Teachers' perceptions of incentives and deterrents for teaching special education, teachers' movements between districts over a 5-year period, and teachers' future professional goals were queried through a survey of 484 Alaska special education teachers conducted by the Alaska Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD). Retention of…

Over the past 7 years the authors have been involved in the development of a new model for the education of science teachers that has the potential to address teacher education in challenging urban settings characterized by problems such as teacher turnover and retention, low job satisfaction, and contradictions arising from cultural and ethnic…

This research study focused on the special nature (i.e. different from mainstream education) of special education and the experiences of teachers with regard to the challenges they face in teaching the mentally handicapped child. Special schoolteachers have the responsibility to offer not only good, but also highly individualized and goal-directed…

As community colleges struggle with keeping their disciplines and programs up-to-date, offer more courses to an ever-increasing student population, and battle shrinking budgets, adjunct faculty save the day (Roueche, Roueche, & Milliron, 1995). To retain quality part-time faculty members already employed in community colleges, as well as new hires…

This article, based on the author's doctoral research, examines the ways in which some religious schools in New South Wales (NSW), via institutional practices, maintain and perpetuate discrimination in relation to lesbian teachers and lesbian sexualities. These institutional practices, which included threats of dismissal, forced resignations,…

Various major publications such as the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) and the collection of research results regarding the use of inquiry methodology in the teaching and learning of science edited by Minstrell & van Zee (2000) recommend that science should be taught in the same way that it is…

This study investigated teacher attrition and retention in seven Virginia school divisions representing urban, suburban, and rural localities. Focus group interviews of teachers who stay in their school divisions and telephone interviews of teachers who migrated to another school division or who left the teaching profession revealed a hierarchy of…

Twenty-five recent graduates of a Master's Program in Early Childhood Special Education participated in focus group interviews designed to explore their perceptions and experiences regarding their first years of practice in urban schools. Findings revealed that participants faced many challenges including collaboration with colleagues, seeking…

The first official trustee of the Northland School Division details the history of the corporation from its founding in 1960. The anecdotal narrative describes achievements and failures, operating procedures, and difficulties of providing education in isolated areas. An editors' response following the paper points out the author's unique…

Teacher networks used in California and Vermont are examined. Interviews, observations, and document analyses identified how teacher beliefs, teacher experience, social influences, and practical circumstances interacted with program goals and methods to shape teachers' experiences with networks, views of teaching and learning, and classroom…

This article considers two policy initiatives that address the dilemma of increasing special education teacher numbers and improving quality: the No Child Left Behind law and the plan laid out in the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future policy blueprint. It then discusses teacher attrition and retainment strategies. (Contains…

Development of precollegiate teachers of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) differs from that of teachers of commonly taught languages. The article examines characteristics that LCTL preservice teachers bring to teacher preparation and outlines aspects of preservice and inservice development that help teachers effectively make LCTLs more…

This article explores the relationship between teachers perceptions of administrative practice in high schools and students perceptions of the school, teachers and their own performance. It was found that where decision making is perceived by teachers as collegial, collaborative, co-operative and consultative and providing adequate opportunities…

This study examines processes that personnel go through to assimilate the cultural norms of their schools. These processes are compared according to the teaching and learning environments of healthy, high achieving school districts and unhealthy, low achieving school districts. Specifically, this paper examines the "basket of crabs" effect, a…

This chapter explores factors of concern for, and overall experiences of, African American female faculty and administrators, including salary issues, affirmative action, racism, sexism, homophobia, campus climate, isolation, tenure and promotion processes, and salary. The data reported here were gathered during a study of African American women…