This study outlines and evaluates an urban school district's mentoring program in which 18 veteran teachers are selected to serve as full-time mentors for up to 10 beginning teachers or 4 persons participating in an alternative certification program. Methods of data collection included surveys and focus group interviews with mentor teachers,…

The focus of this study is the effects of a School Improvement Plan (SIP) on an urban elementary school. The school's regular education teachers were required to participate in one of five committees designed to prepare the SIP, which specified goals for improvement and the strategies for reaching them. Classroom observations were used by the…

Project SEED is a U.S. nationwide program in which professional mathematicians and scientists from major universities, research corporations, and the community teach abstract, conceptually oriented mathematics to full-sized classes of elementary school children on a daily basis as an extra-period supplement to their mathematics program. The…

Studies have indicated that teacher stress is a major occupational hazard of teaching. Little system research attention, however, has been focused upon concern to this point in Alabama. Through use of questionnaires, an effort was made to document the current status of the teacher stress/burnout phenomena in an Alabama setting and explore the…

There is a common assertion that if you can find out what teachers' problems are, you have gained enormously valuable insight into their world and are in a position to help them at some level to consider and thus accept, reduce, or eliminate those problems. This assertion has provided the basis for studies over the past 10 years. This report…

This annual report on the state of the education professions focuses on the problem of educating students from low-income families in an attempt to sharpen understanding of the issues involved. Subjects for the chapters were chosen with respect to concern with these particular problems and because surveys had been conducted which bear on them…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether the nature of leadership in Ohio Title I Schoolwide Project Schools that were deemed effective by the U.S. Department of Education differed from leadership in those Ohio Title I Schoolwide Project schools that were considered ineffective. The specific focus was to determine whether…

Teachers' beliefs related to teaching practices, knowledge, and social relations in and beyond the classroom were studied in urban schools serving African American children primarily. Two hundred forty-four teachers from six schools completed surveys about their beliefs. Of these teachers, 94% taught grades kindergarten through five, and 10%…

This report describes the development of indicators of classroom practice for monitoring and improving the quality of school reforms. The work entailed development of a rubric to rate key factors of classroom practice based on assignments and samples of student work. This approach was used to describe the intellectual challenge of class…

Focusing on the efforts of seven teachers involved in a mathematics curriculum reform program in three housing projects ("The Bricks") in Cleveland (Ohio), this article examines the contexts of reform. Cultural conflicts between students and teachers and barriers to full teacher commitment to reform hampered project implementation. (SLD)

Studies problems of 69 traditionally prepared and 162 alternatively certified first-year elementary school teachers in Houston (Texas). Results show that alternatively certified teachers appear to have more problems after two months, but differences disappear by eight months, supporting the utility of alternative certification. (SLD)

Examines ethnic minority parental satisfaction with schools, degree to which they feel informed and involved in their child's education, and teachers' perceptions of them. The interest of ethnic minority parents in the education of their children is underestimated by teachers, and this inaccurate view can affect the information teachers provide to…

Explored whether teachers and students were influenced by the size of the inner-city school to which they belonged. Data from almost 5,000 teachers and 23,000 sixth and eighth graders in Chicago show more positive attitudes of teachers in small schools and better learning for students. Suggests school size influences achievement through effects on…

Investigated relationships between teacher suspicion of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and teacher ratings on common behavior measures used to identify ADHD. Data on urban African American first graders came from teacher ratings, parent ratings, and a child behavior checklist. Results found that teacher suspicion of ADHD related…