There is overwhelming evidence that teachers have the most effect on pupil outcomes (closely followed by the quality of leadership). The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) concluded that: (1) teachers were central to school improvement; (2) in order to improve the quality and fairness of education, teachers had to be…

To successfully educate the public about agriculture, food, and natural resources, we must have effective educators in both formal and nonformal settings. Specifically, this study, which is a valuable part of a larger sequential mixed-method study addressing effective teaching in formal and nonformal agricultural education, provides direction for…

This report presents findings from Phase 2 of a three-year teacher evaluation pilot conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Principals evaluated the teaching practices of teachers using The Framework for Teaching, a rubric that includes 22 components grouped into four broad teaching practice domains: (1) planning and preparation,…

The literature on effective schools emphasizes teacher quality as a critical input for improving student outcomes. Teacher certification status, years of experience and possession of a graduate degree are three factors commonly taken into consideration when assessing teacher quality. With the advent of advanced measurement tools, however,…

Using survey data collected from 2,273 teachers in Texas, this study explores differences in school organization that contribute to the experiences (e.g., working conditions, instruction and student engagement in learning, self-efficacy and job satisfaction, and teacher evaluation) of charter school and traditional public school teachers.…

Part-time faculty teach approximately 58% of U.S. community college classes and thus manage learning experiences for more than half (53%) of students enrolled in community colleges (JBL Associates, 2008). Often referred to as "contingent faculty," their work is conditional; the college typically has no obligation to them beyond the…

In our work as educators, we all aspire to be effective. We also aspire to be wise. If teachers are to represent and advocate for education, we must become the stewards of a discourse that nurtures education's possibilities. This book explores how teacher dispositions are defined, developed, cultivated, and assessed. The authors in the volume…

This study makes a contribution to the development of empirically based, domain-specific teaching standards that are acknowledged by the professional community of teachers and which, therefore, have a good chance of being successfully implemented and used for professional development purposes. It was prompted by the resistance on the part of many…

Problem: Within the higher education community there is discourse regarding teacher dispositions and the assessment of dispositions. Murray (2007) and Damon (2007) posited that additional scholarship and research were needed to provide a meaningful construct of dispositions. With this lack of consensus, teacher education programs need to explore…

This paper examines various definitions and frameworks that have been used to justify the emergence of a new category for the teacher professional: teacher leader. The emergence of this new professional category may lead to greater retention levels, and improved knowledge management and transfer within the teaching profession. Various key…

Recently, schools of education throughout the country have struggled with how to infuse, teach, and assess dispositions in systematic ways within their teacher education programs. This necessary and important work has proved to be time-consuming challenging. The following article describes the four-step process that the authors are currently…

This article reports on findings based on analyses of a unique dataset collected by ACT that includes information on student achievement in a variety of subjects at the high-school level. The authors examine the relationship between teacher effect estimates derived from value-added model (VAM) specifications employing different student learning…

This study explored Wyoming school leaders' perceptions about the traits of incompetent teachers, strategies used to work with incompetent teachers, and the barriers to their dismissal. Most importantly, this study differentiated how principals and superintendents viewed incompetency issues. Some major findings include school leaders' beliefs that…

With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CRESST researchers conducted a multi-year evaluation of a major school reform project at Alain Leroy Locke High School, historically one of California's lowest performing secondary schools. We found the one-year teacher retention rate at GDL in 2010-2011 was 79%; Green Dot Locke teachers,…

Teacher evaluation is at the center of current education policy reform. Most evaluation systems rely at least in part on principals' assessments of teachers, and their discretionary judgments carry substantial weight. However, we know relatively little about what they value when determining evaluations and high stakes personnel decisions.…