This digest reviews a variety of strategies that might be employed by school districts, teacher education institutions, and state educational agencies to attract, train, and retrain Hispanic teachers in math and science. The need for long-term solutions is discussed. Five action-oriented steps to attract Hispanic high school graduates into the…

This Digest discusses engagement in alternative preparation to acquire a license to teach in U.S. public schools. Prospective teachers seek alternative programs for many reasons, including job change due to forced retirement or lack of interest; desire to contribute to society's wellbeing; and desire to use teaching skills learned elsewhere.…

It is pointed out in this Digest that there is an imbalance between the number of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American teachers and the percentage of children of similar ethnic backgrounds in the schools. The growing minority student enrollment in public schools has increased the demand for proportional minority teacher representation.…

This digest examines the qualities that make paraeducators good candidates for teaching, particularly in diverse, urban schools. It discusses the critical aspects of programs that prepare paraeducators as classroom teachers. Paraeducators and other education support personnel (ESP) already have classroom experience, are more likely to live in the…

Recruiting and retaining qualified, competent teachers is an ongoing problem for small school administrators. The reasons for high turnover are numerous and complex, e.g., preservice preparation is presently more suitable for large, metropolitan schools than for small, rural schools; career orientations fail to recognize that experience in small…

This digest examines the rural teacher shortage from a policy perspective and suggests strategies to address the problem. The rural teacher recruitment and retention problem varies across states. An adequate number of teachers are trained each year nationwide, but the problem is with distribution. Recent research on rural teacher recruitment and…

A brief overview is presented of some successful minority teacher education recruitment programs. The sample of programs includes the following: secondary education programs targeting junior and senior high school students; teaching profession magnet programs; articulation programs between four- and two-year colleges for community college…

This ERIC Digest addresses issues concerning training and recruiting minority teachers in question-and-answer format: (1) How is the shortage of minority teachers expected to affect the quality of educational services? (2) Why is minority enrollment declining at the higher education level? (3) What can be done to change the situation? and (4) What…

Recent concern for the quality of education has placed pressure on school administrators to assess and upgrade the competency of their teaching staff. No simple formula exists for measuring teacher competency, however, nor are any new methods guaranteed to improve the quality of instruction. Nevertheless, through a combination of clinical…

Today's teachers shortage is most severe in urban districts, which struggle to recruit and retain new teachers and face persistent gaps between white, middle class teachers and diverse students. Teachers' lack of cultural and linguistic familiarity in such situations can be damaging to the goal of ensuring that all children achieve to their…

Although the number of minority students in U.S. schools continues to increase, the number of ethnically diverse teachers continues to decline. The multicultural classroom creates a demand for teachers who are aware of cultural differences within the student population. Minority teachers are in a unique position to understand these differences and…

This brief report summarizes a longer report with the same title. It examines the problems of the increasingly severe shortage of qualified teachers in American higher education and the need to recruit large numbers of new faculty during the next decade and, as the potential solution to both problems, the recruiting of women to fill these faculty…

The last several years have seen a dramatic increase in the popularity of two-way immersion (TWI) programs around the country. These programs integrate native English speakers and language-minority students for academic instruction and aim to promote bilingual proficiency, high academic achievement, and cross-cultural awareness. The expanded…

This digest discusses the issues involved in implementing middle school foreign language programs. A number of implementation and instructional issues are highlighted, including: scheduling, staffing, teacher recruitment, teacher certification, staff development, curriculum development, teaching methods, and instructional materials. (VWL)

Addressing the problems of recruiting and retaining qualified teachers for small and rural schools, this digest outlines improvements that could be made by teacher education programs, state education agencies, school superintendents, and teachers themselves. Suggested guidelines for teacher education programs stress nontraditional approaches that…