The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between state-recorded value- added (VA) scores and academic optimism (AO) scores, which measure teacher self-efficacy, trust, and academic emphasis. The sample for this study is 87 third through eighth grade Reading teachers, from fifty-five schools, in an urban school district in Ohio who…

How many teachers stay, especially in the schools that need them most? The question has attracted widespread attention as policymakers have recognized that expert teaching is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Data show that poor and minority students assigned to ineffective teachers lag significantly behind their…

The Preface Plan described in this report represents the first effort of a metropolitan school system to provide a concentrated relevant training program for new inner city staff that begins after being hired but prior to the assumption of teaching duties. The recent project in which it was field-tested was supported by a federal contract from the…