For well over a decade, teachers have been recognized as the single most important school-level factor influencing student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2000; Rowan, Correnti & Miller, 2002; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). Tremendous public resources…

In the report "From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum," (See full report in ERIC at ED555657) National and State Teachers of the Year shared their views on what helped them become great teachers. This accompanying "Discussion Starter Tool" builds…

Asian American Education--Asian American Identities, Racial Issues, and Languages presents groundbreaking research that critically challenges the invisibility, stereotyping, and common misunderstandings of Asian Americans by disrupting "customary" discourse and disputing "familiar" knowledge. The chapters in this anthology…

This project surveyed special education teachers who were employed in the Gadsden Independent School District, Anthony, New Mexico, during the 1992-93 academic year to identify attitudinal differences between special education teachers (N=8) who departed the district the following year and those (N=32) who remained in the district. A survey…

An informal research study was done of faculty men's perspectives concerning the Graduate Core Program in the Graduate School of Professional Studies at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. The purpose of the investigation was to determine how teaching gender-related studies affected the male faculty; what they learned about gender issues…

Reports on a study of inexperienced and experienced music teachers to determine the dominant perceptual dimensions used to classify classical musical excerpts. Finds that listeners generate an internal hierarchy that reflects their individual background and knowledge. Concludes that instructional methods are as important as the music selected for…

In promoting integration of exceptional children into regular classes, much emphasis has been placed on inservice and preservice preparation of teachers to develop skills and attitudes conducive to implementation of mainstreaming. Review of the literature indicated that structured inservice education programs were usually effective in providing…

Data from the Joint Council on Economic Education's National Assessment of Economic Education (NAEE) Survey, gathered during the 1986-87 school year, provide material for a large-sample study of a broad variety of determinants of economic understanding and attitudes at the precollege level. The NAEE Survey, consisting of four questionnaires,…

Discusses a study of relationships among secondary school teachers' occupational stress, personality type, and social support. Reports greater burnout among single and newer teachers, graduate status teachers, those undergoing more stress, and those lacking social support. Concludes that teachers with Type A personalities suffered less from…

This paper presents the results of a survey that examined elementary school teachers' attitudes about social studies (particularly geography) instruction. The responses of newly-hired elementary teachers were compared to those of experienced elementary teachers. The survey included questions such as: Have you ever taken a social studies methods…

The project group "Preparedness for Peace" at the Lund University Malmo School of Education in Sweden studies ways of helping children and young people to deal constructively with questions of peace and war. As part of this work, experts with special interests in competence in areas related to peace education are interviewed. This…

This paper examines recent trends in the establishment of state-level policies for the performance evaluation of experienced teachers. "Trends" are defined as the prevailing state-sanctioned currents of thinking that undergird teacher performance evaluation policies. The document includes a paper that reports on the specific nature of…

A study examined the readability of vocational horticulture instructional materials used by 40 schools participating in the 1981 Ohio Horticulture Achievement Testing Program. During the first part of the study, researchers administered a mail questionnaire to 31 teachers to identify the materials that were used most frequently, to obtain…

This 1986 poll of 1,176 U.S. public school teachers (K-12) selected at random elicited their views on ability grouping, grade standards for interscholastic sports, ideal class size, professional development opportunities, and preferences for programs to be funded. Status and experience questions covered topics such as current class size, number of…

The limitations and unique contributions of experiential learning across the learning-to-teach continuum (pretraining phase, preservice phase, inservice phase/on-the-job learning) were examined. Three vignettes are presented that describe specific examples of firsthand experience: student teaching, exploratory field experiences, and the field as a…