Over the last two decades, researchers have presented convincing evidence that teachers are an important key to school improvement and to closing the student achievement gap. However, ensuring that all students are taught by quality teachers--those with the right talent, skills, and experience--is not enough. Teachers--even the best of them--must…

According to Erlandson and Bifano (1987), teacher empowerment is a vital dimension of the school's organization. Lieberman (1989) defined teacher empowerment as "empowering teachers to participate in group decisions and to have real decision-making roles in the school community" (p. 24). Furthermore, Summers (2006) addressed the need for…

Purpose: After decades arguing the necessity of transforming schools into collaborative workplaces, teacher collaboration has been taken up by various discursive logics offering different viewpoints of the concept. This article reviews some of these discourses and looks at their main arguments, pointing to the contradictions and tensions between…

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions held by business education teachers regarding the effect of technology training on instructional practices. A causal-comparative research design was used in this study to determine the relationship, if any, between technology training and instructional practices of business education…

A teacher's professional integrity faces numerous challenges in the classroom. To help educators safeguard against potentially career-ending incidents, numerous "survival rules" are provided in this text. It argues that teachers must safeguard themselves with self-protecting knowledge and, in some instances, must reprogram themselves…

Writing centers and their faculty are often considered to be "Others" because they have both power and no power--they have the ability to make a difference in students' writing abilities, but they are often excluded because they are seen as a "fixit," a clinic, a lab, an ancillary. Writing center faculty need to take more power so that they can…

Describes an autobiographical study of a deputy headteacher's leadership role in organizing a teacher's group of action researchers in a comprehensive secondary school. The study aimed to provide the conditions and support necessary for empowering teachers to develop their classroom or management practice. "Story" aided self-reflection…

Explores the assumption that teachers want to participate in schoolwide decision making by constructing a typology of teachers. Characterizes four types of teachers: empowered, disenfranchised, involved (those that do not want to participate, but do), and disengaged. Analysis of teachers' differences and similarities on demographic and attitudinal…

Empowered technology teams can help realize the financial investment of schools in technology. Teams foster communities of technology users and give teachers and staff opportunities for leadership. A transformational leadership style is essential to the building of a human infrastructure that will use the technological infrastructure. (KS)

Now a major force Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established in 1987 to set high, rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and practice and to certify teachers via performance-based assessments. National Board Certification, which complements state licensing, helps empower teachers through mentoring and school…

Explores contradictions and tensions in action research on the technical aspects of good teaching and democratic possibilities of empowering teachers and learners. A case study of an action research course for practicing teachers highlights dilemmas in teaching action research as a university course. Most participating teachers felt empowered by…

Discusses the hierarchical chain of command in schools. Describes a three-year program to help urban schoolteachers bring about school improvement. Notes that state-mandated tests can result in increasing powerlessness among teachers. Argues that unless the present hierarchies are flattened, the best and brightest will be discouraged from entering…

Analyzes the stories of three teachers/teacher teams who participated in a grant program designed to empower teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. Instead of experiencing empowerment, the teachers/teams experienced alienation. Two sources of alienation were: resources obtained by teachers through grant acquisition disrupted the…

Although the process of participative, school-based budgeting might seem tedious and time-consuming, it can truly empower teachers and administrators. One cannot set instructional and budgetary priorities without knowing costs. A costing formula to help facilitate the budgeting process is presented. Includes 18 references. (MLH)

Discusses positive developments occurring in the teaching profession and the changes needed to nurture them. Teacher empowerment does not mean banishing principals, but enabling teachers to participate in group decision-making and make key choices affecting their own work. Teachers have always been critical to effective schooling. (MLH)