Staff Development and Student Learning: A Synthesis of Research on Models of Teaching.

T he content of staff development programs should he selected from those options that promise substantial increases in student learn ing and aptitude to learn. Ultimately, the motivation to engage in staff devel opment and implement its content depends on a desire to increase the power of education and a belief that it is feasible to do so (Joyce and Showers 1987). Staff development programs have, of course, been created with curricular and instructional improvement in mindbut we believe that both plan ners and participants should be striv ing for particular amounts of increase in student learning when any given program is offered. Thai objectives for student learning through staff develop ment can and should be set is a result of three recent developments in edu cational research The first development is that there has been a great expansion of the number of research and development personnel in education and applied psychology, with a consequent en largement of the output of educational research that can be applied to prac tice (Rolheiser-Bennett 1986). Educa tional research now provides an array