In July 2007, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) began implementation of AISD REACH, a comprehensive and strategic compensation initiative. The initiative addressed three key areas: student growth, professional growth, and recruitment and retention of teachers and principals at highest needs schools. REACH combines an outcome-based pay…

This article aims to define what "transversal training" represents in secondary teachers' training in France. It attempts at the same time to assess critically the place it holds in the framework of the two years of training that university institutes for teacher training provide for young teachers. Noting the small place occupied by…

The purpose of this paper is to describe and present results from the fourth year of a five-year collaborative research project between an interactive science center and a local college. The purpose of the project is not only to recruit and train approximately 50 highly qualified science teachers who will teach in New York City public schools, but…

In this paper I develop indices capturing business/market and nonprofit/mission characteristics of charter schools that can be used to explain many of their observed operational and political choices. This improves on earlier research using only a binary variable classifying charter schools as market or mission rather than letting them take on…

This study uses a unique, longitudinal statewide database to track students through the new teacher supply pipeline from high school through college and initial teacher certification. The report examines how each stage influences the characteristics of those who enter the teaching profession, with particular attention to academic skills and…

This paper examines the morale of beginning secondary science teachers who attended one of three types of teacher preparation programs: (1) traditional undergraduate, (2) post-baccalaureate certification, or (3) alternative route to certification. One-hundred one secondary science teachers (grades 7-12) who were completing their second year in a…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether particular biographic and academic characteristics would predict whether an applicant would matriculate into and successfully complete an online secondary teacher certification program. Results of statistical analyses conducted on 170 applicants over the past three years affirm the importance…

At the turn of the century, there was a widespread perception on the part of pupils, teachers, and policy makers that a "problem with school music" existed, particularly at the secondary level. It was hypothesized that one contributory factor was the perceived authenticity of "school music" in relation to "music outside…

In this article, the author shares her experience in setting up a secondary school. Firstly, the author sets the context for the school and describes the initial issues that arose. These issues are examined in the light of contributions from the school's senior management team and from reflecting on both his own experiences as a governor and his…

A teacher shortage in Hong Kong in core subjects, such as English, has led to interest in the recruitment and retention of second-career teachers. Drawing upon Wenger's (1998) theory of identity formation and using data from interviews with eight second-career English language teachers in Hong Kong, this paper explores how second-career teachers…

Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation's urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught…

This study examines teacher diversity in a federally-funded mathematics and science partnership program. Each of the partnerships in the program provided preservice and/or inservice education for teachers in mathematics, science, or both. Researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the effect of strategies implemented by the…

Teacher Professional Continuum (TPC) brings to mind a messy collection of terms: induction, intern, mentoring, mid-career, renewal, preparation, professional development, recruitment, retention, veteran teachers. Currently, no coherent structure or model defines, differentiates, or identifies the most important concepts, processes, and…

Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has provided funding to new charter schools through Charter School Program (CSP) grants designed to provide support for the planning and implementation of effective new charter programs. Grants are awarded to state education agencies, which then provide funding to approved charter schools through…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…