This article introduces a special issue of this journal, featuring six articles on the preparation of higher education special education faculty. Faculty shortages are documented, as is the need for the recruitment and training of faculty representing minority groups. The need for faculty to be both scholars and researchers is also discussed. (PB)

The No Child Left Behind Act requires all teachers to be highly qualified by 2005-06. Accomplishing this will require statewide collaboration among higher education, school districts, certification boards, and departments of education. Data from recent studies of teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development in Wyoming illustrate…

A case study examined a Texas bilingual teacher education program that recruited local paraprofessionals and Mexican teachers (normalistas). Interviews, writing samples, and observations of seven students revealed that normalistas were open to seeing merit in U.S. educational methods, while paraprofessionals began to question the deficit model…

Reviews research showing declining interest in teaching profession. Survey reveals 45.8 percent of rural South Carolina high school students were to some extent interested in teaching. Examines related factors, including students' ability levels, grade and area-type preferences, amount of teacher influences, and perceptions of teacher salaries.…

The changing marketplace for foreign language college faculty necessitates carefully devised faculty development programs to help new and younger faculty to launch ("fire") their careers. Foreign language departments must develop effective faculty recruitment and retention strategies to maintain program quality, size, and missions. (CB)

This study investigated the supply and demand of leadership personnel in special education and communication disorders. An analysis of failed college faculty searches in 1988 supported predictions about demand outstripping supply. The shortage was most acute at institutions of higher education with small departmental faculties. (DB)

Describes the Pathways program at Armstrong Atlantic State University, which attempts to answer Georgia's need for minority teachers by offering noncertified school district employees, most of whom are paraprofessionals, tuition and support so that they can earn degrees leading to teacher certification. Factors leading to program success are…

Texas's Teacher Early Entry Paraprofessional training program is a collaborative effort between several Texas school districts and a teacher preparation program to help remedy severe teacher shortages in programs serving limited-English-speaking students. The paper describes the program's essential programs, its benefits, and the challenges faced…

Discusses the need for teachers at the elementary and secondary school levels and presents community colleges as an important source for teacher recruitment and training. Highlights some of the ways community colleges contribute to teacher education, and outlines ways to expand the future role of community colleges in teacher preparation.…

Profiles Mary Ellen Darling, an exceptional teacher at Clark Middle School in Anchorage (Alaska). Addresses the difficulties in recruiting qualified teachers for the Anchorage School District, where 20 percent of students speak 85 different languages. Describes successful efforts to recruit teachers and professional staff from states with similar…

A key feature of contemporary changes in globalisation is the increasing transnational flows of people. Evidence of the way in which these changes are impacting on education in Australia today is found in the presence of its immigrant teachers. Teacher shortages in Australia have led to increasing numbers of immigrant teachers from non-European or…

Urban schools across the United States face a pervasive problem in their science and mathematics programs-a disproportionate number of the teachers in these classrooms are not certified, thus making them underqualified to teach these subject areas. Furthermore, urban schools deal with teacher shortages and attrition in these critical areas. The…

This comprehensive review of 16 nationally representative public opinion polls conducted between 2000 and 2006 provides insight into how teachers, school administrators, parents, and the general public view the teaching profession. It looks specifically at issues of teacher availability, recruitment, and retention for at-risk and hard-to-staff…

Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries--an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly,…

This paper reports on a study that examined teacher recruitment and retention practices in the Northern Mariana Islands public school system. The study was conducted due to shortages of special education teachers and related services personnel. Based on a review of school district documents on recruitment and retention practices and interviews…