Using detailed data from North Carolina, we examine the frequency, incidence, and consequences of teacher absences in public schools as well as the impact of a policy designed to reduce absences. The incidence of teacher absences is regressive: when schools are ranked by the fraction of students receiving free or reduced price lunches, teachers in…

From 2001 to 2009, about 4.5 million students will report some type of educator misconduct during their K-12 schooling, and as many as 9 out of 10 cases may go unreported (Shakeshaft, 2007). Codes of ethical conduct have decreased misconduct cases within other helping professions. Since there has been an increased awareness of teacher behavior, 25…

MySpace and Facebook are innovative digital communication tools that surpass traditional means of social interaction. However, in some instances in which educators have used these tools, public reactions to them have resulted in sanctions. With the notion that traditional ideas of privacy and teacher conduct are not yet defined in online worlds,…

This study was conducted in response to several recent incidents in which teachers and student teachers were reprimanded for content they placed on the Internet. This study examined the Facebook postings of preservice elementary teachers to determine the extent to which these postings are congruent with expected dispositions. Profiles were…

This study investigated the validity of measures of teacher brinkmanship behaviors. These are behaviors which challenge the authority system of the school while avoiding its negative sanctions. These acts are generally satirical in nature. The subjects were teachers and principals representing schools located in a metropolitan school system in the…

Because sexual harassment by faculty can deter college women from entering male-dominated fields, college administrators face the serious task of determining effective policies to deal with such harassment. This study was conducted to examine students' ratings of appropriate punishment for male professors who harass female students. The effects of…

This study focuses on the tension between community norms/values and teacher behavior in Canada. A series of instances where teachers in public or denominational schools are accused of misconduct are presented, and these instances are traced from their beginnings to their ends (that is, to the resolution or acceptance of the social conflict). Part…

Brinkmanship behaviors are challenges to authority expressed in such a mannner that expected negative sanctions are typically avoided. They are usually extemporaneous, involve satire or sarcasm, and take place in front of an audience. This study investigated 43 principals' and 137 teachers' perceptions of teacher brinkmanship behaviors and sought…

Highlights research which analyzes administrative response to unsatisfactory faculty performance at 158 western public community colleges. Results showed a narrow range of strategies used by administrators to respond to hypothetical personnel situations, with dismissal and counseling most used. (AYC)

In an effort to scrutinize the evaluative criteria used by public schools throughout the State of Washington and how these criteria resulted in the placement of certificated employees on probation, a questionnaire was sent to superintendents of 179 school districts. Fifty-one percent responded. The results of the questionnaire provide an…

Interviewed 64 students in eight elementary classrooms to assess their means-ends problem-solving ability in two socialization domains teachers value highly: task demands and the interpersonal. Found students' problem-solving ability in the task demands domain relates to teacher control orientation, which, like effective parenting, has as its…

This paper presents the findings of a 4-year study that examined 225 cases of alleged sexual abuse of students by teachers. Data were collected through interviews with 225 superintendents who had dealt with incidences of sexual abuse--184 in New York State and 41 in other states. An analysis of 10 of these cases included interviews with…

Brinkmanship behaviors challenge the authority of a social system while trying to avoid, usually through the use of humor, the sanctions that would normally be provoked. This study investigated the validity and use of short scenarios portraying various teachers challenging policy in different ways as a strategy for measuring perceptions of these…

Educators tend to make complex evaluations of the behaviors of colleagues. A study of teacher perceptions of three "brinkmanship" behaviors indicates that educators employ at least five attitude dimensions in characterizing such behaviors and that there are systematic and meaningful differences in the ways they perceive their colleagues'…

Forty-five principals were interviewed concerning their experiences with and perceptions about serious incidents of teacher misconduct. The principals protected the image of the school by heading off, dampening, and containing the incidents. They preferred to resolve incidents in-house, but resorted to formal sanctions when necessary. (Author/DC)