Acknowledgments

Designing a new staff development system for adult educators has been a deeply collaborative effort. First and foremost, the team of thirty practitioners who crafted the new staff development system are to be commended. Over the course of a year, they worked steadily, combining knowledge gained from literature and research with the truths of their own experience. The project required them make difficult decisions which were certain to significantly influence adult education in Virginia.

Program administrators, school superintendents, and others provided essential support for the work. They released Planning Team members from their routines to attend intensive work sessions throughout the year. They also enabled the many surveys, focus groups, staff meetings, and other special events initiated by team members as they sought input from colleagues.

The teachers, volunteers, aides, administrators and Regional Specialists from whom team members learned so much deserve special thanks. They openly shared experiences and insights which remain as the heart of this work.

There are others who contributed to our work in important ways. We are grateful to Susan Lytle and her colleagues at the National Center on Adult Literacy. Inquiry-based staff development has been eloquently explained to us through their work, and their thinking provided the germinating seeds for much of our own. Diane Foucar-Szocki brilliantly facilitated development and refinement of the planning team's collective vision. At critical junctures we turned to Hanna Fingeret for direction and advice. Hanna helped us to discover and amplify our own voices during these times and consequently to grow in confidence. Judy Taylor superbly managed the retreat logistics and competently handled numerous other tasks vital for the project's success. Lennox McLendon's leadership, optimism, and clarity of vision sustained the team's work through many an upheaval and for that we are especially grateful.