Although intrusive factors--such as the economy--have limited recent strides toward improving rural education, there are components of excellence within the realm of local determination that are appropriate to conditions, circumstances, and aspirations surrounding the schooling process in rural areas. The educational reform movement in most states…

This report examines what has been learned from the efforts of the Urban Network to Improve Teacher Education (UNITE) efforts to inform state policy. UNITE originated in 1993 with nine urban partnerships between urban schools and colleges of education and their urban K-12 counterparts. Their mission is strengthening the recruitment, preparation,…

The most important asset of any enterprise is the talent and enthusiasm of its workforce. In operating a successful business, there is no greater challenge than to attract and retain the best-qualified, hardest-working employees. And perhaps the most important factors in keeping the best people are providing workers with the tools to succeed at…

This proceedings document from a conference on the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), which is authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), offers perspectives provided by Martha J. Fields and Thomas Hehir, on reauthorization of the IDEA. A discussion of the topic of paradigm shifts in staff development…

This report charts a vision for preparing California teachers for the 21st century. The report is an adaptation of the national framework found in the Association of Teacher Educators' report, "Restructuring the Education of Teachers." Recognizing that learning to be an effective teacher is a developmental process, the report is…

This document reports on data, covering 1976 through 1994, on the number of minorities interested in teaching and the soundness of the "pipeline," the paths leading minorities into higher education, teacher education, and successful placement in a classroom. The data were analyzed according to 10 indicators, arranged in 3 groups. The…

This document presents a report of a 1992 workshop on teacher development and educational reform. The meeting focused on how various state teacher policies could be integrated into a coherent and comprehensive statewide teacher-development system. Following the executive summary, this report contains two main sections. The first sets the context…

A State Issues Clearinghouse was established by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Combined Task Force on Governmental Relations to monitor and track state activities that impact upon teacher education. This report presents the results of the first survey of the fifty states undertaken by the Clearinghouse. The nine policy…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Colorado edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

In 1989, at the General Membership Meeting held during the annual conference of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), members approved a formal resolution calling for the development of national standards for the preparation of bilingual/multicultural teachers. The standards presented in this document represent the culmination…

This publication updates information from prior surveys of teacher education policy in 50 states and the District of Columbia in the areas of: (1) standards; (2) standards boards; (3) alternative preparation for licensure; (4) minority teacher recruitment; (5) early childhood education; and (6) clinical/field experience. In addition there is a new…

A questionnaire was administered to 1403 twelfth grade students in the Bahamas who were described as potentially eligible to pursue college-level work leading to teacher certification. Student opinions were sought on teacher training programs at the College of the Bahamas, conditions of teaching employment, characteristics of students in secondary…

As an adjunct to the California State Board of Education's 1983 report, "Raising Expectations: Model Graduation Requirements," this paper presents legislative and administrative recommendations on teacher quality and on the principal's role. The State Board's Master Plan Committee, which also produced "Raising Expectations,"…

In response to the shortage of mathematics and science teachers in Washington, this state's legislature developed a program to provide loans for students preparing to teach secondary-level mathematics or science in Washington public schools. The rationale was that these loans would encourage students majoring in mathematics or science to prepare…

This paper discusses the problems of the teaching profession from the perspective of the classroom teacher, and attempts to develop a set of policy recommendations related to improving teaching conditions and teacher effectiveness. Information collection focused on data obtained from in-depth interviews conducted with 73 elementary and secondary…