Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for "The Link between Dinosaurs and Birds", along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual…

Change is hard work, even when we are convinced it is worth the effort. Teachers are expected to change without clear explanations or evidence of how the changes will benefit them or their students. Meaningful change is most likely to occur when teachers' beliefs, feelings, and personality are taken into consideration. This book applies the latest…

This paper offers highlights from the final report of Stanford's School Leadership Study, which should be available in January 2007. It discusses various policy and resource factors that enhance or impede the implementation of exemplary programs that develop and support principals. Among the research questions that guided this study were a set…

We have been exploring the potential of a web-supported professional development system, the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), that integrates videotaped classrooms and discussion forums for use in preservice science methods classrooms. This article examines pre- and inservice teachers' perceptions about using the ILF and how their participation in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and challenges of using a virtual learning community (VLC) as a vehicle for workforce development. This paper argues that VLCs provide a flexible vehicle for workforce development. However, workplace realities may lead to unexpected challenges for participants wanting exploit the…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

The English "Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage" refers to the importance of supporting the development of young children's thinking, a teaching role that Kite suggests should be seen as the major focus for education. This paper draws on data from the Froebel Research Fellowship Project, "Ownership and Autonomy in Early…

A report recently released by the Center on Education Policy reveals that the four-year-old No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has indeed served to shine a light on the importance of professional development for K-12 educators. Beyond that basic fact, though, any real broad-based impact on the training of educators remains inconclusive. While the…

This report examines the types of professional development necessary to implement successful online learning initiatives. The potential for schools utilizing online learning is tremendous: schools can develop new distribution methods to enable equity and access for all students, they can provide high quality content for all students and they can…

In 2001, the Australian Government released a report, commissioned by the then Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, entitled "The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools" (Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001). Its recommendations included actions to address raising community…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program in Texas designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Texas…

This publication reports on progress 1 year into the Clinton Administration's "Reinventing Government" initiative, a long-term effort at significantly revamping the federal government's operations. A preliminary chapter notes the culture change involved in the reinvention process. Individual chapters then report progress for each of the…

Position papers of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities during 1981-1994 and information about this committee's history, mission, and operational procedures are presented. The position papers and statements are as follows: "Learning Disabilities: Issues on Definition" (1981); "In-service Programs in Learning…

Papers by graduate students, and occasionally papers from their mentors which establish a context for the student papers, are organized by sponsoring University. Student papers presented are: (1) "A Husserlian Phenomenological Investigation of the Lived Experience of an Art Educator and Children" (Alan Wilson); (2) "Art in General…

Following the introduction of the middle school in the 1960s with its advocacy of a 5-8 or 6-8 grade configuration, no comprehensive statement appeared to crystallize the educational beliefs inherent in this emerging educational reform effort. This paper is not just a revision of the 1982 position statement, but a "re-vision" of middle…