Based upon a longitudinal, ethnographic study of a teacher education reform program, this paper examines the social context of, and explores the political implications for, policies and programs designed to recruit, train, and retain high-ability persons in the teaching profession. Through the economic metaphor of investment securities, this paper…

NEEDED RESEARCH IN TEACHER SELECTION IS DISCUSSED UNDER FOUR CATEGORIES. (1) TO IDENTIFY THE BEHAVIORS THAT DEFINE EFFECTIVENESS IN THE MANY ASPECTS OF THE TEACHING TASK, MANY SETS OF REQUIREMENTS ARE NEEDED, NOT A SINGLE SET. TASK ANALYSIS PROCEDURES AND CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUES ARE PROPOSED, AND DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS (E.G., IN…

The likely consequences of different educational policies affecting teacher supply and demand are examined in relation to the predicted teacher shortage. Includes a table describing 23 policies and practices of schools that attract qualified teachers. (MD)

This article reports on a survey of chief state school officers which assessed state policies that influence the quality of teachers and teaching. Twenty-one recommendations to help guide state educational policy and strengthen teacher preparation are discussed. (DF)

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher quality provisions recognize both the importance of teacher quality for improving student achievement and the unequal distribution of teachers across districts and schools. But the question of how to achieve the goal of a high quality teacher in every classroom is complicated because of the challenges of…

The Transition to Teaching (TTT) program is described in Part C, Innovations for Teacher Quality, Subpart 1, Chapter B of the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act." Its purposes are "(a) to recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals (including highly qualified paraprofessionals) and recent graduates of an institution…

Examined prospective Tanzanian teachers' reasons for choosing teaching as a career, perceptions of the job, and future aspirations. Data from student surveys indicated that few respondents considered teaching their chosen career. However, although many of the respondents initially regarded teaching as a last resort, low-status, low-paying job, the…

Traces developments following warnings that tests used for teacher education admission or licensure may prevent capable African Americans from entering teaching, using elementary student teachers' evaluations and test scores to examine the possible impact on newly licensed teachers' effectiveness if passing cutoff scores were raised by one point.…

The development, maintenance, and fluctuation of commitment to teaching was examined in the first phase of a longitudinal study. Subjects (N=17) are enrolled in a six-year teacher preparation program--Bridenthal Internship in Teaching. Results suggest that commitment is a construct which changes with respect to inherent contextual factors. (IAH)

The metaphor of securities investments is applied to a critical analysis of an experimental program designed to recruit, train, and retain bright high school students as teachers. Data from a longitudinal study of the Brindenthal Internship in Teaching Program forms the basis for the analysis. (IAH)

Introduces Duke University's efforts to attract qualified blacks to join their faculty by reaching out to black professionals, and describes one journalist's experience teaching about race in higher education. Teaching about racial relations and group identity from a "hands-on" treatment that brings the issues down to a more personal and…

Administrative data from North Carolina are used to explore the extent to which that state's relatively sophisticated school-based accountability system has exacerbated the challenges that schools serving low-performing students face in retaining and attracting high-quality teachers. Most clear are the adverse effects on retention rates, and hence…

Across the educational systems of the world, few issues have received more attention in recent years than the problem of ensuring that elementary and secondary-school classrooms are all staffed with adequately qualified teachers. The objective of this report is to present the results from a collaborative, comparative study, that examined the…

Across the educational systems of the world, few issues receive more attention than the problem of ensuring that elementary- and secondary-school classrooms are staffed with adequately qualified teachers. Even in nations where students routinely score high on international exams, the issue of teacher quality is the subject of concern. It is widely…

Across the educational systems of the world, few issues receive more attention than the problem of ensuring that elementary- and secondary-school classrooms are staffed with adequately qualified teachers. Even in nations where students routinely score high on international exams, the issue of teacher quality is the subject of concern. It is widely…