Many would say that while there are two ways to enter the teaching profession--traditional and alternative--there seems to be a common way to leave it: quickly. Across the board, more than half of beginning teachers leave teaching before their fifth year, and that percentage is even higher in urban public schools and for those prepared by some…

This paper looks at six mentoring programs in Wisconsin for beginning teachers. Four of the programs (Beloit, Kenosha, Plattesville, and West Allis-West Milwaukee) are district programs in which teachers assume mentoring responsibilities in addition to teaching. In the Milwaukee School District program, veteran teachers serve as full-time mentors,…

This study surveyed three groups of teachers to investigate their perceptions of problems faced by beginning teachers. The study reexamined the usefulness of Veenman's (1984) meta-analysis of the perceived problems of beginning teachers. Participants were Wisconsin beginning teachers, experienced urban teachers, and cooperating teachers. The…

Since 1960, the Teacher Intern Program has offered the best teaching candidates throughout Wisconsin an opportunity to analyze teaching and learning experiences in school settings, interact with experienced colleagues, put into practice what they have learned in school, and receive payment. Internship activities focus on preparing, selecting, and…

This study explored student teacher, intern, and beginning teacher journals for themes that might inform inservice and preservice teacher education programs. The journals of 58 teacher candidates and beginning teachers were read to identify themes. Then common themes were organized into categories and frequencies for each category were determined.…

This volume focuses on school finance challenges in large urban school districts, fiscal accountability in these schools, and the fiscal dimensions of urban school reform. The 12 papers are (1) "School Finance and Urban Education Reform" (Christopher Roellke and Jennifer King Rice); (2) "Can Whole-School Reform Improve the…

A Wisconsin study examined the perceptions of participants in a state-mandated mentoring program for beginning teachers. A researcher obtained names and addresses of beginning teachers, counselors, and librarians as well as personnel serving as mentors to beginners. A total of 14 mentors and 15 beginning teachers, counselors, and librarians agreed…

The Standards and Assessment Work Group in Wisconsin developed an assessment framework for performance based teacher licensure. They determined assessment criteria, measurement categories, and contexts for assessing readiness for teaching. The License and Career Stages Work Group devised a licensure system to further enhance the quality of…