Why we must subsidize intellectual curiosity in public schools is discussed and the need for a serious campaign to excite young people about teaching as one of the fundamentally most important professions available to Americans is examined. (RM)

The Tennessee education system has slowly introduced school-based management (SBM) or site based decision making (SBDM). This paper presents findings of a study that investigated Tennessee educators' perceptions of responsibility for teacher hiring. Data were obtained from a survey of 197 teachers, 22 principals, 13 district administrators, and 22…

The need for greater diversity in the United States teaching workforce continues to increase as the numbers of teachers of color graduating from colleges of education remain low. This paper considers the current need for more minority teachers, as well as the theoretical framework and primary design of a learning community project between a…

This study surveyed special education directors and speech language pathologists (SLPs) to identify recruitment and retention strategies currently in place in West Virginia and related problems. A 13-item questionnaire was mailed to all 55 Special Education Directors (SED) in West Virginia. A second survey instrument, consisting of 36 items, was…

The question of whether assistant professors are valued resources at colleges was investigated and compared to findings of a 1957 study by Caplow and McGee. Based on actual personnel actions, interviews were conducted with 306 department heads, nonterminated faculty colleagues, and new appointees. The interviews were concerned with the appointment…

A major barrier to minority student participation in the Arizona State University teacher preparation program is the state-mandated requirement that all sections of the PreProfessional Skills Test (PPST) be passed before any teacher preparation courses can be taken. This paper describes the significant features of a minority recruitment/support…

The motivations of black faculty with doctorates to teach in the relatively few predominantly black colleges and universities at a time when there is heavy demand for black faculty in most American higher education institutions are explored. Black faculty are in short supply, constituting 5% or fewer of the total American professoriate, and this…

Requiring administrators to develop and implement a plan for attracting and employing high quality personnel is an important responsibility of the board of education. In the West Linn school district in Oregon, efforts are directed at recruiting beginning teachers and outstanding teachers presently employed in other districts. A representative…

By the year 2008, 2.2 million teachers will be needed to fill open teaching positions created by increasing student populations and the rapid rise of retiring teachers. The urgent need for qualified teachers looks to be overtaking the number of available qualified teachers. Despite the efforts of teacher training programs in nationally accredited…

Using data from the Census and the Department of Education, this study compares 1970, 1980, and 1990 to analyze shortages of Asian American teachers by U.S. geographic location, Asian nationality, gender, grade level, and immigration status. Causes of shortages are linked to traditional patterns of teacher recruitment. (SLD)

In order to assess the effects of reform efforts to recruit more academically able teacher candidates over the previous decade, this study was designed to determine the relationships between selected personal attributes and the differences in the affective characteristics of a 1980's sample and a 1990's sample of teacher candidates. The subjects…

Teach for America (TFA) is a national teacher corps of outstanding individuals who commit themselves to teach for 2 years in urban and rural areas that are experiencing persistent teacher shortages. TFA selects corps members through an intensive application process, operates inservice institutes to prepare them to enter the classroom, clusters…

This paper on minority teachers in the field of mathematics begins with statistics on minorities in America, in order to put the problem of underrepresentation in perspective. It then showcases programs that appear to be successful in recruiting and/or retaining minorities in teaching mathematics at the school, college, and university levels. The…

Teacher education programs can benefit from research on student retention. By focusing on intervention for the very youngest student, failure at early levels may be reduced. Teachers must be taught to meet the needs of these students and to work more effectively with high-risk students who are potential drop-outs. Teachers can help at-risk…

This paper addresses the progressive efforts to reform teaching in the United States by making it into more of a profession. Three main components of teacher education, each designed to address a particular aspect of the teacher's work, are discussed: (1) the arts and science component in which prospective teachers acquire knowledge of the subject…