This article reviews the history of national policy for personnel preparation under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and offers some recommendations for federal policy that may increase special education faculty. It concludes that higher education must develop new ways of communicating its importance to policy makers.…

The purposes of this literature search were to document the need to increase the number of minority teachers in the nation's elementary and secondary schools and review recommendations for designing a teacher education model to meet that need. Community colleges have proven to be the most successful institutions for helping Blacks and Hispanics…

This publication analyzes the current status of the teaching profession in California, emphasizing what makes it attractive and satisfying or discouraging to teachers. Important trends in public attitudes about the teaching profession are explored, as well as teachers' perspectives on recruitment and retention. Among the serious problems noted…

Eleven recent reports related to excellence in education were examined, and their implications for vocational education were interpreted. Commonalities and differences among the studies were identified, and a selection of these was developed further with major emphases on teaching and learning. Topics were selected according to their immediacy and…

A State Issues Clearinghouse was established by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Combined Task Force on Governmental Relations to monitor and track state activities that impact upon teacher education. This report presents the results of the first survey of the fifty states undertaken by the Clearinghouse. The nine policy…

Minority professionals serve as role models for minority children; however, a decline has occurred in the number of minority teachers over the past decade. In New Orleans, Louisiana, "Educators 2000," a cooperative effort between the schools, colleges, and the Urban League, focuses on recruiting students into education careers. (MLF)

This report reviews what is known about alternative routes to certification (ARC) in special education. First, it defines ARC and discusses the confluence of factors that has hastened its growth and popularity, particularly in specialized, high-need areas such as special education. Factors cited include persistent shortages of qualified personnel,…

Discusses problems and controversies associated with preservice teacher education curricular reform, teacher preparation programs and the learning disabilities field, and restructuring teacher preparation programs to prepare teachers to work with culturally diverse students with learning disabilities. Recruitment and retention of culturally…

This report considers the situation of the Illinois public schools and provides an affirmative argument summarizing the most recent research in four key areas where research has demonstrated that money clearly makes a difference in the quality of the education product: (1) establishing classroom sizes that meet the individual needs of students;…

A review of the existing literature on preparation of rural teaching personnel focuses on the problems of education and specifically, special education, in rural areas and reports various solutions to those problems. Characteristics of many rural areas (such as high non-enrollment rates, rising service costs, resistance to outside interference,…

This paper discusses the problems of the teaching profession from the perspective of the classroom teacher, and attempts to develop a set of policy recommendations related to improving teaching conditions and teacher effectiveness. Information collection focused on data obtained from in-depth interviews conducted with 73 elementary and secondary…

An analysis of data on teachers indicates coming changes in recruitment and retention of the American teaching force, in the quality of teachers, and in the attractiveness of teaching as a profession. New recruits to teaching are less academically qualified than those who are leaving, and shortages of qualified teachers in subjects such as…

Despite increases in teacher education enrollments, urban schools continue to suffer from serious staffing vacancies, due in part to the shortage of prospective minority teachers. This article lists representative programs operating on Federal, state, higher education, and school district levels designed to recruit teachers for placement in urban…

Examines the need for better preparation of teachers to live and work in rural Australia. Uses responses from a rural Queensland community meeting to discuss preparation needs related to multiage classrooms, cultural differences, and school-community involvement. Describes a new internship/mentor program at Queensland University of Technology that…

This memo contains a comprehensive review of past, present, and likely future conditions related to the supply and demand situation of public school teachers. Primary emphasis is placed on the quantitative rather than the qualitative aspects of the teacher supply and demand picture. Section I summarizes and presents highlights of findings on: (1)…