A 3-year research project commissioned in 1988 investigated Scottish probationer teachers' views of five aspects of their experience: initial training, recruitment and selection, induction, support, and assessment. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect the views of 250 probationer teachers, their headteachers, other school staff,…

This report presents the results of a study of the effects of Washington State's Professional Growth Option (PGO), a state regulation that requires schools districts to plan and implement programs for teacher professional development. Section 1 describes the study which was conducted by teachers who interviewed 23 teachers representing different…

The personal and professional attributes, beliefs, interests, and behaviors of secondary social studies teachers were examined. Major sources of data included: a prior study which surveyed a random sample of teachers in six states; a survey of three high schools in the Rochester, New York, area; a publication of the New York State Education…

Research suggests that preservice training has at best only a modest impact on a teacher's later teaching. The fundamental behaviors of a beginning teacher apparently originate from sources other than the training program. A study sought to identify the origins of first-year and student teacher behaviors and to define these behaviors more directly…

The four case studies presented in this manual were designed to illustrate different approaches to the preparation of interns for low-income area schools offered by Teacher Corps programs around the country. The introduction presents the objectives of the manual and possibilities for its use. The research background for the case studies is given,…

A faculty exchange program was initiated between a university and a school district in an attempt to bridge the perceived gap between the role of the teacher educator and that of the classroom practitioner. For one semester, a physical education faculty member at Northern Kentucky University exchanged his fulltime teaching duties with those of a…

Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment Program (EQA) provides a school building assessment on each of the ten state adopted goals for quality education. Various teacher attitudes and usage of innovative classroom practices with respect to a series of control variables such as sex, educational level, experience, grade level and community…

The main hypothesis was that the unit is appropriate for use at the kindergarten level. The evaluation was based upon the examination of four factors: 1) the reliability and item characteristics of the unit text; 2) the effect of bias associated with pupil sex, race, socio-economic status on geography achievement and learning gains; 3) the effect…

Investigates and compares the effects of motivation for service on persistence in teaching among teachers in the 1960s and 1970s. With the exception of women in the 1960s (when few alternative careers were available), frustration among service-oriented teachers led to low levels of teacher persistence. (MJP)

Surveys preservice and experienced music teachers to discover opinions on what specific skills are important for the first three years of teaching. Teachers rated skills using a Likert-type scale. Includes a list of the skills, statistical analysis of responses, brief literature review, and summary of the results. (MJP)

Utilizes questionnaires to examine the various approaches to assessment used by inner city London, primary grade teachers. Specifically investigates assessment in English, mathematics, and science. Discovers a wide variety of approaches, both formal and informal. Discusses these findings in light of recent policy developments. (MJP)

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of kindergarten teachers' instructional time allocations and the factors that influenced their decisions. A maximum variation sample of six kindergarten teachers was chosen representing variations in gender, socioeconomic status of the school where they taught, and…

This study supports efforts by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to foster greater state accountability and establish data-driven planning and self-assessment processes that help states and schools to address provisions of the recently enacted Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act…

Because of the central role of teachers in quality elementary and secondary education, this booklet briefly outlines the condition of public school teachers and how aspects of it have changed in the 10 years since "A Nation at Risk" was published. In short sections illustrated by tables and figures using data from various national…

This book describes the experiences of 26 retired rural school teachers from western Wisconsin. The book was inspired by the community solidarity of the Cloverdale Community Club (Wisconsin) in maintaining the old Cloverdale School building. Cloverdale School was a typical one-room rural school, built in 1857 and closed by the consolidation…