Staff Development and School Change

Abstract

The desultory status of staff development as education's neglected stepchild is changing. Until recently, there was little interest in the professional development of experienced teachers. Teacher-training institutions were preoccupied with preservice education and local school districts were struggling to accommodate burgeoning student enrollments and build new schools. But now issues related to staff development have moved to center stage. One reason for the new status of staff development is the recognition that many of the "Great Society" education reform efforts fell short primarily because planners seriously underestimated teacher-training needs. In retrospect, it was unrealistic to expect that classroom teachers could bring about significant change in the services provided to such special student groups as the disadvantaged and the bilingual without substantial in-service education. In the absence of such training, it is not surprising that the result of many reform efforts was, disappointingly, more of the same. An important lesson of the socalled "Decade of Reform" (1965-1975) is that even the "best" educational practice is unlikely to fulfill its promise in the hands of an inadequately trained or unmotivated teacher. We have learned that the problem of reform or change is more a function of people and organizations than of technology.