Describes a publicly funded, five-day training program presented by the University of Michigan's School of Information Studies, which was designed to train school library media specialists to use and apply virtual library technology. The importance of the virtual library concept, the training rationale, and a day-by-day overview of activities are…

Effective, long-term dropout prevention will not occur without broad-based, indepth, and ongoing staff development that changes educators' behavior toward at-risk students. Staff development planners should recognize that students respond not to programs but to individualized, personally delivered solutions and assistance promoting youngsters'…

Describes preservice and in-service teacher education programs by the Collaboration for the Improvement of Teacher Education (CITE) to develop reflective thinking in students, focusing on the Framework for Reflective Pedagogical Thinking, a coding scheme developed by CITE to analyze students' reflective thinking about curriculum, methods, and…

A school district planned and implemented site-based management. Schools developed ad hoc committees (AHCs) and created school management teams and plans. The AHCs effectively allowed school faculties to have input and involvement in developing management plans. The more they employed team building, the greater the impact on intended outcomes. (SM)

A graduate university workshop on action research helped kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers improve their approach to teaching writing. The article examines classroom research as staff development and introduces one action research plan, giving an example of one teacher's use of the plan to improve instructional writing practice. (SM)

This article discusses changes in classroom instruction necessary to fully realize the Regular Education Initiative. A combination of preventive, continuous, and supplementary programs is suggested and illustrated in Success for All, a program designed to bring all students to grade level in basic skills by the third grade without pull-outs.…

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)

Contends that the National Geographic Society's Teaching Geography Project is an inservice teacher education success story. Describes the origins, objectives, and development of the project. Summarizes the impact of the project and contends that its success is the result of the workshop format and guided practice in instructional strategies. (CFR)

This paper examines relationships and interactions among the consumer (with a developmental disability), his or her family, and agency staff as they impact the consumer's life course and lifestyle. Approaches and activities to enhance effective relationships include setting policies that support these relationships, training staff with this…

The executive vice-president of the University of Pennsylvania is credited with making significant changes in both the administration and the campus, using cost-cutting and change strategies from his business experience. Outsourcing, training for employees who might be terminated, substantial savings and new revenue, and gentrification of…

Discusses how staff development is different in standards-based systems, describing ways to ensure that systems have the capacity for growth and development based on the standards, explaining configuration maps, and presenting six components of building capacity for standards-based reform: covenants; staff and community involvement; curriculum,…

The challenge corporations face today is how to provide information efficiently and effectively to staff who need it. This article discusses basic learning principles; self-paced learning; online learning; facilitated (instructor-led) learning; role of instructor as facilitator; and technology for facilitated online learning. (AEF)

Draws on practices of elementary and middle schools in Washington and Oregon to demonstrate the benefits of student-led parent conferences. Discusses parent, teacher, and student attitudes toward student-directed conferences; student portfolios, projects, and presentations; one school's fall goal-setting process that sets the stage for student…

Library Media Center 2000 (LMC2000) focuses on school library media services, technology, training, and advocacy--restructuring information and meeting linguistic, cultural, and multimedia learning needs. Over the last three years, San Francisco, California library media specialists have engaged in a process of professional development, networking…

Discusses how to combat techno-stress, based on experiences of Archbishop Wood High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Addresses faculty training; selecting and purchasing technology; students as sources of technology maintenance; and senior citizen volunteers as lab supervisors. (AEF)