Changing the Core: Communal Policies and Present Realities in the Professional Development of Teachers for Jewish Schools

Publication Date: January 2000

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Barry W. Holtz; Adam Gamoran; Gail Zaiman Dorph

Research Area: Education

Keywords: Professionalism; Educators; Employment

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Changing the core practices of teaching and leaming must be at the heart of any effort to improve the quality of American Jewish education. The authors report on a study of the quality and quantity of professional development opportunities—in-service education—for teachers in Jewish schools in five North American communities. Comparing professional development in these communities to the state-of-the-art as presented in the research and policy literature from general education, the authors find that professional development in Jewish education falls short of the best practices being advocated in the general educational literature today. The article concludes with recommendations for improving professional development in contemporary Jewish education.