This report reveals that about 100 Chicago schools suffer from chronically high rates of teacher turnover, losing a quarter or more of their teaching staff every year, and many of these schools serve predominantly low-income African American children. In the typical Chicago elementary school, 51 percent of the teachers working in 2002 had left…

Induction has become an increasingly popular strategy for school districts across the country that seek solutions for high attrition rates among teachers who are new to the profession. In Illinois public schools, the attrition rate among new teachers can be as high as 40 percent after only five years on the job. Such turnover levels are costly for…

Most of the phases of teacher personnel have been thoroughly studied and investigated. Turnover, however, is an exception. Only a few studies bearing directly on this question have been made. None of these has given consideration to it over a period of years. Furthermore, no study of any extent has been made in Illinois. Purpose of the…

This report presents the Illinois 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…

Using survey data collected through the Illinois Teacher Study, this report provides results about teachers' satisfaction with their preparation courses and their participation in induction activities. It describes the relationship between participation in specific induction activities, the number of activities in which respondents participated,…

This report presents a strategic plan for recruiting, preparing, retaining, and supporting a high-quality education workforce in Illinois. During 2001, six statewide public meetings entitled "Investing in Teaching" gathered public comment and recommendations from parents, teachers, administrators, higher education faculty, legislators,…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…

This paper was developed for the Illinois State Board of Education as part of a year long project to address the issue of personnel shortages in special education. Recommendations from a number of state committees and professional organizations were analyzed and additional input obtained from various professionals in regular and special education.…

A study was conducted to determine the perceived professional development and support needs for beginning home economics teachers and to determine how they use professional development and support. A census study was conducted using all beginning (having one, two, or three years of teaching experience) home economics teachers in Illinois.…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher quality provisions recognize both the importance of teacher quality for improving student achievement and the unequal distribution of teachers across districts and schools. But the question of how to achieve the goal of a high quality teacher in every classroom is complicated because of the challenges of…

This study examines the career plans and experiences of newly certified teachers and teachers with one to five years of teaching experience in the Illinois public schools. During Fall 2001, the three groups reported here were surveyed via telephone about their employment experiences, their intended career plans, the reasons behind the decisions of…

This study explored how many teachers were leaving public school districts in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin during their first 5 years in teaching. Researchers analyzed four types of novice teachers, including those who: taught continuously in the same district all 5 years, transferred to another district within the state but…

Examines educator drop out rates in Illinois and reveals that this problem is not as great as has been reported in the media. (FL)

In fall 2000, all 3,506 superintendents in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin received a survey that asked them to report on the strategies they had implemented to attract and retain teachers and on how effective those strategies had been. The survey was designed to collect basic information about a variety of…

The implications of departure of teachers from the work force are examined. Specifically questioned are the departure patterns of teachers with less than one year experience, departure patterns of teachers with twenty or more years of experience, and the relationships between the age and the experience of teachers. These questions make…