This report is based on the discussions of the February 2008 "Teaching by Choice: Beyond 2 + 2" conference, convened by the American Association of Community Colleges to focus on the growing role of community colleges as providers of teacher education and source of professional development for elementary, middle and secondary teachers of science,…

The purpose of this doctoral project was to conduct a policy analysis of two federal laws affecting public education today-- the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. The common themes of both pieces of legislation and the congruent and the incongruent mandates required by each law were…

This paper examines the relationship between policy, organizational type, and the utilization of extrinsic incentives. Charter school reform spread throughout the country in the 1990s, providing the unique opportunity to study over a thousand new public organizations and the innovative operational decisions they made. Traditional public schools…

An urban school district developed strategies for recruiting and retaining minority teachers. Examination of data on teachers hired over a 3-year period found the retention rate for African American teachers was slightly higher than that of European American teachers. Teachers with at least 3 years' experience in the district were surveyed as to…

Although women comprise about 65% of the educational workforce, they occupy only about 14% of the superintendent positions nationwide. In the past, some theorists accounted for the underrepresentation of women by claiming that women were not assertive enough, didn't want the power, lacked self-confidence, didn't aspire to line positions, were…

This article reports how Louisiana officials take hits amid strain to start schools. A year after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans, the state of Louisiana finds itself in the highly unusual position of essentially starting from scratch--and directly operating--a batch of public schools in the city. While much attention has focused on…

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…

Is your state making progress toward having a high-quality teacher in every classroom? How will you know? One indicator of progress in the Challenge to Lead goals refers to teacher compensation: "Salaries, benefits and incentives are competitive in the marketplace. They are aimed at recognized expertise, student performance, state needs and taking…

In 1998, Massachusetts instituted a $20,000 Signing Bonus to address concerns about the supply of quality teachers. This article reports on a longitudinal, qualitative study of the experiences of 13 of the original 59 recipients of the Signing Bonus, and analyzes their responses to various incentives embedded within the Massachusetts Signing Bonus…

On October 21, 2006, more than 200 Washington National Board Certified Teachers[R] (NBCTs) assembled in Seattle to address the vexing problem of recruiting and retaining accomplished teachers for high-needs schools. Before the Summit, NBCT participants read a number of background papers and research summaries. At the Summit, they listened to the…

In this report, three specific questions guide the analyses that follow: (1) To what degree has the School District of Philadelphia upgraded the teaching credentials of its teachers? (2) How well has the district succeeded in reducing teacher attrition and increasing the experience level of its workforce? (3) Have district efforts since the state…

This study identifies the factors which explain why individuals enter or do not enter traditional trade apprenticeships. Two sources of information are used--students in secondary schools and current apprentices (including those who have recently completed their training). Specifically, information was obtained from about 800 apprentices and close…

Understanding the nature of science is even more important than mastering its details, says Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in an interview with Educational Leadership. In this article, Leshner discusses the controversy about teaching evolution, and he asserts that demands to…

Hugh Burkett, director of The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, recently was asked to give the keynote speech at On the Right Track 4, an annual school improvement symposium for California school practitioners. In this month's newsletter, Dr. Burkett shares highlights from his remarks. He sets forth six things that should…

The author details the US education scenario, in which there are many more women than men teaching in K-12 schools. The National Education Association (NEA) says the number of male teachers in public schools is at its lowest level in 40 years--under a quarter of all teachers in US public schools are men. Moreover, if male teachers are uncommon,…