Created by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) represents the first federal initiative targeted directly at state and district efforts to introduce performance measures into educator compensation. TIF responds to a growing body of evidence that existing pay structures do not respond to labor force realities or adequately…

Improving teaching effectiveness is a hot topic for policymakers around the country these days. The gathering movement marks an important step forward in the ongoing effort to strengthen our nation's schools. In many cases, however, these efforts start and stop with improving outdated, inadequate teacher evaluation systems. Such approaches fail to…

According to the U.S. Department of Education, shortages of special education and/or related services personnel continue to be a significant challenge for all states. In response to this challenge, state education agencies (SEAs) are implementing various strategies to improve recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this document is to…

Whether referred to as "pay-for-performance" (PFP) or "merit pay," attempting to tie educators' compensation to their performance in the classroom and students' performance on high-stakes tests has been a key component of many educator compensation reform efforts in the last five years. This issue looks at PFP systems broadly…

This article describes a fifth year program evaluation of a private provider program for teacher certification in Louisiana. The study sought to evaluate the success of the Teach Louisiana Consortium program in terms of teacher placement, teacher retention, administrative satisfaction, teacher attitudes, and teacher pedagogical knowledge. Initial…

This monograph offers an in-depth look at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) efforts, an investment of more than $140 million to reform mathematics and science programs in rural K-12 public education and tribal education. The authors seek to promote a foundation of contextual understanding for improving public…

Rural educational issues cannot be addressed by a one size-fits-all approach to school improvement, but current research offers some solutions and insights into turning around low-performing rural districts and schools. Of the four possibilities set forth by the U.S. Department of Education, the transformation model holds the most promise for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the perceptions of juvenile justice teachers in Georgia, Louisiana, and Ohio. Juvenile justice teachers (n = 542) completed an extensive attrition and retention survey with a 98% response rate. Comparisons were made between states, type of facility (short or long-term), gender, and…

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, faculty ranks at New Orleans' historically Black colleges remain noticeably shallower than before the floods. The languishing numbers mirror a decline in student enrollment. Xavier University of Louisiana's student head count, for instance, has lingered at about 73 percent of the pre-Katrina enrollment, a…

This article provides a pre- and post-Katrina snapshot of issues in the human resource arena with emphasis on resilience, persistence, and the overwhelming need for effective planning.

Quality teachers are needed if all students are to perform to high standards, yet teacher shortages in both general and special education remain a national concern. Too many teachers, both veterans and novices, are leaving the profession and the national attrition rate for new teachers is highest among the most "academically talented."…

As school districts nationwide work to implement the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, they may be inadvertently accelerating the departure of experienced teachers and failing to adequately support new teachers. The Alliance for Excellent Education believes that this problem requires a two-pronged solution: financial incentives for…

This report presents the Louisiana 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…

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…