This is the second report on the evaluation of Project Giant Step, a program aiming to establish universal, comprehensive services to all 4-year-olds in New York, starting with low-income children in New York City who are not served by existing programs. The program combines an appropriate developmental and educational experience for children with…

Despite problems, extraordinary progress has been made to provide a free and appropriate public education for handicapped students in rural America. A study of 75 school districts and cooperatives in 17 states revealed significant improvements in programs and services offered and types and ages of exceptional students served. Achievements included…

In 1987, the State Board of Education cited a shortage of minority teachers in Tennessee. In 1988, The Tennessee Task Force on the Supply of Minority Teachers issued several recommendations--most of which were implemented--to increase the number of minority teachers. In 1989, House Joint Resolution 36 also requested an annual report on the status…

This paper describes the vital role that human-resources management plays as a contributing factor to excellent schools and student learning. Nationwide, it is the norm for human-resources practices to be mismanaged in ways that create inequities in the quality of teaching and school leadership. Examples include hiring constrained by limits…

Department chairs are in a position to help shape a culture where student learning is the central focus of faculty, staff, and students (Gmelch & Schuh, 2004). They hire, socialize, and evaluate faculty members' performance, guide curriculum development, and maintain the quality of academic programs. At the same time, department chairs typically…

The Public School Forum of North Carolina Study group has attempted to look at new investments that would use state resources more strategically by focusing them where they can make the most impact on students who most need additional support. In previous studies, the Forum supported, inprinciple, many of the ideas that are being set forth. In…

Explores how community characteristics of socioeconomic class; rural, small-town, suburban, or urban location; and culture shaped the principal's expectations for student progress, educational goals, recruitment and retention, supervision and staff development, and teacher collaboration in five elementary school programs for preschool students…

This article describes the design features of a mentoring program that evolved from a university/school system partnership. Findings from participant interviews suggest key issues to be considered in designing and implementing a school systemwide mentoring program such as recruitment of mentor teachers, incentives for mentor teachers, release time…

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;…

This paper reports on a study evaluating a graduate-level distance education program that provides special education teacher preparation at rural sites throughout Utah. The program was developed by the University of Utah to address problems associated with teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas. The program uses an "integrated"…

Strategies for teacher selection, recruitment, and retention are summarized in this report, which is based on results of a national survey of trends, practices, and opinions of school administrators. Thirteen chapters are contained in three sections, which deal specifically with the teacher selection, recruitment, and retention processes. The…

This report identifies present and future problems confronting Tennessee's teachers and offers proposals for responding effectively to these problems. A brief overview of trends in the teaching profession provides a preface to reports on: (1) findings of the teacher compensation subcommittee; (2) findings of the teacher training subcommittee; (3)…

In response to the shortage of mathematics and science teachers in Washington, this state's legislature developed a program to provide loans for students preparing to teach secondary-level mathematics or science in Washington public schools. The rationale was that these loans would encourage students majoring in mathematics or science to prepare…

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…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Colorado edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…