Black students in high schools do not matriculate in advanced level coursework, such as advanced placement (AP) classes, at the same rate as their White peers. The opportunity to participate in AP in high school has been shown to influence enrollment in college, earning higher overall grades, and better performance on high stakes assessments such…

Mentoring and induction programs are popular within the public school system in the United States. Additionally, content-based mentoring programs exist, such as those within agricultural education. A number of studies yielded results that showed a relationship between mentoring/induction participation and teacher retention. The importance of the…

S. Zellman (personal communication, September 16, 2003), Ohio's superintendent of public instruction, stated, "Students in Ohio's urban high schools demonstrate serious shortcomings in their academic performance." Hence, this ex post facto study, which used pre-existing data, sought to investigate if a statistical difference between the…

How many teachers stay, especially in the schools that need them most? The question has attracted widespread attention as policymakers have recognized that expert teaching is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Data show that poor and minority students assigned to ineffective teachers lag significantly behind their…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) The Value of Enhanced Reading Opportunities in High Schools: Report Finds Supplemental Reading Programs Can Improve…

Many states are struggling to finance under-funded teacher pension systems as well as recruit and retain a high-quality teaching workforce. This paper compares Maryland's former (prior to Spring, 2006) teacher pension system to those in Pennsylvania and several other states. On the basis of simple replacement rates, the former Maryland state plan…

Teacher retention has been of interest to educational researchers for over three decades. Various reasons for teacher attrition have been cited, including student discipline and motivation problems, working conditions, low salary, and a lack of administrator support. This descriptive survey research sought to determine the present status of…