In April 2011, the Journal of Staff Development (JSD) published "Lessons from Bhutan: Embrace cultural differences to effect change" (Levine, Telsey, & McCormack, 2011), which described the experiences of several U.S. educators who learned their own transformative lessons while leading professional learning in special education…

Network learning supported by 21-century technology is reweaving the fabric of how educators acquire and create new knowledge. At the Alaska Educational Innovations Network (AEIN), educators believe this has the potential to change how a profession looks at professional development. They have learned that using technology to support networks…

Describes how the California Professional Development Reform Initiative (CPDRI) developed a framework for professional learning. The final CPDRI document, Designs for Learning, is organized around 10 design elements which comprise a system for ongoing professional learning for teachers. Sidebars present: the California Standards for the Teaching…

Three sets of relationships between evaluation and staff development are identified: (1) evaluation for staff development in which data from evaluations suggest the program content; (2) evaluation of staff development in which evaluative activities become opportunities for problem solving; and (3) evaluation of staff development in which…

Recent developments in Ontario, Canada, are used to identify and discuss issues related to teacher induction and teacher education reform efforts in North America. (Author)

Staff development programs should be established by using a set of assumptions grounded in research and best practice. The article examines faulty assumptions that guide too many programs, then presents 14 new assumptions that should guide effective practice and successful staff development. (SM)

The QUILT (Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking) program tested the hypothesis that well-designed staff development would positively affect teachers and students. QUILT increased and sustained teacher use of classroom questioning techniques to produce higher levels of student learning and thinking. QUILT participants…

Data obtained from the Change Facilitators Stages of Concern Questionnaire were used in the Philippines to select content in a one-month staff development program for department heads. The training program was strongly influenced by participants' concerns. The article describes the change facilitator stages of concern. (SM)

Professional learning is necessary for a school or district to achieve its goals. It's logical, then, that professional development plans should not exist separately from school improvement plans. To be comprehensive, professional development plans must be integrated with improvement plans to produce a systematic effort that is results-driven,…