Despite research examining why teachers leave at such high rates, the intractable problem of attrition persists. Recently, teacher preparation programs have reported lower enrollment trends, and K-12 schools have reported higher attrition rates. Considering that one critical component of the problem is retention, more work is necessary to explore…

This paper focuses on a teacher educator's professional learning gained while facilitating teacher research with teachers in Ireland. The teachers were engaged in a teaching portfolio development process, while the teacher educator conducted a concurrent self-study. Qualitative data was gathered and analysed from the teacher interviews, the…

The article introduces how the Finnish educational system has been moved systematically towards equal opportunities for all learners. It also describes how principles of equity and lifelong learning are tied together and what consequences this has had on teachers' professional role. Finally, the article reflects on what kind of studies and…

Teacher educators recognize that teacher candidates must have authentic, scaffolded opportunities to transform knowledge into practice. This study explores teacher candidates' engagement with teacher inquiry as a method for supporting professional development. Findings suggest teacher candidates differ tremendously in their responses to the…

Scholarship on immigrant integration often examines immigrant characteristics and the host society's contexts of reception. This article explores how teachers fit within this framework by presenting findings on teachers' preferences to teach immigrant-origin youth who are classified as "English learners" (ELs) within separate content courses known…

High-achieving women are significantly less likely to enter the teaching profession than they were just 40 years ago. Why? While the social and economic reasons for this decline have been well documented in the literature, what is lacking is a discussion with high-achieving women, as they make their first career decisions, about their perceptions…

Teacher professional identity is a concept defined and researched in a multitude of ways (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). This manuscript approaches teacher identity formation from the foundations of situated cognition, social learning, and identity in community practice. Focusing on a unique teacher development intervention designed to…

Drawing upon data from case studies of four teachers conducted over the course of eight years, this research examines the role that teachers' visions--their images of ideal classroom practice--play in teachers' career paths. This paper demonstrates the ways in which teachers' decisions to "leave" schools were often made for personal reasons, while…

High-stakes testing in New York City (NYC) schools has produced a culture of high-stakes teaching. The latter concept emphasizes both the importance of good teachers to the performance of urban students and the threat to keeping good teachers in NYC schools due to measures such as scripted lessons and mandated curriculum. This essay draws upon…

Dr. Arthur Wise has had a long and distinguished career working for teacher quality and professionalism, school finance reform, and advancement of educational research. As the president of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, he directed that organization's development of performance-based standards and assessments and has…

By looking at teacher collaborative structures in an urban public elementary school, this article demonstrates how, in the face of top-down school decisions under the pressures of high-stakes testing and assessment-driven curriculum, teachers can find the power and freedom for creative and effective pedagogy to flourish. We describe how teachers…