Two curriculum specialists recount the growth of special education programs in Illinois. They note that strong professional advocacy and political know-how help to promote such programs, but warn that problems of implementation can arise. (Author)

Describes how North Carolina educators cooperated to build a system of teacher-performance appraisal. To build the program, educators derived basic teaching functions from literature and observed teachers to gather performance data. Training is now provided to districts, and information about effective teaching is disseminated throughout the…

A successful effort to raise reading achievement in the Denver schools illustrates key factors in educational change. (Author)

Each year, about 57 ninth graders cooperate with the managers of Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge, an eastern deciduous forest near the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in northern Virginia. Pursuing integrated studies in English, biology and technology, the students have inventoried a pond's biota, collected deer browse data, and…

In 1986, the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow project investigated how students' and teachers' routine use of technology would affect teaching and learning. After two years, researchers concluded that teachers were not technologically illiterate, children did not become social isolates, children's engagement with technology increased with routine use,…

South Carolina Center for Teacher Recruitment created the Teacher-in-Residence fellowship in 1986, when a classroom teacher and counselor became the first representative to the South Carolina Teacher Cadet Program--a project encouraging bright high school students to consider education careers. The representative helped plan curriculum training…

Describes the "St. Louis Adventure" project developed by eighth grade social studies classes in a suburban St. Louis junior high school. Students carefully planned and carried out a one-day visit to one of four St. Louis neighborhoods selected for their cultural and historical interest by teachers. (JG)

Pasco, Washington, School District will complete its fourth year using Thomas McGreal's (1983) goal-based teacher evaluation process. Describes the model's progressive phases designed to build teachers' responsibility for their own improvement. The plan invigorated teachers and improved teacher-administrator relationships. (CJH)

An instructional improvement program in Hinsdale School District, Illinois, succeeded by emphasizing formative evaluation, administrator evaluation, and long-range planning. Participants learned that a new program should be consistent with district goals, focus on staff development, and acquire top-level commitment and resources. (CJH)

The goal of IMPACT II is to set up a system whereby teachers who have developed exemplary classroom programs can receive grants and join a network to disseminate their programs to interested teachers. An address is given for sending for information and the IMPACT II Handbook. (Author/DCS)

Excerpts from a few of the many papers submitted for inclusion in this issue. (Author/MLF)

In Florida, a legislatively mandated funding program supports statewide staff development efforts, which are primarily school-based. (Author)