An estimated 17% to 30% of new teachers in the U.S. leave the profession within their first 5 years of teaching. Some challenges that prompt new teachers to leave the field include stress, lack of appropriate support, and feeling unprepared to handle behavioral and academic issues among their students. Research supports the finding that teachers…

State and local education agencies across the country face challenges related to understanding and managing their teaching staff to best help students learn. Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) offer valuable information about teacher labor markets that can be used to analyze supply and demand, inform budget and staffing decisions, and…

The knowledge, skills, and practices of early childhood care providers and teachers are critical factors in their delivery of high-quality developmental and educational experiences to young children. However, studies have found that the majority of professionals that make up the current early childhood workforce are not adequately prepared. Recent…

This report presents the Iowa edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals examine…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…

This paper is a report on a study of public-school teachers' salaries in Iowa. The general purpose of the study was to better understand how recent teacher-compensation legislation would affect the Iowa education system. Specific goals were to examine the current Iowa public-school salary schedules and salaries across time (1984-2002); to compare…

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…