School administrators, eager to raise student achievement levels to meet the requirements of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, are increasingly looking to staff development for the purpose of enhancing student achievement. How would it be possible for staff development to be more effective than it now is? Mountain View Alternative High…

A needs assessment conducted with 469 first-year teachers in Virginia in 1984-85 sought to determine the teachers' needs in terms of their competencies and what sort of learning experiences would be most helpful to them. Respondents indicated needs in a wide range of competency areas, with classroom management evoking the greatest concern.…

Describes collaborative efforts between teacher education institutions and state departments of education in three states: Virginia, Illinois, and Minnesota. Projects include noncredit teacher workshops, series of needs assessments, technical updating of teachers, and internal staff development activities for teacher educators. (CT)

This document presents results of an evaluation of Virginia's Department of Education's Training and Technical Assistance Centers (T/TACs), a statewide system of technical assistance which emphasizes collaboration in the planning and provision of services to children and youth with disabilities or at risk for school failure. Evaluation results are…

The Six-Year Educational Technology Plan for Virginia places emphasis on constructing and retrofitting schools for local and wide area networking; utilizing current and newer technologies in curriculum, instruction, and school management; providing training and technical assistance to all educators; and expanding access to effective teaching and…

A project determined the external validity and generalizability of a staff development procedure for inservice secondary and postsecondary vocational instructors in the states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Four secondary vocational and ten postsecondary schools participated in the project, which included 453 vocational instructors, 53…

A stratified random sample of Virginia's 4,000 employers with over 100 employees was surveyed about workplace-based foundational basic skills (oral and written communication, reading, math, thinking skills, teamwork, English proficiency, and basic computer literacy). A total of 446 surveys were sent with a usable response rate of 18 percent.…

This guide, which is intended primarily for adult education practitioners in Virginia, explains the process of developing workplace basic skills programs. Presented first is background information on the guide's development. The following are among the topics discussed in the guide's seven chapters: the need for work force education (changes in…

Virginia has 36 criminal justice training academies, including 10 regional academies. The academies conduct entry-level, inservice, and specialized training for law enforcement officers, jailers, and other criminal justice personnel. In 1998, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) was directed to review the quality, consistency,…