Presents an exercise to encourage camp staff to appreciate their responsibilities by composing a letter from a parent to a staff person expressing feelings, expectations, worries, and hopes about camp. The exercise focuses on guiding staff to generate an action plan to meet these expectations. Gives sample hypothetical letter from parent. (TD)

Discusses several ingredients which represent a reasonable sense of direction for promoting effective inclusionary practices in schools: staffing, teacher-led staff development, effective classroom practices, the importance of higher-order literacy, and other considerations. (SR)

To help improve reading instruction, a California district developed an effective staff development plan featuring learning-support teams, a 30-week training schedule, and recommended reading resources. Teachers selected San Francisco State University's Consortium for Reading Excellence program for its training in phonics instruction and…

In New York City, the assistant principal for supervision is responsible for staff development and improvement of student outcomes in specific subject areas. High schools have four to eight such positions. These administrators teach one to three classes daily, depending on department size. They train teachers, develop curricula and testing…

Identification of the training and development needs of administrative support staff is not aided by conventional performance appraisal, which measures summary or comparative effectiveness. Meaningful diagnostic evaluation integrates three levels of analysis (organization, task, and individual), using behavioral expectation scales. (SK)

Describes how secondary-school content-area teachers can improve student comprehension of text material by incorporating reading and writing strategies into their classroom instruction. Illustrates relationships among reading, writing, and understanding. Suggests framework for staff-development program. (Contains 14 references.) (PKP)

Analyzed two programs in a public agency: Investors in Management (a British government initiative) and employee-led development. Found that both programs exposed tensions between individual growth and traditional values constraining growth. Concluded that effective organizational learning in the public sector must be collective and aware of…

Camp counselors who are "life changers" nurture relationships within which others can grow and explore. They challenge children to reinvent the boundaries of what they expect of themselves. Such people have common characteristics that include love, humor, forgiveness, honesty, humility, encouragement, generosity, and integrity. The…

A survey of training and development (T&D) policies and practices in 252 Indian and 174 British companies found significant differences in key T&D responsibility, corporate commitment, needs analysis, and evaluation design. There were similarities in causes/drivers of T&D; aims, levels, and timing of evaluation; instruments used; and…

Surveys completed by a random sample of 1,884 blue-collar unionized workers showed that perceived role enhancement opportunities (more task complexity and autonomy) were positively related to attitudes associated with promotion opportunities (commitment, work involvement, career opportunity satisfaction). This was especially true for workers with…

Presents strategies for making peak moments happen at camp. One camp made it a priority for counselors to do little things for campers. One counselor started a bedtime ritual where campers discussed the day's highlights and thanked someone. Another strategy involved campers writing positive notes to each other. Proclaiming one day to be…

Late-career workers (ages 50-65) were more likely to participate in credentialing programs, targeted job-related courses, and on-the-job computer training than younger adults and received similar employer support. However, participation might be a consequence of support received. Human capital investment thus is more complex than conventional…

Occupational expertise of Dutch employees in early (n=73), mid (n=106), and late (n=54) career stages in small/medium-sized businesses was examined in relationship to three variables: participation in social networks, participation in training, and career initiatives. Network participation increased with age. Early- and late-career workers…

Case study of effective staff-development practices in two high schools, two middle schools, and two elementary schools in Virginia. Finds that the practices teachers and principals believe contribute to scores on the state's high-stakes tests are the same among all schools. For example, there is strong emphasis on building effective small-group…

The AASA Instructional Leadership and Technology Committee this year honored five school districts with Outstanding Achievement in Professional Development awards. Honored were Deer Valley Unified School District (Arizona), South Windsor Public Schools (Connecticut), Fort Knox Community Schools (Kentucky), West Orange Public Schools (New Jersey),…