This study investigated teacher attrition and retention in seven Virginia school divisions representing urban, suburban, and rural localities. Focus group interviews of teachers who stay in their school divisions and telephone interviews of teachers who migrated to another school division or who left the teaching profession revealed a hierarchy of…

Twenty-five recent graduates of a Master's Program in Early Childhood Special Education participated in focus group interviews designed to explore their perceptions and experiences regarding their first years of practice in urban schools. Findings revealed that participants faced many challenges including collaboration with colleagues, seeking…

The press for the professionalization of teachers is based on the assertion that a strengthened profession will more effectively meet students' needs and improve the overall quality of education. This volume, the third in a series of three, explains the research and design of a study that examined the design, implementation, and impact of systemic…

During the past decade there have been considerable efforts to reform the American public school system. This survey, based on 15-minute telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,011 public school teachers in the United States, duplicates the sampling and interviewing process used in a similar study in 1984 and 1985. In…

A 3-year research and development project examined ways to improve the retention of special education teachers in the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools. Several individual studies identified sources of dissatisfaction with teaching and the conditions that would encourage career longevity among teachers. Responses from 470 special education and…

This study approaches the issue of quality in the teaching force using a microeconomic framework that applies the concept of "opportunity cost." As teaching is a low-paid profession, accepting a teaching position may be associated with high opportunity costs (foregone benefits) for more academically talented college students because they could…

Statistics indicate that 15 percent of beginning teachers leave the profession after the first year of teaching, and more than 50 percent leave within 6 years. This study was conducted to identify the problems and concerns faced by neophyte teachers at the middle and high school levels, and to distinguish between the concerns of first-year,…

This book presents an assessment of collective bargaining in education. During the 1970's, while student enrollment declined, organizations representing public school teachers grew. Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers more than doubled their membership. Teacher contracts have expanded to include areas…

In 1990, William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) participated in the annual faculty survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute in California. Of WRHC's full-time faculty, 97 responded to the survey for a 50% response rate. Results from the survey were compared with those from two-year and four-year institutions nationwide. In…

On September 30, 1986, 22 educators met in a forum on the Quality of Teaching in Puerto Rico to examine the problem of declining quality in the teaching force. Specifically, participants were concerned about working conditions, preparation, and professional development of teachers. After identifying the causes for the decline of teacher quality in…

Part 1 of this report reviews previous research, which has focused on the prevalence and sources of teacher stress more than on coping strategies. While part 2 outlines the study's scope and method, parts 3 and 4 give the results of surveys of principals and teachers in schools of the Wellington (New Zealand) Education Board. Surveys of principals…

Beginning with a review of the increasing literature concerning job-related teacher stress, this study examines the particular stress and burnout experiences of school teachers in Venezuela since the incorporation by law in 1980 of "Educacion Basica" (basic education) as a new level of the school system (grades 1-9). To compare teachers…

The report provides information on the social situation, the family, and the education system in Greece. The social situation is discussed in terms of the Greek political system, forms of society and social stratification, the linguistic situation, religions represented, social life and relationships, and 14 holidays and festivals. Information on…

THIS TWO-YEAR PILOT STUDY, COVERING THE PERIOD BETWEEN APRIL 1964 AND APRIL 1966, PROVIDES STATISTICAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHERS, THE VARIETY OF TEACHING SITUATIONS, AND THE MATERIALS INVOLVED IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS AND NEEDS…

IN MARCH 1966, THE DETROIT EDUCATION ASSOCIATION REQUESTED THAT THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON PROFESSIONAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION CONDUCT A FULL SCALE INVESTIGATION OF THE ALLEGED GROSS INEQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO DETROIT'S YOUTH. THE COMMISSION DISCOVERED THAT THE ROOT OF THE…