Staff Development Policy

It is argued here that staff development in the public elementary and secondary schools of the United States is misguided in both policy and practice. In its current form it represents an imperfect consumer market in which "proof of purchase" substitutes for investment in either school improvement or individual development. A policy model based on investment in school improvement is shown, in which different assumptions about how to improve schools are linked to different alternatives for the design and implementation of staff development. These are argued to be based on an investment rather than consumption model

A Semantic Analysis of Over- and Underachievers

An investigation was conducted to determine the relationship between contrasting levels of reading achievement and three psychodynamic factors, identification with parents, relationship with peers, and the value of reading and good grades. Selection of the Ss was made by statistical methods utilizing data obtained from school records. The device for testing the hypotheses was a form of the semantic differential administered to the Ss in their homes. The findings indicate no relationship between levels of reading achievement and parental identification, relationship with peers, or reading and good grades except in one instance in which overachieving males valued reading significantly different than underachieving males. Further research regarding identification, its nature, its measurement, and its relation to reading achievement is recommended