Describes results of a national study designed to determine both the perceived importance and the current practices of ongoing effective staff development programs. Results concern needs assessment, teacher involvement in planning, staff development objectives, administration of staff development activities, and follow-up and evaluation…

This inventory is a reliable and valid staff development assessment instrument designed to measure the degree to which a school's professional development programs adheres to NSDC's Standards for Staff Development. This print version is meant to be completed by teachers and other school staff members. Sold in sets of 50 assessment inventories and…

A six-stage evaluation model is described for gathering data concerning the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative professional development activities which share common objectives. The model specifies the type of cost effectiveness data to gather and the analysis procedures to use in comparing the relative costs and effectiveness of the…

This article is an essay review of the book "Project Head Start: A Legacy of the War on Poverty," coedited by Edward Zigler and Jeanette Valentine. (DB)

Keynotes the problems of organizational and staff development programs during times of financial scarcity. Suggests a four-phase process to unify staff and organizational development. Offers planning and evaluation criteria to facilitate decision making and consolidate money for high impact programing. (CAM)

Interview with Thomas Guskey examines the benefits of staff development, presenting reasons for interest in the topic, advice for educators who want to trace the impact of staff development programs on participants and students, and the need for staff developers to identify some targets and monitor movement toward the targets. (SM)

A discussion of college and university evaluation efforts of their leadership development programs looks at a variety of ways in which institutions assess programming needs, leadership styles and skills, program design, leadership development results, and overall institutional impact of leadership programming. (MSE)

Describes the first phase of an Internet overview training program presented to academic staff at the University of Sydney (Australia). The use of locally created Hypertext Markup Language documents is explained, and an evaluation of the program indicated the success of using World Wide Web browsers as an aid in training. (Author/LRW)

As Mississippi's experience shows, there are five necessary stages for staff development: preplanning (forming a committee), planning, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance. This article examines each phase, provides checklists, and highlights the principal's responsibility during each phase. (eight references) (MLH)

Presents a rating scale for evaluating programs that are working to include students with high-incidence disabilities. The scale evaluates 12 general components with 47 items. Its use in over 50 schools in Florida to aid in program development, program monitoring, program evaluation, staff development, and parent education is described. (DB)

Summarizes a study applying a focus interviewing technique to assist stakeholders with evaluating a 3-day staff-development training with monthly follow up sessions. Contrasts use of surveys and focus-group interviews as assessment tools. New information gained from focus groups helped the principal identify weaknesses in the staff-development…

In this age of accountability, evaluation must become an integral part of staff development. This paper describes what evaluation is; the three types of evaluation (planning, formative, and summative); and the five critical stages of staff development evaluation. It presents 12 guidelines for improving the quality of professional-development…

Over the past decade, debates on the quality of early childhood services in Germany have focussed on four interrelated issues: access, programme quality, staff training, and evaluation procedures. Each of these four strands is presented and discussed in terms of the controversies and chances accompanying professional and public discourse.…

Using a stratified random sample, this paper examines the training practices of setting objectives, transfer, validation and evaluation in Sri Lanka. The paper further sets out to compare those practices across local, foreign and joint-venture companies based on the assumption that there may be significant differences across companies of different…

The Center for Summer Learning examined various summer program models and found that there are nine characteristics that provide a framework for effective summer programs. In this chapter, the authors demonstrate how effective practices lead to positive results for young people. The nine characteristics of effective summer learning programs are…