Persistent and consistent criticism of our nation's educational system has increased pressure on school districts and teacher education programs to improve the quality of teachers in our public schools. While there is research regarding the characteristics of effective teachers, the difficulty is often in identifying and hiring those teacher…

At least 36 states have made some changes to their teacher policies by passing more than 100 bills to strengthen preparation and licensure standards and provide additional funding for teacher mentoring and professional development. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) has been a catalyst in bringing teacher policy…

In 1996, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future published a report, "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future." The state of Missouri entered into a partnership with the National Commission to study and debate issues raised in the report. In 1997, the Missouri Commission on the Future of Teaching convened for…

The purposes of this study were to assess the status of recruitment, preparation, certification, and retention practices and procedures concerning day trade teachers, and to assess the effectiveness of these practices as expressed by day trade teachers, local administrators, and state administrators in the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,…

The purpose of this publication is to focus attention upon a rapidly growing development in public school administration--the increasing interest in personnel administration as a process which can be identified through a description of certain formal functions which every school district must perform. The existence of adequate personnel policies…