Teacher absenteeism appears highest in elementary schools, schools with lower student achievement, schools composed of economically disadvantaged and minority students, and urban school districts. Survey of Brooklyn high schools found high teacher absenteeism; in addition, attendance patterns were habitual, teachers holding temporary teaching…

Absenteeism is seen as perhaps the most pervasive problem in work environments today. Because of expanded and more liberal benefit plans, as well as changing societal values, employees work fewer hours than ever before in history. A decentralized attendance control program developed by the University of Michigan is discussed. (Author/MLW)

Describes Bellevue (Washington) School District's employee wellness program's successful efforts to (1) save lives by promoting healthy lifestyles, (2) boost morale by taking health services to the workplace, (3) improve on-the-job performance by providing inexpensive, convenient opportunities for exercise and weight loss, and (4) reduce staff…

Discusses improving attendance of staff and administrators by providing various financial and recognition-oriented incentives including savings bonds, plaques, and a year-end trophy. Rewards for perfect and near-perfect attendance resulted in a 16 percent improvement in total staff attendance and improvement in 90 percent of individual schools.…

Presents results from the First Annual SubConference: A National Conference on Substitute Teaching. The theme was "Best Practices in Managing Substitute Teaching." The conference examined what works and what does not work concerning practices and policies related to substitute teaching. Topics included recruiting, screening, training,…

Describes strategies used over a four-year period to reduce teacher absenteeism. These include notifying school board of absentee rates, tying attendance to teacher evaluation, requiring administrative approval for personal leave near weekends, and a cash bonus for good attendance. (TE)

During its first two years of operation, the Second Mile Plan of the Houston (Texas) Independent School District successfully used financial incentives to encourage improved teacher attendance, staff stability in inner-city schools, teacher professional development, improved academic achievement, and higher employment in areas of staff shortages.…

Discusses the problems of hiring substitutes and Ellington High School's (Connecticut) plan to deal with the problem: relieve teachers of supervisory duties, assign them to resource rooms organized around a particular academic discipline, and utilize these teachers as substitutes in their area of discipline when the need arises. (LC)

This report reviews the experiences of two New Jersey school districts that have initiated Attendance Improvement Plans (AIP) for professional school personnel. It is intended to summarize a 1974 report entitled "Program to Improve Teacher Attendance." The districts that participated in the pilot project were Newark, with approximately…

A Dallas, Texas, districtwide campus incentive pay plan rewarded all personnel in schools that ranked in the top quartile of schools exceeding achievement expectations and that met student and teacher attendance requirements. Program goals were achieved, suggestions for improvement noted, and future plans include campus and individual incentive…

Describes the development of a program to improve school productivity in Richland County (South Carolina) School District One. Lists the program's six criteria, involving reading and mathematics test performance, teacher and student attendance, and parent and student attitudes. Presents the results of the program's first year. (RW)

This paper reviews five popular and emerging models for the implementation of Internet and network technology in higher education: low tech, lab, laptop, virtual, and networked systems. Three perspectives on these models--that of a faculty member at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada), an administrator at the University of Lethbridge,…

Techniques that reduced teacher absences from 8.7 to 7.6 per year in the Milwaukee Public Schools are described in this report. The techniques include (1) information, in each new teacher's orientation kit, on the district's attitude toward good attendance, (2) articles about sick leave in the staff bulletin, (3) periodic reminders and training…

Many recent studies have revealed a dramatic increase in teacher absenteeism. Some findings indicate that absenteeism increases following collective bargaining agreements that provide a set number of days that employees may be compensated for illness. There appears to be a growing public reaction to such absenteeism. A New York study noted that…

Outcomes of the Orchard Plan, an experiment designed to reorganize funding to support new models of instructional delivery, are described in this report. Basic elements of the program include an extended school calendar; a reorganization of categorical funding into intersession enrichment courses for at-risk students; a reduction in class size…