Four actions are necessary when contracting to do staff development: recognize that a presenter is a consultant first, arrange for a group contracting conversation in order to completely understand the school's needs, work from a standard set of design questions, and work from a standard set of logistics questions. (SM)

When New York State's standardized tests for third graders were scheduled to include questions on probability and statistics, the White Plains school system developed a model to improve mathematics instruction. A staff developer, a teacher with special training who works with other teachers, is vital to the implementation of the math curriculum.…

Describes how an Alabama school system incorporated the National Staff Development Council's Standards for Staff Development into a district-wide effort to improve staff development. Evaluation of the professional development effort was a top priority, with participant input an important component. Professional development was designed to be…

The Greenwich, Connecticut, public school system is training teachers and administrators in the use of structured cooperative learning groups as part of a district-wide strategy to explore a variety of effective teaching practices. The cooperative learning program and its impact on teachers and students is described. (MT)

A description is given of a staff development effort in a vocational-technical school which involved school-based management teams and a series of retreats for the purpose of improving the school's climate and increasing its effectiveness. (JD)

Rural teachers generally have a long-term commitment to teaching, personal ties with and credibility in the community, and a small work-place conducive to promoting necessary staff interaction. A cooperative staff development program is described that is based on the unique circumstances of rural schools. (JD)

This article describes the training process developed for teachers when the Columbus, Ohio, public schools decided to introduce Student Team Learning in the middle schools and the intermediate elementary grades. (MT)

Staff development planners, trainers, and evaluators can increase the impact of the staff development activities when they view their work from multiple perspectives using the Centric Reflection Model. The model offers a visual representation of various types of reflection that can occur in training design, delivery, and evaluation. (SM)

Developing a model to improve student academic learning time and achievement and to develop local resources to continue the program after the funding period required a staff development program that enabled teachers to use specific direct instruction teaching behaviors. The staff development program is described and recommendations are made. (MT)

Argues that language learning is a very useful metaphor for exploring new dimensions of teacher development. The notion is that, when the processes of language acquisition and the context in which it occurs are examined closely, important lessons can be learned for creating a more effective culture for the professional growth of teachers. (GLR)

Offers nine suggestions to help program chairpersons plan successful programs for professional meetings: clearly understand the organization's purposes and objectives, choose an annual site, experiment with times, announce meetings well in advance, plan various formats, plan for long-term professional development, expect the unexpected, use local…

This article describes the peer review process in Vermont. Teachers across the state learned lessons of their own in creating standards-based units based on a checklist of criteria and a scorecard. Developing and critiquing lessons helped teachers make connections, internalize, and apply the tenets of high-quality, standards-based classroom…

A small high schools' staff development effort to train teachers in computer literacy is recounted. Staff developers used teacher feedback in designing the program, which started as a one-shot workshop but grew into a continuing professional development activity. (PP)

The educational reform movement has resulted in staff development requirements which have created implementation problems for rural schools. The educational cooperative provides a solution to these implementation problems. (JD)

The mastery learning model called "Essentials, Correctives, and Enrichment" was adopted in the fall of 1982 in one elementary school in Goochland County, Virginia. The experiment has been expanded to all county elementary schools and is currently being implemented in the junior and senior high schools. (MT)