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Do teachers in your district dread attending staff development programs? How often do you hear complaints about the programs lacking real meaningful and relevant content?

Planning a quality staff development program based upon five categories of staff development can offer a viable solution in bringing life to these programs.

To plan a quality program, you first must take a careful look at meeting the real needs of teachers--both professional and personal. The failure to obtain "buy in" by teachers, identify clearly-defined needs of the staff and organization, and integrate a comprehensive staff training component with the school improvement plan are some of the common problems of staff development programs identified by researchers. There are five categories of staff development that can offer a viable approach in achieving quality staff development.

Teacher-centered development. While new teachers are often well prepared in their major area of study and in instructional methodology, they some- times lack essential skills of self management. The ability to effectively meet administrative demands, handle school problems, solve day-to-day problems, and inspire students requires highly-developed self-management skills. These include planning and organizing, managing strong emotions, time management, handling conflict, understanding personal values and human relations, communications, and leadership and motivation. These topics can provide meaningful personal growth for teachers, helping them become more effective managers within the school organization.

Classroom-centered development. Dealing with student discipline and other class management problems continues to be a challenge for teachers. Topics in classroom management include teaching challenging students, motivating students, improving attendance, managing discipline, handling complaints, counseling students, legal issues, and class- room strategies. Developing skills in managing the classroom environment will directly contribute to the students' achievement and quality of school life.

School-centered development. School-centered components are those topics that focus on developing teacher skills that can contribute directly to meeting school organizational needs. These areas include developing skills in parent and community relations, managing change, developing a school improvement plan, managing and coordinating educational resources, finances, teamwork, improving the school culture, and organizational development. The educational leaders of a school include the entire staff, and developing these school-centered skills in everyone can create a collaborative approach in meeting school needs.

Teaching-centered development. Continuing professional development of teachers that is "teaching-centered" is a fundamental requirement of any staff development program. Critical skill development areas include action research, instructional methods, curriculum development, learning styles, multiculturalism, and student achievement. The field of education is rapidly changing, and the need to keep abreast of current instructional and curricular programs and strategies is critical for teachers.

Student-centered development. The student-development component focuses upon meeting the personal needs of the student. Topics include building self-esteem, understanding individual differences, values, and human relations, personal motivation and success, test taking, interpersonal relations, study habits, handling stress, dealing with gangs and peer pressure, and making life choices. Helping teachers learn to more effectively improve the skills students use to deal with their individual problems can significantly contribute to developing their academic and personal growth.

If your staff development program lacks punch and vitality in meeting the needs of your district, consider re-focusing your efforts on these five categories of staff development. The use of staff focus groups, needs assessments, survey questionnaires, teacher interviews, and staff development committees can be effective methods to identify the needs of your staff and district.