This paper looks at the flexibilisation of teachers' employment relations in England in the context of an accelerated deregulation of work and employment conditions and of educational provision. It brings to light a contrasted picture, where external flexibilisation, through the recruitment of unqualified teachers, seems to be contained by a…

Recent policy conversations have discussed the possibility of narrowing the grade span of Maine's Elementary Education teaching endorsement. The certificate currently qualifies an individual to teach math, science, English Language Arts, or social studies from grades K through 8 and has been proposed to be changed to grades K (or possibly pre-K)…

Research indicates that principals are critical in school reform since the implementation of policies and practices is to a large extent determined by the role that principals play in educational change. This study examines the principal selection process used in Qatar for the government schools and identifies knowledge and skills necessary for…

Pakistan's Punjab province has witnessed numerous education reforms in recent years. Many of these reforms have been aimed at improving the well-documented low levels of learning by focusing on improving teaching quality. The rhetoric suggests that government schools, particularly those in rural areas with a more disadvantaged pupil base, are…

This essay tracks the history of teacher preparation, from its origins in the early republic to the present. In so doing, it tells two stories. The first is a story about problems--a linear story in which problems are discovered, potential solutions are generated, and positive results are achieved. It moves from the past to the future and from the…

This paper describes a case study research project carried out in a public school in Bogotá, Colombia, with four unlicensed teachers of English as a foreign language. Although the institutional guidelines in the school suggest that teachers should collectively propose changes to shape pedagogical realities, there is evidence of little…

In this study, we provide insights into the experiences of teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to identify concerns and develop strategies to support teachers' development and retention in the profession. Researchers interviewed 94 teachers from public and private schools across the UAE in four focus groups. Interviews focused on…

This study examines administrators' perspectives of a state-developed principal evaluation model adopted by a majority of Indiana school districts after legislation mandated policy reform in educator evaluation. Feedback was gathered from public school superintendents (the evaluators) and principals (those being evaluated), with 364 participants.…

"An Evaluation of the Public Schools of the District of Columbia" is a comprehensive five-year summative evaluation report for Phase Two of an initiative to evaluate the District of Columbia's public schools. Consistent with the recommendations in the 2011 report "A Plan for Evaluating the District of Columbia's Public…

In the quest to raise student achievement in low-performing urban schools, researchers often point to the central importance of recruitment and retention of a high quality teacher workforce (Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff 2002; Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain 2005; Jacob 2007). At the same time, advocates have proposed charter schools not only as a means to…

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of NCLB/accountability with educational output and input for New York State, collectively. Focusing on ELA and Math achievement in 4th and 8th grades, this study demonstrated the association of accountability outcomes in three ways: "accountability design, school proficiency level, and…

Since the fall of 2012, Illinois principal preparation programs have been operating under new state requirements intended to produce highly qualified and effective school principals capable of leading Illinois schools to higher levels of student academic performance. The rules guiding new program development are applied with a broad stroke,…

"The Rewards of Perseverance" tells the story of a district with a clear vision, stable leadership, and deliberate evolution in response to change. Located just north of Houston, AISD has faced daunting challenges since the 1990s--including a significant increase in high-need students, and more rigorous state tests. At the same time, the…

In this, the second installment of a two-part report of the 46th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, the report unveils what Americans are thinking about public schools--in particular their views of teachers and the classrooms where they work. Some findings were surprising, others were not. For example,…

One important outcome of the restructuring of the New Orleans school system post-Hurricane Katrina, and the subsequent performance of students, was an awareness that some fundamental premises in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) should be revisited. An examination of student performance in the restructured school system, for example, raised questions…