This applied dissertation was designed to verify the effectiveness of professional learning communities (PLC), as it relates to the participation of administrators and teachers. Prior studies have emphasized the importance of continuing learning experiences for school administrators while working. Chiptin (2013) pointed out the importance of a learning network for principals, in which principals would support each other and share knowledge as well as having a forum to discuss common problems. The writer used a quantitative questionnaire copyrighted by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory as the instrument for the research. The main purpose of analyzing the data quantitatively was to measure the effectiveness of the PLC and the participation levels of the administrators and teachers in the PLCs in the target public school district. The results suggested that administrators and teachers perceived PLCs as a collaborative process in which their opinions and suggestions are shared in a democratic fashion. However, when it comes to the final decision, administrators have the last say. Moreover, administrators listen to teachers’ opinions and suggestions on how to solve problems and how to make the best decisions when it comes to student-centered learning. Furthermore, administrators take into consideration the opinions and suggestions of faculty and staff members when making the final decision. Recommendations include conducting a mixed-method study using both qualitative and quantitative data to provide a better understanding of cultural background between schools’ geographic location and culture as well as the individual staff members’ culture, as contrasted with the PLC dynamics. In addition, this study was conducted to provide better insight into specific student-centered activities and teacher practices.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a staff development program designed through the cascade-training model by the MoNE on primary school English teachers and their actual classroom practices. In line with this, it aimed to establish a connection between aspects of planning, implementation, and evaluation of staff development and their impact on teachers and students. A qualitative case study was employed and data were collected from 10 teachers, eight teacher trainers, and three faculty members through semi-structured interviews. Moreover, 23-hour seminar and 50-hour classroom observations were conducted, and the documents related to the seminar and actual classroom practices of the teachers were analyzed to complement the interview findings. The results indicated that the effective practices (e.g., use of participant-centered approaches, English as the medium of instruction, practical ideas and suggestions and course book based activities) and ineffective practices (e.g., lack of needs assessment, traditional way of session delivery, and lack of follow-up) employed in the planning, implementation and evaluation phases of staff development had an impact on teachers&#039 / (1) pedagogical beliefs, (2) pedagogical content knowledge, (3) actual classroom practices, (4) personal and professional growth, and (5) students. The findings further revealed that these five levels of impact interacted with each other based on the characteristics of the teachers (teaching experience and gender), their motivation, self-concepts, and the teacher education programs they attended.

Faculty development is a means by which institutions can assist faculty in addressing the challenges they face each day in the classroom. Certainly the importance of faculty development is never more evident than within community colleges where access is provided to all students through an open-door admission policy which often produces a more diverse student body creating numerous institutional challenges. Overtime, on many campuses, faculty development practices have come to play a prominent role in attending to these challenges. This study: (a) examined faculty development practices offered in the last three years by Floridas 22 public community colleges and determined if the total number of different practices offered as well as the different types of practices were related to institutional size as measured by the number of full-time faculty (b) assessed and compared the relative perceived value of these practices as viewed by full-time faculty, faculty development practitioners, and academic administrators in these institutions, and (c) assessed and compared the relative perceived value of faculty development practices as viewed by full-time faculty within six different discipline areas. An original web-based questionnaire was used to gather data from the chief academic officers, faculty development practitioners, and full-time faculty at Floridas 22 public community colleges. Chief Academic Officers of 18 of the institutions reported that all 42 faculty development practices included in the survey were offered by at least one institution in the last three years. Results also revealed clearly that on all campuses, many full-time faculty were unaware that these practices were offered. No significant relationship was found between the total number of practices offered and the number of full-time faculty employed by institution. A relationship was noted between institutional size and the cluster of faculty development practices labeled general teaching enhancement practices. The mean perceived value by each respondent group on 42 faculty development practices reported three of six clusters revealed significant differences between fulltime faculty and chief academic officers. The perceived value ratings of faculty across six different discipline groups were observed for each of the six clusters of faculty development practices. Implications for future research were identified.

Thesis (M.A.T.) -- School for International Training, 2007. / Advisor -- Lauren Alderfer Includes bibliographical references (leaf 41).

In 2011 the Missionary Department sponsored a development project focused on creating performance support tools for international missionary training centers (IMTCs). The purpose of the project was to determine an area where there was a gap between desired performance and actual performance for IMTC training managers and develop tools to support them in improving performance in the chosen area. The target area supported the IMTC training managers in helping part-time teachers improve their effectiveness. Two products were created to help managers work more effectively with their teachers and a third product is currently under development. The first was a teacher competency print resource that managers could use to guide their feedback and evaluations of teachers. The second was a set of standards and suggestions managers could implement to help teachers improve. The third was an electronic teacher-tracking tool that would allow managers to track the progress and goals of each teacher. The design model used was a combination of a rapid prototyping model, cascade design model, and an electronic performance support design model. It included four major iterations for the products. This paper discusses the various stages of the development process, including adjustments to the planned design model, prototypes, and finalized products.

Classroom observation - particularly the post observation conference - is one of the most important aspects of staff development. The headmaster should create the climate in which the teacher has scope for self-development. During and especially after the class observation, it is imperative that the headmaster provides a restful, relaxed atmosphere, particularly for the post observation conference. This conference is of the utmost importance, as it provides feedback to the teacher on how another knowledgeable person experiences his presentation of a lesson. This research initially focused on staff development, what it entails and how it can be utilized by headmasters in schools. A closer look was taken at the post observation conference after a classroom observation, a questionnaire was distributed among the headmasters of various schools and the paper closes with recommendations and definite guidelines to headmasters. It is important for the school to be a pleasant working environment, where mutual respect and trust should exist. In such a climate, it is possible for the headmaster, during the post observation conference, to make recommendations and give advice without causing any hurt-feelings, enabling the teacher to develop professionally. A staff development plan with clear goals and target dates should ultimately be compiled. / Skripsie (MEd (Onderwysbestuur))--PU vir CHO, 1996

Classroom observation - particularly the post observation conference - is one of the most important aspects of staff development. The headmaster should create the climate in which the teacher has scope for self-development. During and especially after the class observation, it is imperative that the headmaster provides a restful, relaxed atmosphere, particularly for the post observation conference. This conference is of the utmost importance, as it provides feedback to the teacher on how another knowledgeable person experiences his presentation of a lesson. This research initially focused on staff development, what it entails and how it can be utilized by headmasters in schools. A closer look was taken at the post observation conference after a classroom observation, a questionnaire was distributed among the headmasters of various schools and the paper closes with recommendations and definite guidelines to headmasters. It is important for the school to be a pleasant working environment, where mutual respect and trust should exist. In such a climate, it is possible for the headmaster, during the post observation conference, to make recommendations and give advice without causing any hurt-feelings, enabling the teacher to develop professionally. A staff development plan with clear goals and target dates should ultimately be compiled. / Skripsie (MEd (Onderwysbestuur))--PU vir CHO, 1996

The objective of this study was to examine the use of frequent, anonymous student course surveys as a tool in supporting continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles in online instruction. The study used a qualitative, multiple-case design involving four separate online courses. Analysis methods included pattern matching/explanation building, time series analysis, and thematic analysis. Findings suggested that instructors used student feedback to make course changes that alleviated technical difficulties, added and clarified content, and contributed to future course changes. Students and instructors responded positively to the opportunity to give and receive anonymous feedback and felt that it helped improve the course. It is uncertain, however, whether using CQI principles had an impact on end-of-semester teacher course quality ratings. An important finding from the research is that students like to be asked to help improve their learning experience, as long as the instructor listens and responds to their feedback. Evaluation is a valuable component of instructional design theories, which are based on the philosophy that the best designs result from an iterative process. Using a synergistic CQI approach, this study indicates that it is possible for changes to be made more quickly to a course when students are involved in the process. The combination of frequent student feedback with a willing and experienced instructor who can make expert course revision decisions allows the process of course improvement to be enhanced.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T14:31:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Eliana Nardelli de Camargo.pdf: 1119832 bytes, checksum: 79e3a4bf7a5936c92d005bda625b7b9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-26 / Secretaria do Estado e Educação / The aim of this work was to investigate the contribution of a non standard education program of a daily newspaper to the improvement of the teaching staff practice. As a result, we conclude that it can be considered as a training program to the teachers once by the influence that it performs on the school s political pedagogic program it can define the didactics choices of the teachers allowing them to get a critical view about the traditional curricula in order to build a new point of view which reflects the whishes of the school s community. We still realized that the energy of the teacher s updating process requires a constant building of their pedagogic knowledge further than their specific issues making mandatory the immersion in the reality. However, only being exposed to the news doesn t add pedagogic values to the teaching practice. Thus, the curricula of the programs of teaching education must explore that resource as a fundamental strategy to get its aims. We worked with the so called Jornal, Escola e Comunidade program of the newspaper A Tribuna de Santos, SP and the study that we have done involved the analysis about the potential use of newspapers in classes and the identification of the characteristics which contributes to set up a teaching education program. Besides that we have done a documental research to present this program and we also interviewed some teachers who work in a public school of Mongaguá, a small city on the Mata Atlântica Coast, at the seaside of São Paulo / Considerada a possibilidade de mais de uma estratégia para o aperfeiçoamento da prática docente, este trabalho teve como objetivo, investigar as contribuições que um programa não escolarizado, emanado de um jornal diário e elaborado para conquistar leitores pode acrescentar à prática dos professores. Além destas contribuições, e em decorrência delas, através da pesquisa, concluiu-se que o referido programa pode ser considerado um programa de formação de professores, já que, exercendo influência sobre o projeto político pedagógico da escola, determina as escolhas didáticas dos professores e possibilita-lhes iniciar-se nas práticas da resistência aos modelos cristalizados de currículo e da construção de uma voz que reflita os anseios da comunidade escolar. Constatou-se ainda que embora o dinamismo das demandas de atualização dos professores requeira que seu conhecimento pedagógico deva permanecer em constante construção, para além deste conhecimento específico, torna-se imperativa sua imersão na realidade. Entretanto, somente a exposição às notícias veiculadas pelo jornal diário não agrega à prática docente valores pedagógicos. É preciso que o currículo dos programas de formação de professores preveja a exploração desse cotidiano como estratégia fundamental para atingir seus objetivos. O programa selecionado, denominado Jornal, Escola e Comunidade é mantido pelo jornal A Tribuna, de Santos, SP, e o caminho percorrido até estas conclusões envolveu um estudo sobre o potencial do uso do jornal na sala de aula; o levantamento de características que concorrem para que um programa de formação de professores se estabeleça; pesquisa documental para apresentar o programa em foco e entrevistas com docentes que atuam em uma escola pública localizada no município de Mongaguá, na Costa da Mata Atlântica, SP

Teaching is, and always has been, important in the work of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As one of the auxiliaries of the Church, the Sunday School has made an ongoing effort to provide effective teaching aids for its teachers in order to improve instruction in the Church. This work documents and examines change in principles of gospel teaching over the course of a century. By comparing teaching aids provided for Gospel Doctrine teachers in different time periods with guidelines found in the scriptures and words of modern prophets this work seeks to increase understanding of themes and fundamentals of inspired teaching in the Church.