In this paper the authors focus on one early-career teacher, co-author Natalie Gibson, whose initial teaching experiences were mediated by educational settings shaped by these different and often conflicting traditions. Their study of Natalie's early-career trajectory is concerned with understanding her effort to develop a conception of…

The child care workforce is changing. More than ever before, directors must contend with faculty whose educational levels, job expectations, and career aspirations differ widely. Teachers vary in their experience, professional demeanor, stages in career development, and most recently, generational differences that impact the significance and…

In 2004-2005, North Carolina's average teacher turnover rate was nearly 13 percent, ranging from a high of 29 percent to a low of 4 percent. Turnover among teachers in low-performing schools was substantially higher, with a low of 12 percent and a high of 57 percent. North Carolina has put strategies in place to address teacher retention but how…

The basics of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--adequate yearly progress benchmarks, provision of supplemental services, and a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom--are known. The intense scrutiny of the "how to" of those basics has resulted in a mix of impassioned criticism and effusive praise. What has been left largely…

One of the most important aspects of NCLB is its demand that states ensure a "highly qualified" teacher for every student. This provision draws much-needed attention to the importance of ensuring equitable student access to high-quality teachers, write the authors. Some aspects of the provision have raised legitimate concerns--including…

In the last 2 decades, federally-funded research has contributed much to the understanding of teaching and learning and the critical nature of teachers' subject-matter knowledge and ability to translate academic content into effective learning activities for students of different developmental levels and backgrounds. Research findings have…

This paper encourages teachers to consider teaching as a performing art. By using the theater as a metaphor for effective, innovative instructional methods, the author parallels various aspects of performing arts with various aspects of teaching. The "stage" represents the classroom and "sets" the teaching environment; the "set" characterizes the…

Three broad areas of recommendations in the teacher education reform agenda are addressed in this paper. These areas are preparation and continuing education of teachers, the conditions of teaching in the schools, and the requirements of teacher certification and licensure. The reform recommendations are aimed at: (1) the professional status of…

In examining the role and responsibilities of the student teacher supervisor, the following demands, or constraints inherent in the job are discussed: (1) the content, skills, and dispositions students are expected to acquire and strengthen, and the aims and objectives the supervisor wishes to set; (2) the level of mastery and competence the…

In the first chapter of this book, which deals with the world and work of teachers, themes are explored that capture the essential "dailiness" of working in schools, and a general description is given of what it is like to be a teacher. The cyclical rhythms and patterns of the school year are considered, as are the formal and informal…

Without governors' support, the emerging teaching reform agenda will go nowhere. States should eschew their "deja vu" attitudes and embrace quality of education as a major determinant of state and national economic survival. The governors' action agenda includes 10 recommendations addressing teacher education and standards, work…

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has developed and made available sophisticated teaching assessments in nearly two dozen fields. This paper draws on an array of research evidence, and data gathering in four urban communities with large representations of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs), to describe three major…

Examines why fewer college graduates from physics and science education departments become secondary school science teachers, what physics teachers encounter once they enter secondary schools, and why physics teachers leave secondary schools. Issues related to the latter area include low salaries, poorly equipped facilities, nonteaching duties,…

Captures the cooperative spirit of a suburban Georgia high school with 2,000 highly mobile students from 60 countries and speaking over 30 different languages. Staff work to counter stereotypical assumptions and use diversity as a positive resource for learning and promotion of individual excellence. Diversity-management strategies related to…

Relies on students' and teachers' accounts to reveal a more accurate account of classroom life in England (circa 1920-39) than that of official documents. Suggests that corporal punishment was extensive and brutal. Includes many verbatim accounts of teachers' and students' reactions to this treatment. (MJP)