Industry Volunteers in the Classroom. Freeing Teachers' Time for Professional Development [microform]

This handbook describes a model for providing professional development time for teachers by matching them up with volunteers from local industries who regularly replace them in the classroom. This industry volunteer model offers a way for business and industry to support professional development for local classroom teachers by contributing a resource difficult to obtain--released time. It allows teachers to meet together during school hours without hiring costly substitute teachers, and it mines the expertise of local community volunteers whose work experience is relevant to the teachers' subject matter. The first eight sections of the handbook discuss the issues of organizing and arranging a project using the industry volunteer model. Topics covered include: how an industry volunteer model works, deciding to use an industry volunteer model, recruiting corporate partners, recruiting industry volunteers, training industry volunteers, expected contributions from program participants, keeping things running smoothly, and evaluating program results. The final section contains sample materials from other industry volunteer projects that have used the model. (KC)