Continuing training--"staff development" or "inservice education"--now seems integral to improving the quality of teaching and administration in our schools. Hard evidence of the effectiveness of staff is generally lacking. This paper offers profiles which include a short description, advantages and disadvantages, unknown elements, and costs, of six successful staff development programs in different parts of the country. The programs include: (1) Professional Growth for Teachers Benefits Students (Rochester, New York); (2) Teacher Retraining in a Context of Financial Incentives (Houston, Texas); (3) Comprehensive Professional Development (Montgomery County, Maryland, Jefferson County, Colorado; and Lincoln, Nebraska); (4) Career Ladder for Teachers (Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina); (5) Multiple Approaches to Relieving Shortages of Science and Mathematics Teachers (Los Angeles, California); and (6) Staff Developemnt Through Research: Interactive Research and Development on Teaching (California and Vermont). (JMK)