From the August 8, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *1   TAKING CHARGE:  TEACHERS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
->    America's teachers find they have little time and
-> opportunity to gain valuable professional development
-> experiences, according to a survey of more than 800 teachers
-> nationwide.  "Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning:
-> Transforming Professional Development for Student Success" was
-> released by the National Foundation for the Improvement of
-> Education, a group founded by the National Education Association.
-> The report also advances the notion that the teaching
-> profession must "weav[e] continuous learning into the fabric of the
-> teaching job as the foundation for large-scale improvement of student
-> achievement in schools."  "Schools can only be as good as the
-> teachers in them," said NFIE Executive Director Judith Renyi. "This
-> is something that all other so-called 'reform efforts' have missed,"
-> she added.
->
->    Findings from the report include:  almost three in four said
-> they engage in professional growth to improve student
-> achievement; 55% said they participate in professional
-> development to improve their teaching skills; only 5% said they
-> engaged in professional development to earn extra money.
->    "Taking Charge" makes several recommendations including:
-> help teachers take charge of their own learning; find time for
-> continuous professional development; develop partnerships; and
-> determine resources.
->    "Teacher development is not just acquiring a degree and
-> getting a teaching license; teacher development is about career- long
-> learning," said Arthur Wise, chairman of the NFIE Board of Directors.
-> He added:  "One size does not fit all and that
-> approach must be abandoned and replaced with school-based teacher
-> learning that is focused on what students need to attain high
-> standards of learning."
->    Wise and Renyi said NFIE plans to implement the report's
-> recommendations in sixteen model sites throughout the country and
-> invites the profession and the public to join the effort.  NFIE has
-> received grants from The Carnegie COrporation of New York and other
-> private funders to build high-quality and continuous
-> learning into teachers' daily, weekly and year-long work.
->    The program, "A Change in Course," will provide a total of
-> $525,000 over three years in grants to union affiliates, subject-
-> based teacher associations, teacher networks and centers,
-> nonprofit consortia, alliances and partnerships that are
-> representative of and led by teachers or their designated
-> leaders, said Renyi.  Letters of intent to apply must be
-> postmarked by 1 November.  For more information contact NFIE;
-> 1201 Sixteenth Street NW; Washington, D.C.  20036-3207; 202/822-
-> 7840.
->    Copies of the report are available for $15.00, plus $3.00
-> shipping and handling from NFIE Publications; P.O. Box 509, West
-> Haven, Conn.  06516.
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