Personal experience of her first-year experience as superintendent of the Southeast Warren Community School District, a small rural district in Liberty Center, Iowa. (PKP)

A successful, large-scale staff development program at a Colorado elementary school is described. The article focuses on initial district administrative support, transition to a teacher-directed program, and the voluntary peer coaching program which kept the excitement alive and ensured that training was firmly incorporated into teachers' daily…

The new state and district policy initiatives in California recognize that effective parent involvement is multifaceted and requires schools' active efforts. The San Diego County Office of Education has served as information clearinghouse, source of direct services to parents, and provider of staff development and planning assistance. Challenges…

Six articles discuss the need for improved training of library personnel and strategies for attaining this goal. Areas discussed include training objectives, training methods, the role of library education, staff development at Indiana State University, the role of library management, and the creation of effective training methods. (CLB)

Changes in British social policy regarding community health care has implications for local education agency (LEA) providers of adult continuing education. LEAs will either have a role in providing staff training and other learning opportunities, will be forced to provide cheaper forms of community care, or will be ignored altogether. (SK)

A central office administrator describes her emerging role as coordinator and facilitator of professional development programs at Rochester (New York) City Schools. In a newly decentralized setting, she acknowledges and accepts responsibility for all district staff, responds to all staff members' identified and stated needs, and remains well…

Planners of staff development for desegregation often stress content, but use ineffectual processes. Staff development programs concerned with third-generation desegregation issues focus on school processes aimed at producing equal learning outcomes, rather than changed attitudes. Topics include instructional methods, curriculum adaptations, and…

Describes ways in which principals can use a two-phase staff development process to foster a strong sense of community and build an educational community. Benefits include higher staff morale, increased faculty cohesion, and a renewed dedication to teaching. (SM)

Meaningful and lasting school improvement can only occur in an appropriate climate and must be characterized by commitment, solid research about collaborative working styles and outcome-based education, and stable leadership. Leaders in the school improvement process should be constantly prepared to deal with the unexpected. Includes three…

Human service organizations provide educational opportunities to clients as well as their staffs. Examples of their role in building learning communities include (1) integrating the developmentally disabled; (2) preventing sickness and ensuring wellness; (3) building school-based learning; (4) reaching out to immigrants; and (5) rehabilitating…

"Take Ten" enables Sheffield (England) city council employees to take 10 days of paid educational leave for a staff development program that focuses on developing individual communication and interpersonal and teamwork skills, offering new perspectives on public service work, enabling work experiences to be shared, and broadening…

Results of a study with dental assistants and hygienists, clinic clerks, supply and sterilization personnel, receptionists, and housekeeping and secretarial staff (n=80) suggest that inservice training programs on infection control and clinical asepsis procedures may be better accomplished by practical demonstration than by lecture or seminar.…

Uses survey responses of 473 teachers, principals, and staff development chairs in rural Oklahoma school districts to indicate the level of implementation of 38 research-based staff development practices that define the Readiness, Planning, Training, Implementation, and Maintenance stages of staff development. Lists the 38 practices and tabulates…

Describes a multi-method approach for assessing worker training needs in child welfare services. The approach is illustrated by describing research findings from a study of training needs of public child welfare personnel in Alaska and Oregon. (Author/BB)

A framework for staff development which focuses on acquisition of pedagogical language is presented as a means to increase teachers' cognitive complexity about the teaching-learning process. The language and concepts found in educational theory and research are key factors in enabling teachers' reflective instructional decision making. (JD)