High teacher turnover rates and less students entering into the teacher preparation programs has increased the need to better prepare and retain beginning teachers. The purpose of this mixed methods inquiry is to focus on the effect of Culturally Responsive Teaching professional development on beginning teacher self-efficacy relative to African…

Teachers face many challenges in the first years of their careers. Without support and guidance from experienced, highly qualified teacher mentors, the demands of the classroom can overwhelm novice teachers. It comes as no surprise that one-third of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. This policy update draws on research,…

School districts across the country are struggling to attract and keep good teachers, a situation that seems to be particularly acute in states such as California and Oklahoma. This is not a good time for schools to be facing a teacher shortage. States have raised K-12 standards to new heights with the expectation that all students will graduate…

In many countries, novice teachers, or those with fewer than four years of experience, have a higher turnover rate than do more experienced teachers. Using teacher employment data, we examine whether schools in an American whole-school reform model are better able to retain novice teachers. Using survey data, we investigate whether novice teachers…

Ensuring a qualified teacher in every classroom is a central part of the latest agenda to strengthen public education and maximize student achievement. Effective teaching and delivering quality instruction are lifelong and critical goals of professional development of teachers. High-quality induction programs support qualified teachers for every…

Beginning teachers leave the profession at an alarming rate. Role expansion and role intensification have become more predominate in the profession as a result of numerous reform and accountability movements, including "No Child Left Behind". Research suggests that social supports and engagement in multiple roles can buffer the effects…

Since 2002, North Carolina, under the leadership of Governor Mike Easley and the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission, has worked to improve understanding of a critical factor in student learning and teacher retention: the conditions under which teachers work. In 2006, 66 percent (more than 75,000) school-based licensed…

Governor Easley of North Carolina has made a sustained commitment to listening to educators and reforming schools to create the working conditions necessary for student and teacher success. With three iterations of the working conditions survey and about 150,000 responses to critical questions about their workplace, analyses have been consistent…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Teacher Excellence for All Children: Senior Democrat Offers Legislation Featuring Teacher Incentives and Induction…

This North Carolina edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…

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…