A Missouri school system has cut benefit costs by establishing a self-funded health insurance plan for employees. Reviews areas to consider and ways to set up such a plan. (MD)

A federal district court judge in Iowa ruled that an education service agency unreasonably denied equal employment opportunity to a handicapped applicant for a teaching position. The agency based its decision on the candidate's inability to meet physical requirements for job functions that the court held nonessential. (PGD)

Proposes the use of teacher sabbaticals to improve the quality of teachers. Includes a list of recommendations for implementing a sabbatical policy. (MD)

Attitudes about teacher sabbaticals are sharply divided and, as funding grows scarcer, get more controversial. Teachers should plan sabbaticals that will improve their teaching, and school boards should be assured of good, long-term returns on their investments of sabbaticals. (MLF)

This document, a companion report to a detailed investigation into school districts' teacher selection processes, presents detailed case studies conducted in six different school districts: (1) Mesa Unified School District (Arizona); (2) Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland); (3) East Williston Union Free School District (New York); (4)…

Describes problems with vocational and technical education in China. Asserts that (1) school density is too high and size is too low; (2) the establishment of specializations is irrational; (3) the ratio of students to relevant employment is low; (4) teaching materials for the specializations are inadequate; and (5) teacher training and employment…

This collection of articles gathers reprinted materials on teacher attraction and retention for small and rural school districts. The material is organized in two sections: (1) Attracting and Retaining Quality Teachers and (2) Challenging and Enriching Current Staff. Reprints from a number of publications present strategies for addressing the…

This is the first report on a series of evaluative studies being undertaken by the Council on Teacher Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for its preservice teacher education programs. When fully implemented, the program will include information from graduates (1 and 3 years following graduation), from current students (upon…

This paper presents a model for projecting the need for special education teachers which incorporates key elements of a market-based supply/demand model. The model provides equations to predict the supply of both certified and uncertified special education teachers. It involves the following supply factors: current certified employed teacher…

A variety of federal, state, and local programs provide public financial or in-kind support of private schools. This paper explores the impact of selected federal programs on minority employment patterns and focuses on the factors accounting for variation in racial staffing patterns among public, Catholic, and private schools. The study concludes…

The employment relationship in public schools is governed by constitutional mandates, federal and state statutes, administrative regulations, and contractual obligations. This chapter discusses fundamental aspects of the employment relationship that are influenced by legal principles derived from state law, local district policy and practice, and…

A methodological weakness of recent studies on teacher shortages is the degree to which respondents in these surveys were removed from the school environment, and consequently from science and mathematics teacher hiring. An attempt was made to resolve this problem by assessing Illinois public school principals (grades 6 to 12) on science and…

As the supply of mathematics and science teachers in the United States falls short of demand, there is a search for ways to increase the supply. The policy responses being tried include making all teaching positions more attractive through improved salaries and professionalization, offering general and targeted college scholarships and loans to…

Although employment decisions must be in harmony with existing case laws and statutes, such decisions allow for more flexibility than is sometimes supposed. Increasingly, state legislators and other public officials (including Secretary of Education T. H. Bell and Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander) are working to establish differentiated pay…

Reports on a nationwide survey of the teaching profession that compares personal profiles and salaries of public school teachers and 4-year college graduates employed year round. Discusses issues of supply and demand, motivation and morale, job satisfaction, and teacher training. Six charts are included. (IW)