The 1980s:

Abstract

I n the past five years the burgeon ing interest in clinical supervision (CS) on the part of scholars and practitioners has resulted in a pro fusion of books and articles on the subject. Not only are there more CS action labs and workshops available but school districts are also seeking CS consultants in greater numbers. Perceptions in the 1980s about the skill needs of teachers could shape clinical supervision (CS) into little more than a refined teacher inspection technology unless educa tors embrace a comprehensive teacher development system. If we perceive, I think erroneously, that teachers al ready have most of the basic knowl edge and skills necessary to facilitate student mastery of certain compe tencies, then CS (through observa tion and data collection) could be expected to evolve into a sophisti cated inspection system for ensuring appropriate instruction. Most districts today are examining teacher performance closely and set ting tough performance evaluation criteria. Preoccupation with evalua tion forms and methods suggests that many districts will be lured into stringent patterns of "inspection su pervision" and thereby lose sight of the emerging development role needs of staff. If, on the other hand, we perceive that most teachers are not yet highly proficient in personalized kinds of in struction, CS could emerge less as an evaluation tool and more as a coach ing system to assist teachers in ac quiring proficiency in facilitation of student mastery of knowledge and skills.