ERIC Number: ED301368
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1987-Oct-17
Pages: 65
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Staff Development Research and Rural Schools: A Critical Appraisal.
Wood, Fred; Kleine, Paul F.
This paper reviews staff development research related to rural schools. Only a limited number of studies have described, or evaluated the effects of, particular staff development programs in rural schools, or have assessed the perceived needs of rural faculty and administrators for inservice training. However, rural educators can draw implications from non-rural research on teacher and administrator attitudes about inservice education, specific practices that increase the effectiveness of professional development programs, conceptual models for program design, program content and implementation, and program impact on teacher behaviors and student achievement. An analysis of this research suggests practices that should be included in rural staff development programs: (1) focus on school based improvements in professional practice; (2) involve teachers in goal and content selection; (3) base inservice training on a systematic needs assessment; (4) use guided practice and experiential learning during the training stage; (5) use peer instructors with expertise as inservice leaders; (6) provide follow-upon assistance during the implementation phase; and (7) encourage principal participation in training. The paper points out conceptual ambiguities about rural schools encountered in the literature, enumerates the major flaws in the existing research base, discusses research content and methodology, and suggests the establishment of a National Research Agenda for Rural Education. Contains 100 references. (SV)
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper prepared for the National Rural Education Research Forum (Lake Placid, NY, October 16-17, 1987). For the complete proceedings, see RC 016 624.