Today's biology educators face the challenge of training their students in modern molecular biology techniques including genomics and bioinformatics. The Dolan DNA Learning Center (DNALC) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has developed and disseminated a bench- and computer-based plant genomics curriculum for biology faculty. In 2007, a five-day…

This article describes an early childhood professional development project that took place in the summer of 2005 in Guatemala City. Located in Central America, Guatemala has a population of approximately 12.3 million people, including more than two million children under the age of 5 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2007; UNICEF, 2004). Events…

Following the introduction of a National Curriculum for Science, all secondary science teachers in England need to be prepared to teach all aspects of a broad and balanced science curriculum. This is the second paper in which we explore science student teachers' subject knowledge development during a one-year postgraduate teacher preparation…

Because the quality of teachers determines the quality of the school system, teachers must be provided with high-caliber inservice programs. During the 1980s, responsibility for the provision of professional development in Australia shifted to local schools. Under the current National Professional Development Program (NPDP), the Australian…

A study explored whether recipients of graduate fellowships through the Family and Consumer Sciences Education Graduate Fellowship Fund become leaders in family and consumer sciences education. The usable sample consisted of 51 of 64 recipients from 1969-97; 29 responded to a mailed 2-part survey, Impact of the Fellowship Questionnaire and The…

This study was conducted to assess secondary teacher perceptions of staff development. Participants were 250 teachers selected randomly from secondary schools in Indiana. Survey questions pertained to six basic areas in staff development: (1) program intent; (2) planning; (3) organization; (4) finance; (5) evaluation; and (6) follow-up and…

Western Carolina University's task force on teaching effectiveness and the resulting faculty development program are described. Section 1 outlines the conditions from which the effort emerged, all supporting a climate in which mediocre teaching appeared to be the norm: changes in the student population, steadily increasing pressure on faculty for…

Using Madeline Hunter's Clinical Teaching Model as a guide, the Geary County Unified School District (Junction City, Kansas) established a staff development program that increased student achievement, assisted teachers in setting practical goals for the improvement of instruction, served as the impetus for the district's Effective Schools Program,…

This is a report of a one-year trial of a new professional arrangement for teachers, which gave experienced teachers part-time sabbaticals during the school year for study and curriculum projects, and which attempted to give first-year teachers (who were already certified) mentoring help and other special professional opportunities. The first-year…

A review of the Study of Dissemination Efforts Supporting School Improvement (DESSI) field study indicated a need for reorganization of the conceptual paradigms used to account for school improvement. Current paradigms do not account for the rational and conflict theories of social change. (DF)

Presents the findings of a one-year follow-up of the participants in the Florida Master Teacher Seminars for Community College Faculty and the National Master Teacher Seminar, which focused on rational analysis of instructional problems and the development of action plans involving realistic, creative solutions. (AYC)

This study uses met expectations hypothesis, a form of expectancy theory, to develop survey instruments to identify and compare the goals, expectations, and perceived outcomes stakeholders held for the Faculty Development Institute (FDI). The stakeholders had similar expectations for the outcomes during and/or immediately following the initial FDI…

Describes mixed results for faculty development programs implemented at the State University of New York. Reports that bringing experts in for workshops and providing faculty incentives for course development were not successful, but that a one- to four-week summer training seminar was. Proposes 10 principles for successful faculty development.…

Evaluates Niagara County Community College's efforts to promote instructional improvement and thereby increase students' course completion rates, students' satisfaction with learning and outcomes, and teachers' professional skill levels. Reports effects on faculty motivation and other outcomes and discusses the use of interviews in the evaluation…

Describes Oakton Community College's Critical Literacy Project (CLP), which includes a faculty seminar on critical thinking and analytical reading/writing, all-college staff development programming, and a national conference. Considers faculty ownership, college support, an interdisciplinary focus, and intellectual rigor among the keys to CLP…