The vast majority of public employees--including teachers--are enrolled in defined-benefit pension plans. These plans are usually the product of state legislation that determines eligibility, benefit formulas, employer and employee contributions, and how payments will be calculated when an employee retires or leaves the system. Once an employee…

Teaching Opportunities for Partners in Science (TOPS) is an outreach program using volunteers (the "partners") for: 1) assisting teachers in grades K-8 with preparation and delivery of science and engineering (S&E) lessons in the classroom; 2) providing content knowledge to teachers when needed to teach quality science and…

Defined Benefit pension plans often generate odd time patterns of benefits. One typical pattern exhibits low accrual in early years, accelerating in mid-late years, followed by dramatic decline, or even negative returns in years that are relatively young for retirement. We consider four states for specific analysis: Arkansas, Missouri, California…

Researchers have focused their attention on the subject of special education teacher attrition for many years. While these researchers have made valuable findings, the need to abate the staggering numbers of special education teachers who leave the field still exists. Districts desiring to retain their teachers must place greater emphasis on the…

As conceived by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs[SM]) are employer-matched, portable individual accounts used to finance employee education and training. They provide employees with an affordable means of upgrading their skills and knowledge, while helping to meet the needs of employers and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the similarities and differences between five key motivational factors: (a) new teacher induction, (b) noninduction mentor support in the early years of teaching, (c) salary and benefits, (d) working conditions, and (e) administrative support influential in retention of employment in…

Community college leadership programs may take a variety of forms, among them university-based programs, leadership institutes, community college-based "grow your own" programs, professional organization-based institutes, or a combination of these. University-based doctorate leadership programs are the principal providers of these…

This report presents the California edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…

In the State of California, an additional 100,000 teachers will be needed during the next 10 years to teach in K-12 schools (School Services of California, Inc., 2006), due both to population growth and the retirement of "Baby Boomers." This critical need to develop teachers in California will be mirrored in other states as well, and…

University business programs have been facing a growing dilemma concerning how to address increasing shortages of doctoral-level faculty. In this study, the authors examine the challenges facing business schools because of the identified shortage, especially in light of pending baby boomer retirements. With the California State University system…

Although estimating how many school districts offered early retirement plans during 1990-91 is difficult, the practice is fairly widespread and is generally initiated by states, not local school districts. Early retirement options (an alternative to massive layoffs) were offered teachers and administrators in New York City, Washington, D.C.,…

For each of the past 10 years, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning has issued a report on the status of California's teaching force based on research conducted by SRI International. The Center provides practical information to help policymakers and education leaders understand the challenges they face is provided. Context, clarity…

The report highlights the differences among California counties and regions in their use of under-prepared teachers and their needs for new teachers in the coming decade as driven by projected student enrollment changes and teacher retirements. The analyses, based on expected teacher retirements and student enrollment growth, suggest that…

This seven-section report examines the pension-related behavior of older public employees, particularly California teachers. Section I introduces the benefit option situation. Section II surveys previous studies focusing on the relationship between Social Security wealth and the probability of retirement. Section III describes the California State…

California public community colleges (n=106) were surveyed regarding projected retirements at age 65 of certificated college staff and faculty members for the years 1977-78 through 1981-82. Survey responses identified 1,041 persons employed at least 60% of full-time that would reach age 65 between 1977 and 1982. By year, these figures were: 125 in…