To produce a teaching statement, current and aspiring teachers undertake the ostensibly straightforward task of putting their teaching philosophy onto paper. But upon close examination, the teaching statement--a seemingly simple object--is much more complex. The teaching statement is full of dual functions, many of which can be conceived of as…

Beginning teachers of English are entering a profession in which their subject is increasingly framed according to prescriptive models of literacy. This is happening at a time of shift away from university provision towards school-led training. We offer a spatialised theorisation of the ways in which beginning teachers of English have drawn from…

As part of an ongoing series of reports by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), "Learning About Learning: What Every New Teacher Needs to Know" makes broad claims about teacher education based on a limited analysis of textbooks and syllabi. The report argues that teacher education materials, specifically educational psychology…

This article describes essential teacher knowledge for teaching spelling, along with a description of how this knowledge may convert to effective classroom pedagogy. The article is the result of a study of 14 beginning teachers who were participants in a broader study of their experience of teaching literacy in the first year in the classroom…

Peer observation of teaching (POT) is a reciprocal process where a peer observes another's teaching (classroom, virtual, on-line or even teaching resource such as unit outlines, assignments). Peers then provide constructive feedbacks that would enable teaching professional development through the mirror of critical reflection by both the observer…

The statistics are familiar: almost 50% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years in the classroom. The challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers carries high costs for today's schools and students. This book uncovers some of the reasons behind the elevated attrition rates in the field of education through a long-term…

Through case-study reports, this paper examines the development of two induction-year teachers (years one to three) through their participation in a professional development community in the United States: the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) of the National Writing Project. Typically, the ISI focuses its professional development efforts on…

As a field, education has largely failed to learn from experience. Time after time, promising education reforms fall short of their goals and are abandoned as other promising ideas take their place. In "Learning to Improve," the authors argue for a new approach. Rather than "implementing fast and learning slow," they believe…

This report examines the career paths of beginning public school teachers and how these career paths vary by characteristics during the teachers' first year of teaching and most recent year of teaching. The career paths in this report are based on those developed for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) research and development…

This article examines the ways that the charter school movement is experienced and negotiated by educators who entered the profession through Teach For America (TFA). TFA's impact has been significant in the larger educational trend towards market-based reforms and, in particular, the charter school movement. Analyzed through a critical…

The study reviewed in this document examined the effects of a comprehensive teacher induction program for beginning teachers (i.e., teachers new to the profession) on teacher and student outcomes in 17 school districts across 13 states. The program includes mentoring, monthly professional development sessions, study groups with other beginning…

Beginning mathematics teachers at the secondary level (middle and high school grades) have mathematics-specific needs that induction programs should address more substantially. However, a number of issues in how programs can accomplish this are more complex than often framed in discussions occurring in the induction programs and the field of…

This paper examines the current state of teachers of color in the workforce, the factors that affect the recruitment, hiring, and retention of teachers of color, and opportunities for growing a stable workforce of teachers of color. The first section of this paper, The Current State of Teachers of Color in the United States, includes a description…

Beginning teachers enter the profession with notions about what their school organization will provide for them and what they will give their organization, in exchange. Psychological contracts, as defined by Schein exist between beginning teachers and their organization. I contend, with the use of a conceptual framework, that if the implicit terms…

The international literature is clear that a professional school culture and supportive administrative arrangements are essential to the retention and development of quality teachers. In this paper the research and conceptual understandings underpinning this statement are elaborated, with discussions of the nature of quality teaching, teachers'…