This paper discusses some of the issues behind the current debate on merit pay for teachers. A brief history is presented of performance-based compensation systems. The difficulties in arriving at a consensus on a valid definition of merit pay are pointed out, and examples are presented of various merit plans, such as master teaching plans, career…

Results are presented of a survey of 500 teachers in New York who were asked their opinions on public education in the state. A summary of findings provides information about teachers' opinions on: (1) emphasis on basic skills; (2) school discipline and safety; (3) extension of school day or year; (4) teacher apprenticeships; (5) career ladders…

The views of professional education concerning the appropriate bases for judging the effectiveness of teachers were studied through a parallel-perceptions inquiry with 264 public school teachers and administrators versus 58 Harcum Junior College teacher respondents. The 1970 study used a questionnaire consisting of 14 criteria of the effective…

As part of New Zealand's Teacher Career and Promotion Study, a questionnaire was completed by 1,829 elementary and secondary school teachers. Four areas affecting women's representation in senior teaching positions are examined: length of service, family constraints, promotion experience, and career aspiration. More men than women had completed…

Many teachers resist staff development programs because they believe that "staff development" is a euphemism for "staff evaluation" and are suspicious of an administration collecting quantitative material on teaching for any reason. Similarly, there exists a competitiveness among teachers that precludes complete trust. In recent years, an increase…

NEWLY DEVELOPED MEASURES OF CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AND THE DETERMINATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IN PREDICTING EFFECTIVE TEACHER-PUPIL INTERACTION WERE INVESTIGATED. THE MEASURES OF TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS WERE CORRELATED WITH PUPIL CHARACTERISTICS FROM WHICH ANALYSES IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT NO DEFINITE CONCLUSIONS COULD BE DRAWN NOR COULD REASONS BE…

The purpose of this study was to determine if, in the view of the supervising teacher, there were differences in the performance of student teachers in an eight week program and in a full semester program. Participating supervising teachers had supervised two or more student teachers under a full-time, eight week student teaching program, and also…

Twenty more effective and twenty less effective teachers were studied to determine if they differed in the ways they plan for instruction. The effectiveness of the teachers was determined by their ability to affect gains in reading and mathematics over two weeks of instruction with a specially designed curriculum unit. Four variables were noted as…

To determine the extent to which new knowledge from educational research is put into practice in the classroom, a questionnaire was sent to English teachers in 13 Indiana public school systems to survey (1) the teachers' acceptance and use of selected classroom practices found in research and professional writings, (2) their awareness of the…

This study of attitudes of elementary school teachers in the Minneapolis Public School System revealed a marked discrepancy between attitudes of successful and non-successful teachers of lower class black children. An analysis of a 186 item questionnaire showed that the effective teachers displayed empathy and commitment to teach disadvantaged…

The objective of this project was to develop a model designed to expose the new community college faculty member to the essential components of community college teaching. Specifically the objectives were (1) to aid an individual to be aware of himself as a teacher and as a participant in the 2-year college environment as well as in the larger…

Criticizes the "effective teaching" movement and offers principles of effective teaching that research has shown to improve the practices of ineffective teachers. (SRT)

Discussed in this article are questions about the context for teacher evaluation that raise such issues as implementation, acceptance, administrative feasibility, and justice. The seven questions address the legal and political context of evaluation, staff or student diversity, teachers' roles, organizational structures, humane evaluation…

Questionnaires were administered to 22 principals and 41 biology teachers to determine level of agreement/disagreement when using established criteria to measure effectiveness of an outstanding biology teacher. Results indicated that principals/teachers agree on relative importance of most criteria, particularly those relating to teachers'…

Few differences are found between regular teachers and special education teachers in perceived quality of evaluation and five attributes of teacher evaluation. Results with 619 regular education teachers and 246 special education teachers from randomly selected schools in Iowa indicate that evaluation of special education teachers is relatively…