Researchers at NIET [National Institute for Excellence in Teaching] and elsewhere have studied the effectiveness of TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement in raising student achievement, improving the quality of instruction, and increasing the ability of high-need schools to recruit, retain and support effective teachers. This…

East Timor has reached independence in 2002, after two periods of colonialism and after severe violence, especially following 1999. As a result, the country was almost destroyed, and lost its qualified workforce in all sectors, including education. To ensure national independence it is necessary to reconstruct and build the basic infrastructures…

In this qualitative study the authors investigated how prospective teachers' professional goals were understood by participants. Interviews of 25 prospective teachers from the United States were collected as part of a larger mixed-methods study. Qualitative data from interviews (the focus of this study) examined the profiles of the three…

There is overwhelming evidence that teachers have the most effect on pupil outcomes (closely followed by the quality of leadership). The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) concluded that: (1) teachers were central to school improvement; (2) in order to improve the quality and fairness of education, teachers had to be…

This paper presents the highlights of the Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment Study (SEFNA). Actions taken after the release of The 2001 Faculty Shortage Study demonstrate that supply-and-demand imbalances can be improved. The projected shortage of special education faculty will directly and negatively affect students with disabilities and…

This research used multilevel modeling to investigate the perceived effect of a teacher preparation loan forgiveness program on recruiting science and mathematics majors to become teachers and teach in high-need schools. The study investigated how and which personal perceptions, characteristics, and teacher preparation program variables influenced…

The purpose of this study was to examine how the social practices of African American families--with children in grades K-2--changed as a result of participating in a family literacy program utilizing African American children's literature. The families were exposed, through a series of workshops, to an abundance of children's literature…

The proposed federal STEM Teacher Pathway program seeks to produce 100,000 new, high-quality math and science teachers in the next decade. How difficult will the goal be to achieve? This report uses data from the ACT® college readiness assessment to examine the feasibility of producing 100,000 high-quality math and science teachers in the next…

Although Catholic universities face a number of challenges in an increasingly unsettled economy, the situation also provides significant opportunities for Catholic universities to highlight the central importance of their Catholic identity in order both to recover their deepest commitments and to realize an advantage in an increasingly competitive…

Better-prepared new teachers, more adults in every classroom, more small-group instruction, more adults caring for every student--how can a school wrap all that up in one package? Three Metropolitan Nashville Opportunity Culture schools are trying a novel approach with paid, yearlong student teaching positions. The three schools are: (1) Buena…

On January 12, 2006, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Education approved a teacher performance-pay program awarding teachers financial incentives based on three indicators of performance pay. These indicators involved group performance for teachers based on campus second grade comparative growth in mathematics and reading…

This article describes the creation and implementation of a faculty interest group for historically underrepresented faculty at a large, urban community college in the Northeast. Faculty interest groups provide opportunities for faculty across disciplines to meet to explore common interests and share concerns and best practices. The faculty…

The effective initial preparation and ongoing support of teachers of students who are deaf and hard of hearing has always been a difficult and controversial task. Changes in student demographic characteristics and educational settings, combined with the rapidly diminishing number and diversity of deaf education teacher preparation (DETP) programs,…

The paper draws on research --- "Tellin' the stories of teachers: Tellin' the stories of teaching" project --- that forms part of the national More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative. This Initiative aims to increase the number and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the profession. A…

The shortage of certified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers is of concern throughout the United States because of significant numbers needed over the next over the next 10 years. Addressing this issue in education, this study examined the experiences of three new STEM teachers who entered teaching through different…