Argues for the development of a national policy for early childhood education in Britain. Recent legislation and current initiatives are discussed. Offers policy proposals concerning (1) responsibility for provision of services; (2) quality of care and education; (3) responsiveness to parents; and (4) recruitment, training, and support of staff.…

In this dialogue between two specialists in staff development of child caregivers, the roles of early childhood teachers and child care directors are considered. The need for teachers to observe play and the ways in which training can motivate teachers to observe play are discussed. Directors need to model observation skills for novice teachers.…

A case study of an organization development intervention in a large New York State school district describes to staff developers the complex process of discovering and responding to organizational needs. The discussion focuses on understanding the problem; frameworks for diagnosis and intervention; and implementing the intervention strategy.…

Roosevelt Vocational School (Florida), which prepares special needs students for employment, won President's Drug Free Schools Award. Its program teaches drug prevention and emphasizes the importance of being drug free to job safety. Components include the Chemical Abuse Reduced through Education information and referral system, staff development,…

Evaluated acceptance by multiple constituencies in a large organization of six human resource management programs: quality circles, flextime, flexible benefits, job posting, cash awards, and a fitness program. Significant differences in acceptance were correlated with program experience, hierarchical level, seniority, and organizational unit.…

Increasingly, training programs for teachers of students with both limited English proficiency and disabilities have emphasized an interface between special education and bilingual education. A pilot staff development program of the California Special Education Project, which includes a combination training and implementation phase, exemplifies…

Reviews the literature on effective in-service teacher education. Discusses attributes of effective staff development, the need for comprehensive collaborative planning, reasons why staff development activities fail to affect classroom practices, and effective evaluation of staff development programs. Contains 21 references. (SV)

This paper discusses the need, principles, types, and evaluation of professional development programs as a stimulus document for the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers Council meeting. (YP)

Describes the logistics and underlying principles of a summer institute for writing teachers (sponsored by the Gateway Writing Project) which integrates word processing into the writing experience. Discusses how writing program administrators can apply this information to setting up workshops with their own staff. (MM)

Whereas participative management and quality circles have foundered in American schools, teacher and principal empowerment, a more focused process, has great potential for facilitating significant, long-lasting school improvement. For empowerment to succeed, educators must be trained to take risks and be exposed to challenging conditions. (MLH)

Micro-computers and local area networks are opening up new possibilities for streamlining the administrative support system of universities and decentralizing decision making. Such decentralization needs to be complemented by improved coordination between units responsible for different application systems. (Author/MLW)

Results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism are producing profound changes in schools and the conception and implementation of staff development. The paradigm shift is essential for creating learning communities where teachers and administrators collaborate with peers, researchers, and students to make sense of the…

The article describes how Susan Derse, principal of a Seattle high school, works with her school to facilitate and encourage change, focusing on her approach to staff development. Ms. Derse uses a collaborative, participatory style of leadership that allows plenty of time for teachers to meet and work together. (SM)

Noting that staff guidance is an integral part of successful program administration, child- and youth-care administrators should understand the developmental level of the workers within the setting, note that workers' behavior may be attributed to individual traits or developmental characteristics, and understand that their reactions to workers'…

Describes how one independent Hawaiian school worked to situate technology within its program and how its headmaster affected the progress. Because students had been exposed to varying levels of computer technology, a planning team had to determine a direction for its program. The plan included computer instruction for school staff. (SM)