We examine the efficiency of traditional school districts versus charter schools in providing students with teachers who meet their demographic and education needs. Using panel data from the state of Michigan, we estimate the relationship between enrollment of Black, Hispanic, special education, and English learner students and the presence of…

In July 2011, the State of Michigan adopted a broad set of teacher labor market reforms, including a high-stakes evaluation system designed in part to remove low-performing teachers. We examine the characteristics of teachers rated as "minimally effective" and "ineffective," as well as their schools, and the relationship…

Policymakers know that improving teaching in our schools requires a systemic look at many policies related to educator effectiveness. For example, teacher preparation programs need to be dramatically improved and strengthened, but without accompanying reform in compensation, even highly effective and innovative schools of education are unlikely to…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

Most school districts today are looking for ways to save money without decreasing services to its staff. Retired pharmacist Tim Sylvester, a lifelong resident of Alpena Public Schools in Alpena, Michigan, presented the district with a pharmaceuticals plan that would save the district money without raising employee co-pays for prescriptions. The…

In the era of No Child Left Behind, principals are increasingly held accountable for student performance. But are teacher labor agreements giving them enough flexibility to manage effectively? This study answers this question and others. It examines how much flexibility school leaders enjoy on key dimensions of management in America's fifty…

The information reported in this paper is based on data from the Professional Personnel Register for the school years 1967-68 through 1974-75. The paper presents a comparison of the employment patterns by curriculum for all teachers employed in the public schools of Michigan during these periods. It illustrates patterns of employment of all…

The report presents information on characteristics affecting supply and demand of special education professional personnel in Michigan public schools. Five sections address the following topics: (1) instructional-ancillary personnel and student counts (staffing and comparison of staff with student counts, personnel and student ratios for school…

The study investigated the number; experience; qualifications; other variables (age, salary, and employment levels); and attrition of special education professional personnel in Michigan. Among findings were that the peak employment of new teachers of mentally handicapped occurred in 1976-77, followed by a drop and leveling of employment in the…

The purpose of this study was to provide an empirical estimate of the number of newly certified teachers in Michigan who did not enter teaching in the year in which they were initially certified and also to estimate the time this group remained active in seeking teaching positions. The study was limited by lack of data on private school teacher…

The information in this report was compiled from verifiable minority statistics provided by several four-year institutions. The minorities were all nonwhite students; no attempt was made to disaggregate the minority data into identifiable groups because of the small number of respondents (N=607 out of a total of 2,074). Minority graduates could be…

Data presented in this document are primarily from the 1978-79 Graduate Placement Report with additional information from the 1977-78 Report and the Michigan Teacher Supply and Demand Interim Report 1980. The Graduate Placement Report provides information on the employment status of 4,619 (72 percent) of the graduates who completed programs at 30…

This reports presents information on the early career outcomes of college graduates at all degree levels, plus minority and teacher certificated graduates based on data from 28 public and independent two-and four-year colleges and universities in Michigan. The report is divided into three parts. The first section presents the data for all…

Survival analysis was used to examine and follow the career paths of 6,642 special education teachers hired in Michigan and North Carolina between 1972 and 1983. Educators most likely to leave teaching included those serving students with speech, hearing, or vision disabilities; teachers with high test scores; and teachers paid comparatively low…