Washington statewide data indicate that attrition rates did not differ between rural and urban special educators, but were twice as high for rural special educators as general educators. Interviews with special educators focus on soaring rural special education enrollments and difficulties in rural teacher recruitment. Contains 23 references. (SV)

Identifies factors that inhibit the recruitment and retention of minority students in gifted education programs including screening and identification issues (definitions and instrumentation); educational issues (quality of students' education); and personnel issues (lack of teacher training in gifted and urban education, low teacher referral).…

A study examined the effectiveness of a program to prepare and retain 35 on-the-job teachers serving students with mild to moderate disabilities in urban schools. Teachers developed competency over time and viewed seminars and on-site assistance as critical sources of support, however, they continued to experience significant challenges and…

A survey of 1,576 Florida special-education teachers examined factors that contribute to their propensity to leave or stay in the special education classroom or transfer to a new school. Teachers left special education teaching primarily due to insufficient certification, perceptions of high stress, and perceptions of poor school climate.…

This article reflects on the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program, a program that provides first-year early childhood educators support and assistance from a team of resource teachers, principals, and teacher educators through a year-long supervised internship. It discusses teacher attrition and the need to address issues of teachers' pay and…

Data from two panel studies, the 1993 to 1995 nationwide Schools and Staffing Survey and the Teacher Follow-Up Survey, as well as a 1998-1999 survey of teachers in one western state are used to examine the influence of variables related to demographic characteristics, work assignment, effectiveness, social support, and school management on the…

Scarcity has been such a constant in education for so long that self-sufficient teachers routinely purchase classroom supplies at their own expense. Sometimes desperate measures are needed to obtain even the most basic equipment. But beyond the lack of material resources are more serious conditions that create an atmosphere of famine, turning…

Research reveals that teachers' working conditions are more likely to determine whether they stay at a school--or even in the profession--than are their salaries. Results suggest that policymakers ought to consider selective pay increases, preferably keyed to quality, for work in inner-city schools, together with efforts to improve the working…

The present study focuses on the relationship between teacher empowerment and teachers' organizational commitment, professional commitment (PC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It examines which subscales of teacher empowerment can best predict these outcomes. The data were collected through a questionnaire returned by a sample of…

This paper reviews the research literature on new teacher mentoring, focusing on issues of definition, why teachers quit, and the effects of mentoring on retention. Conclusions call for more scientific studies on the relationship between mentoring and retention, more research on the relation between mentoring and other educational outcomes, and a…

The Science and Mathematics Alliance for Recruiting and Retaining Teachers (SMARRT) is a collaborative partnership pursuing aggressive strategies to recruit high quality minority teachers to teach in high-need schools in urban school districts. This partnership is dedicated to recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality teachers with strong…

In light of shortages of mathematics and science teachers, alternative certification was introduced in the mid-1980s. This study examined the effect of alternative certification among math and science teachers who moved to a different school or left the profession. This was accomplished using the national "SASS" and "TFS"…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

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 proceedings identify, clarify, and address the problems of the post-Brown era from a variety of perspectives. The first two papers are: The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet Keynote Speech (L. J. Bennett) and the Luncheon Session, "Integrating the Recruitment Preparation and Retention Strategies of Persons of Color in Teaching" (J.…