for higher education in the new millennium

Abstract: National Technology Competencies National technology competency standards for students graduating from secondary schools are seriously being discussed by the U.S. Department of Education (Thomas & Knezek, 1999). Moreover, school districts throughout the country believe technology literacy is a critical factor in equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the 21 century (Prime, 1998). In fact, many school districts across the country have already placed technology competency requirements upon their teachers and their graduates (Northover, 1999). In conjunction with student requirements, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is also seriously considering implementing technology competencies for teacher licensure (NCATE, 1999; ISTE, 1999). Groups such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a professional education organization, and the CEO Forum, a think tank comprised of twenty business and education leaders based in Washington, D.C., are responsible for recommending guidelines for accreditation to NCATE. The CEO Forum has recommended that teacher training in computer technology become a mandatory component of licensure by 2002 (CEO Forum, 1999; Galagan, 1999). According to the Forum, schoolteachers in the United States are undertrained on using the computer technology available to them. The Forum also estimates that schools spend roughly $88 per student on computer equipment, but only $6 per student on training teachers to use the technology (Galagan). Many teachers are unable to integrate the technology into their lessons because of a lack of training, and only 20% of teachers were comfortable using computer technology in the classroom (Galagan). How does this affect higher education? Faculty members serve as role models for prospective teachers and their use of, and attitudes toward, educational technology can have a significant impact on future teachers’ implementation of A Paradigm Shift: Technology Integration for Higher Education in the New Millennium

Does Professional Development Change Teaching Practice? Results from a Three-Year Study.

Abstract: DOCUMENT RESUME