Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories…

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…

Unquestionably, rural schools face many obstacles in their attempts to attract teachers. However, a survey of preservice teachers working in rural districts found that many of these obstacles stem from misconceptions or a lack of knowledge about what it means to live and work in a rural area. Perception, however, is reality and therefore deserves…

The most important asset of any enterprise is the talent and enthusiasm of its workforce. In operating a successful business, there is no greater challenge than to attract and retain the best-qualified, hardest-working employees. And perhaps the most important factors in keeping the best people are providing workers with the tools to succeed at…

Describes the Virginia Community College System's (VCCS) initiative to help Virginia meet the growing demand for qualified public school teachers. States that the program aims to recruit teachers, offer pre-service and teacher preparation activities and programs, and prepare teachers to take the Praxis I exam and for transfer to universities. (NB)

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) States Showing Some Reading Improvements: Early Grades Raise Scores, but Older Students Continue to Struggle; (2)…

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…

One of the most important provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the requirement that all teachers of core academic subjects be "highly qualified" by the end of school year 2005-2006. Key principles for recruiting and preparing future teachers have been identified as raising academic standards for teachers and lowering…