The 76 responses received from over 300 questionnaires sent to Pennsylvania county programs for distribution to direct service community living arrangement staff (persons working with the mentally retarded on a full-time, live-in basis) indicated that there was a high rate of turnover of staff and that more inservice training was desired. (IM)

This article brings attention to the referral process and provides a set of materials needed to conduct a staff inservice workshop on this underdeveloped service. (Author)

Presents strategies which reading teachers can use with content teachers and students to facilitate the teaching of reading skills in content classes. (JM)

Describes an 8-week, inservice, college-level course for paraprofessional social workers employed in day care centers. Bi-weekly classes, supplemented by on-site observation and consultation, covered child development, attitudes, systems, resources, roles and practice skills. Opportunities were also provided to test roles and techniques on the…

Presents a conceptual model for teacher supervision and staff development for both practitioners and researchers. Constructs can also be used to diagnose problems and plan appropriate strategies for professional improvement. The model offers researchers opportunities for analysis and hypothesis testing. Includes 16 references. (MLH)

One person's experience as the first building-level staff developer in her school is examined. Tasks of the job, experiences, personal insights, and recommendations for other building-level staff developers are described. (Author/MT)

This article reports on one school district's planning for a school-based staff development program, focusing on preparations made by the staff developers before the program began. Conclusions are drawn about the planning and preparation for such a program. (MT)

The implementation of a school-based program in which specially trained teachers served as staff developers to introduce a writing-across-the-curriculum program is described from the perspectives of the teacher/staff developer, the principal, and the district director of staff development. (Author/MT)

Professional and personal systems to help keep teachers organized and at ease with the many tasks of teaching are described, including tracking supplies, preparing for substitute teachers, using technology, setting up for volunteers, providing stress relief, and knowing personal and professional limits. (CB)

Presents a method for determining actual cost of a work-based training program. Includes a case illustration and outlines basic questions that must be answered to determine actual cost. (CH)

Educational supervision must be tied to improving staff skills in several critical areas--planning, diagnosis, monitoring, evaluating, and modifying programs to meet individual students' needs. To address supervisors' training deficiencies in these areas, this article recommends a workable training model and outlines desirable supervisor…

Advises directors of ways to include day care workers in the decision-making process. Enumerates benefits of using staff to help focus and direct changes in the day care center and discusses possible pitfalls in implementation of a collective decision-making approach to management. (NH)

Offers suggestions for spending staff development money effectively. Ideas include the following: (1) keep your money close to the classroom; (2) use consultants to train your own trainers; (3) beware of embarking on numerous small-scale reforms; and (4) beware of pressure to copy other school improvement methods. (CJH)

Discusses the value of continuing education for staff members of special libraries as reported by information professionals in a study of excellence in corporate libraries. Background on the Special Libraries Association's Professional Development Program is also provided, and the importance of keeping current with the literature is emphasized.…