This bulletin is one of a series reporting the findings of investigations undertaken during 1936-37 under the Project in Research in Universities of the Office of Education. The project was financed under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, and conducted in accordance with administrative regulations of the Works Progress…

The single most important prerequisite for professionals working with severely and profoundly handicapped children in provincial school systems is the belief that all individuals can learn and that their rates of learning are not a justifiable basis for judging the "worthwhileness" of individuals nor the importance of teaching them. (BRR)

This study identified the educational and occupational characteristics and professional competencies needed by qualified instructors of agriculture in Iowa postsecondary schools. Highest ranking professional competencies suggested by administrators and teachers included: (1) developing and maintaining rapport with students and (2) working…

Surveyed students regarding teacher characteristics. Found sex differences but no age, family income, or geographic differences in "good teacher" characteristics; there were sex and private versus public school differences in poor teacher characteristics. Also found that attitude toward students was deemed as important as class content,…

To be effective educators, teachers need not only a degree but also an imagination that allows students to be creative and motivates them to learn. The article suggests that the teaching profession must establish guidelines whereby aspiring teachers can, to some degree, measure their personality endowments and fitness to be a teacher as well as an…

This national study of 859 teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) provides a profile of their characteristics and preparedness to teach and compares these teachers with 3,687 other special educators. Teachers of students with EBD were disproportionately male, were more diverse, and had significantly fewer years of…

This report presents the results of three studies on beginning teacher needs and support. The first study investigated what one beginning teacher and her mentor talked about in scheduled talk sessions. Audiotapes of the talk sessions and interviews with the teacher and her mentor uncovered how the beginning teacher perceived teaching and herself…

A study investigated the characteristics of elementary school (kindergarten and grades 1-2) teachers of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and the oral language proficiency of students in the classrooms of identified effective bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers. The study involved (1) a district-wide survey of…

The issues of teacher quality expressed by many of the recent national reports on excellence in education have led a number of universities and colleges to increase the admission requirements and/or the exit standards for teacher certification programs. Emphasis has been placed on higher grade point averages and demonstrated academic ability on…

A statewide study was conducted to collect demographic data on teachers of non-credit community college courses; to determine the reasons for their part-time employment in continuing education programs; and to ascertain differences in reasons for teaching based on age, sex, length of time engaged in teaching, satisfaction with teaching, and…

While much has been said and written about teaching excellence, educational research has not defined what it means to be an excellent teacher, so it is important for teachers in all subject areas to initiate and sustain a dialogue about teaching excellence. Six attributes characterize excellence in a secondary school communications teacher. First,…

Data from a study to identify perceptions concerning key cultural concepts and their inclusion in nursing school curricula showed a discrepancy between what was desired and what was practiced. The demographic data were examined to identify factors that might be contributing to the reported perceptions of the administrative and faculty personnel.…

A recent U.S. Office of Education-sponsored study of the overall impact of educational innovation, the Longitudinal Study of Educational Practices (Project LONGSTEP), showed that student achievement was not related to emphasis on innovation in any substantial or consistently positive way. These findings have been mistakenly interpreted by some as…

Project PROBE, supported by USOE, conducted in fall 1967 a survey of social studies teachers and teaching in cooperation with the Catskill Area School Study Council. In the Project's service area, including all or part of 5 counties in upstate New York, questionnaires were mailed to one-third of the elementary teachers and to all of the secondary…

This masters thesis develops a profile of the junior college sociology instructor teaching in the Southern region. Most junior college sociology instructors in the South are white Protestants, under 40, and married men. 65% of the respondents attended high school in a small town or rural area; 62% received their entire college background in the…