Engineering has gained considerable traction in many K-12 schools. However, there are several obstacles or challenges to an effective approach that leads to student learning. Questions such as where engineering best fits in the curriculum; how to include it authentically and appropriately; toward what educational end; and how best to prepare…

The 2010 Professional Development Schools National Conference recognized the professional development school relationship between Towson University with its dual certification major and the Howard County Public School System for its outstanding collaborative accomplishments, naming the Towson-Waterloo-Ilchester-Bellows Spring PDS as a recipient of…

The report describes Maryland's plan for a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), as mandated by P.L. 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Procedures are outlined by which local education agency personnel can request assistance in inservice training. A discussion of needs assessment procedures includes tables on…

Through the competitive proposal process, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) received a three-year Teacher Enhancement Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in March 1998. The Maryland State Department of Education provided additional funds for the grant. The purpose of the grant was to administer the Technology Education…

This paper describes various kinds of inservice teacher education sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education and explores the factors influencing impact on participants in terms of use of knowledge or skills presented. Data were collected by observation, interviews, and questionnaires. A cross-case synthesis of 10 individual case…

A plan to integrate consumer education concepts into the Maryland public school curriculum has presented broad goals, concepts, and objectives to form a framework for comprehensive consumer education. Compelling forces accelerating the need for consumer education have originated within schools to make education relevant to the problems of real…

The guide for an inservice course in career education is presented in 14 units designed to be used together as a complete course or selectively as learning modules for developing new skills or reviewing previously learned concepts. The course covers: definitions and concepts, historical antecedents and rationale, career development theories,…

Objectives of a career education research and development program were to reduce student absenteeism and dropout rates in seven Baltimore schools (four elementary, two junior high, and one high school) by initiating and developing career awareness at the elementary level; providing occupational information, personal development, and career…

The Maryland State Department of Education is actively involved in the development of a five-year state plan for career education. The plan is based upon data derived from a student needs assessment, a survey of LEAs, a survey of counselor competencies, and the AIR Survey of Career Education in the public schools which sampled ten districts in…