During the 2008-09 school year, over 5,000 charter schools operated in 40 states and Washington, D.C. and were attended by over 1.5 million students, or about three percent of the nation's public school students. Although the first U.S. charter schools opened in 1992, debate continues over whether they provide students with a better education than…

This study's goals were to describe an urban, blended undergraduate/teacher preparation program and to assess its effectiveness in recruiting, retaining, and preparing diverse teachers to teach in urban schools. Methods used included a 43-item, on-line survey and semi-structured interviews. One hundred nine undergraduates (68%) responded to the…

As the number of PDS programs increased and awareness of the time, energy, and resources required became more evident, calls for evidence of PDS impact increased. Since 1998, researchers have attempted to design studies that investigate PDS structural features and participant outcomes more systematically. They have used both qualitative and…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) programs has a positive effect on the retention of quality preschool teachers in Los Angeles County. In prior work, preschool teacher retention is associated with wages, program structure, program process, professional development, and…

Teacher attrition is a threat to public education in the United States. However, little information exists regarding teacher attrition and its root causes in international schools. Research, such as Barnett and McCormick's (2004) "Leadership and Individual Principal-Teacher Relationships in Schools" and Rockoff's (2004) "The Impact…

This study was conducted for the purpose of reporting the possible relationships between induction programs on beginning teachers' feelings of preparedness as well as their plans to remain in teaching. The exploration of the experiences of teachers during their first year of teaching aims to evaluate the support system they are offered during…

This monograph offers an in-depth look at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) efforts, an investment of more than $140 million to reform mathematics and science programs in rural K-12 public education and tribal education. The authors seek to promote a foundation of contextual understanding for improving public…

Is a popular innovation for increasing human capital in the teaching profession--competitive college scholarships for teachers--effective? The authors show that one large and long-standing merit-based scholarship program (a) attracts teacher candidates who have high academic qualifications; (b) yields graduates who teach lower performing students,…

Mentoring as a strategy to assist and retain beginning teachers in the profession has been perceived as the panacea for reducing attrition rates. Whilst this may be true in many cases, mentoring alone has been unable to stem the flow of resignations. In this essay on scholarship and teaching, the author explores surrounding mentoring programs. New…

One way to improve struggling schools' access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention…

This literature review seeks to find if the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 has produced more qualified teachers since before its enactment. The impact of the NCLB on student achievement and teacher quality needs have been examined since there have been 10 years after the law was enacted. Only 11% reported that the NCLB highly qualified…

This study is motivated by an ongoing debate about the kinds of schools that make for the best field placements during pre-service preparation. On the one hand, easier-to-staff schools may support teacher learning because they are typically better-functioning institutions that offer desirable teaching conditions. On the other hand, such field…

A well-known authority on teacher induction programs offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date review of all recent research on the effectiveness of mentoring and induction support for new teachers. Michael Strong provides a revealing analysis of teacher induction programs and their consequences for education, teacher quality, teacher…

Background: The need to support new teachers in urban public schools is well established, given current shortages and research that highlights serious issues with teacher retention. Debate continues about approaches to support for new teachers, including questions about the importance of developing an inquiry stance toward teaching. As more…

The purpose of this study was to examine how first-year mentoring activities would benefit second-year teachers who continue to participate in a structured mentoring program after having completed a first-year mentoring program. Sixty-nine potential participants were contacted about participating in this study. The population included teachers who…