A case study is presented on the process of self-evaluation carried out by a special school in Northern Ireland. The project involved the participants in the completion of research journal over a four-week period. The impact the project had on teaching, learning, and the professional development agenda is discussed. (Contains nine references.)…

Examined whether preschool quality could be enhanced through competence development in teaching staff simultaneous to organizational changes and financial cutbacks. Tested a model for competence development with an intervention group that took part in a competence development program. Found that the development work led to a higher quality in…

Proposes a four-phase model to promote ethical literacy among preservice and practicing early childhood teachers: awareness, differentiation, analysis of ethical dilemmas, and application of the NAEYC Code in daily practice. Includes a sample case for ethics discussion. Each phase includes a rationale, common myths about professional ethics, and…

Compared the views of university faculty and school personnel regarding collaborative research while involved in a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership. Survey and interview data indicated that 61 percent of participants had had prior research experience. Participants tended to have traditional, rather than collaborative, conceptions…

Problem based learning (PBL) is offered as an example of a problem-focused and student-centered pedagogical approach that foregrounds the curricular imperatives outlined in the KALPIER Report and provides an innovative educational experience for students. A successful implementation of PBL in a graduate level course in e-commerce illustrates…

The purpose of this article is to report on findings from an exploratory study that examines the linkages among social work education programs, professional development, and school social workers' perceived level of cultural competence in urban public school systems that have a majority African American student enrollment. This study seeks to shed…

All professional workers need to be "developed." Moreover, there should be no end to this process--the true professional knows that learning is for life. The author wants to explore how these two propositions have come to be true for academics and other professional workers at the beginning of the new millennium, and with what effects.…

To meet the need for reform in mathematics teacher preparation courses, two cycles of changes made in an elementary mathematics methods course are presented. Using action research, teaching approaches were developed, implemented, and evaluated as a meaningful way to continue my professional development. Results suggested that I improved my…

New technologies often assume the form of prior traditions during their infancy. For example, filmed plays known as photoplays were initially produced prior to the development of modern cinema conventions. Similarly, printed books at first assumed many of the characteristics of hand-lettered manuscripts.

Introduction: The objective was to review key articles and research studies on practices, preferences, and evaluation of on-line continuing education used by health care professionals. Methods: Data sources included searches of the "MEDLINE," "CINAHL," and "ERIC" databases (January 1990 to June 2004) and manual searches of the "Journal of…

This article describes a set of learning activities that use algebraic problems and written student work to help preservice and in-service teachers understand students' algebraic thinking. (Contains 4 figures.)

Although organizational commitment has been discussed frequently in organizational psychology for almost four decades, few studies have involved software professionals. A study in India reveals that HRM practices such as employee-friendly work environment, career development, development oriented appraisal, and comprehensive training show a…

Shared global concerns in education have recently focused on underachievement and the difficulties associated with the education of the children of migrant labor. These priorities unite the communities of Europe and the United States in a growing unease that a large number of young people are not realizing their academic potential through failing…

With the advent of the Internet, and more specifically the use of email discussion groups or listservs, physical educators have a new resource to assist them in overcoming the challenges to their professional development. One such resource is the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) listserv. NASPE-L is a physical…

The use of interactive video cases for teacher professional development is an emergent medium inspired by case study methods used extensively in law, management, and medicine, and by the advent of multimedia technology available to support online discussions. This paper focuses on Web-based "grounded" discussions--in which the participants base…