American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) developed this report to promote greater understanding of underlying teacher education issues, in connection with continuing state-level activity and the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This paper offers a brief overview of five interrelated topics pertaining to…

Research increasingly demonstrates what common sense has long made apparent to educators and parents: Teacher quality matters--a lot. Teachers' knowledge and skills are the most vital in-school factors influencing children's learning. And, for children from disadvantaged backgrounds or troubled home environments, quality teaching is even more…

Noting that teaching reading is one of the Bush Administration's top domestic priorities, this pamphlet introduces the Ready to Read, Ready to Learn education initiative of First Lady Laura Bush. The goals of the initiative are to ensure that all young children are ready to read and learn when they enter their first classroom, and to ensure that…

Study conducted under the auspices of the Executive Council of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. (DD)

Reviews six decades of committee findings on the supply and demand for science teachers in Great Britain, and lists 11 proposals for improving the supply of good science teachers. (GS)

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future concluded that reforming education hinges on restructuring the teaching profession. Major barriers include inadequate teacher education, slipshod recruitment, haphazard hiring and induction, inadequate professional development and recognition, and failure-prone schools. The commission…

An interview with staff and teachers from the Centre for British Teachers, which recruits, trains, orients, and develops teachers for overseas posts in Brunei, Malaysia, Oman, and Germany, discusses organizational views of teacher development and the role and value of postgraduate courses as an aspect of personal development. (Author/CB)

With its inadequate training methods and disregard for teaching and learning knowledge base, Wendy Kopp's Teach for America (TFA) program continues a long tradition of devaluing urban students and deprofessionalizing teaching. One elementary school principal found that recruits lacked teaching skills and were not really dedicated to meeting…

Describes how the idea of avocational teaching took shape at Congregation Kehillat Israel (Michigan). Discusses five features that came to characterize their approach to avocational teaching and teacher development. Concludes by examining lessons learned about how to sustain teacher development that also address broader issues of educational…

British Catholic schools are experiencing a pronounced decline in head teacher and teacher applications. Leadership is important, but it requires a critical mass of students and believing teachers who can co-lead school communities. The church must find, enlist, train, and support teachers who share its value system. Contains 19 references. (MLH)

Presents data demonstrating the disproportionately low numbers of female technology teachers, teacher educators, and students in British Columbia. Discusses recruiting inequities, history of gendering in industrial technology classrooms, and resistance to gender-specific interventions. Outlines a technology education curriculum for all students.…

The Appalachian Model Teacher Consortium is a partnership involving Radford University, Wytheville Community College, and the Grayson County (Virginia) School System. Its purpose is to prepare highly qualified teachers for rural southwest Virginia. The model was developed in response to the growing teacher shortage facing school districts in rural…

Key findings from the 1996 Ohio Education Supply and Demand Study are presented, covering the areas of current educator employment; enrollment and population; population projections; gender; race; age and experience; employment prospects; and long-term supply and demand outlook. Analysis of the data indicated: (1) the number of school-age children…

This paper was developed for the Illinois State Board of Education as part of a year long project to address the issue of personnel shortages in special education. Recommendations from a number of state committees and professional organizations were analyzed and additional input obtained from various professionals in regular and special education.…

Teach for America is a national teacher corps of outstanding individuals who commit 2 years to teach in urban and rural areas experiencing persistent teacher shortages. Teach for America selects corps members through an intensive application process, prepares them to enter the classroom in a preservice institute, clusters them in placement sites,…