Many schools across the country face persistent teacher working condition challenges that are closely related to high teacher turnover rates and chronic difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers. Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) research examining working conditions survey results in both North Carolina and South Carolina demonstrates…

The 2009 edition of the "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) third annual review of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession. This year's report is a comprehensive analysis of the full range of each state's teacher policies, measured against a realistic…

The Idaho edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

This report presents findings about teacher quality from two longitudinal studies, the National Longitudinal Study of "No Child Left Behind" (NLS-"NCLB"), and the Study of State Implementation of Accountability and Teacher Quality Under "No Child Left Behind" (SSI-"NCLB"). The research teams for these two…

Responding to a state legislative mandate establishing the Iowa Educational Excellence Program, a coalition comprised of the Iowa State Education Association, the Iowa Association of School Boards, and the Iowa Department of Education was formed to examine and address the growing needs and concerns of teachers, including teacher compensation. The…

Problems and issues concerning recruitment and professional development of academic staff at higher education institutions in China are identified, and successful faculty development programs are described. Problems include: low qualifications of a significant proportion of the staff; low percentage of senior faculty; abnormal age distribution of…

Although the American work force is generally better educated than ever before, the general productivity of American workers continues to drop. This trend indicates that too many people are unable to cope with the demands placed on them to organize, evaluate, and communicate information to each other. In order to better prepare citizens for life…

This information dissemination report presents a brief introduction to the Building Bridges to Better Bilingual Education Program of the Central Board of Education of the City of New York. The primary aim of the program is to promote the linguistic and academic progress of those Title I eligible Spanish-speaking children whose achievement levels…

This study sought to determine the relationships between the rated performance effectiveness of the strongest and weakest newly employed teachers in their second year of teaching and selected characteristics of data available in their credentials utilized for their selection. The characteristics selected were prior references, interview scores,…

A study of 243 beginning teachers in Ohio rural settings explored relationships between teachers' effectiveness ratings and two preservice factors--undergraduate college grade point average and rural, suburban, or urban high school backgrounds. A highly significant relationship existed between grade point average and teacher effectiveness but not…

Focuses chiefly on compensation as a means of improving the quality and increasing the supply of public school teachers. Recommends variety and flexibility in the forms of compensation as means of recruiting new, high-quality teachers and retaining existing teachers. (DR)

Examines the effectiveness of paying teachers in large urban areas a salary differential, also known as "combat pay," for teaching at racially isolated or all-minority schools. In a sample of seven schools, "combat pay" is found to be ineffective in attracting or retaining high quality teachers. (CMG)

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform is committed to making high-performing middle-grades schools the norm rather than the exception. The Forum believes that specialized preparation of middle-grades educators will produce competent and caring teachers who are well-qualified to teach young adolescents. Therefore, the Forum strongly…

This commentary assesses the quality of information in the National Center for Education Statistics report "The Condition of Education 1997," which bears on the extent to which the nation is succeeding in staffing all schools with skilled teachers. The commentary focuses on teacher salaries, teacher preparation for diversity, and…

All 15 Southern Regional Education Board states have alternative teacher certification programs (many limited to critical needs). The article examines similarities and differences in state policies, who is entering teaching through the programs, how effective the programs are in preparing teachers, and what the program strengths and weaknesses…