This paper presents findings from a survey of 774 government school teachers across Tanzania over the period 2020-2021. The aims were to capture teachers' recent experiences concerning (1) access and use of technology; (2) any student learning losses observed, and teachers' recommendations to address lost learning; and (3) experiences and needs…

Poverty is rife in many African countries and this has serious implications for the provision of quality education. Rural schools face severe challenges that are unique to their environment. A lack of parental interest in children's education, insufficient funding from the state, a lack of resources, underqualified teachers, and multi-grade…

The purpose of the present study was threefold: (a) What was the state of classroom teaching in Sierra Leone's rural schools? (b) What did school leaders report to be the most immediate needs for improving schools in rural Sierra Leone? (c) What contextual features affected school improvement in rural Sierra Leone? We employed a case study method…

This study was conducted at the request of education policymakers who participate in the Montana Rural Recruitment and Retention Task Force. Like many states, Montana is struggling to recruit and retain qualified educators, especially in certain subject areas and in more rural parts of the state. The purpose of this study is to provide information…

Teacher turnover disproportionately impacts high poverty districts, where teachers hold fewer professional credentials and working conditions are more challenging. The disparities in teacher quality and working conditions likely contribute to teacher turnover and workplace instability as well as limit students' opportunities to learn.…

To learn more about the early career patterns of beginning teachers, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education undertook the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS). The ultimate purpose of this report is to develop a strategy for the longitudinal analysis…

When asked to address the challenges faced by teacher education in an increasingly global society, the author answers only from her place-based perspective: she teaches in a Southern, conservative, primarily rural state where Whites outnumber Blacks two to one and where nearly 20% of the population falls below the poverty line. Although there are…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Teaching Quality and includes: (1) Ensuring Teaching Quality in a Civil Rights Context (Bradley Scott); (2) An Unspoken Culture…

Today, one out of four American children attends school in an urban district; one out of every six American children lives in poverty; and, in urban schools where most of the students are poor, two-thirds or more of the children fail to reach even the "basic" level of achievement on national tests. Urban schools are where most states…

This keynote address focuses on equity in science and mathematics education. The science and math achievement of minority and poor children are discussed from an instructional policy perspective with emphasis on who gets access to what knowledge. The discussion about the politics of knowledge acquisition involves a discussion of race, class, and…

Proposes 12 teacher attributes that are important in multicultural schools, focusing on specific teacher qualities and ideology and explaining that selecting teachers who are predisposed to perform the sophisticated expectations of multicultural teaching is a necessary precondition. Training has important value after preselection, providing it…

Ethnographic study describes the professional development of seven unlicensed or nonqualified teachers involved in a community teacher education project in two informal settlement community schools near Johannesburg, South Africa. Data from observations and interviews highlight the teachers' initiative in pursuing their own professional…

This study investigated the characteristics of principals, students, teachers and middle-grades schools located in port of entry communities along the Texas-Mexico border, examining principals' opinions about the degree to which new teachers' education and preparation experiences were appropriate. The study also examined principals' opinions about…

"Education Indicators" are facts and statistics that help to describe a public education system. They are tools which are useful in examining and measuring the effectiveness of the system. Examples include information such as the amount of local funds raised to support local schools, per pupil expenditures, pupil-teacher ratios, and…