This brief addresses four areas of opportunity to influence teacher quality. These areas of opportunity are used to create a framework to help state and district policymakers comprehensively address teacher quality. There are a number of policy levers or strategies that can be used as part of a comprehensive approach to improving teacher quality.…

Teacher networks used in California and Vermont are examined. Interviews, observations, and document analyses identified how teacher beliefs, teacher experience, social influences, and practical circumstances interacted with program goals and methods to shape teachers' experiences with networks, views of teaching and learning, and classroom…

This article considers two policy initiatives that address the dilemma of increasing special education teacher numbers and improving quality: the No Child Left Behind law and the plan laid out in the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future policy blueprint. It then discusses teacher attrition and retainment strategies. (Contains…

Development of precollegiate teachers of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) differs from that of teachers of commonly taught languages. The article examines characteristics that LCTL preservice teachers bring to teacher preparation and outlines aspects of preservice and inservice development that help teachers effectively make LCTLs more…

This article explores the relationship between teachers perceptions of administrative practice in high schools and students perceptions of the school, teachers and their own performance. It was found that where decision making is perceived by teachers as collegial, collaborative, co-operative and consultative and providing adequate opportunities…

This study examines processes that personnel go through to assimilate the cultural norms of their schools. These processes are compared according to the teaching and learning environments of healthy, high achieving school districts and unhealthy, low achieving school districts. Specifically, this paper examines the "basket of crabs" effect, a…

This chapter explores factors of concern for, and overall experiences of, African American female faculty and administrators, including salary issues, affirmative action, racism, sexism, homophobia, campus climate, isolation, tenure and promotion processes, and salary. The data reported here were gathered during a study of African American women…

Efforts to reform and restructure science and mathematics education need to be based on a sound assessment of current conditions, the rate of improvement, and problems in the system. This report focuses on indicators of the condition of science and mathematics education at state and national levels. The 1995 report presents new state indicators…

This report is based on efforts by the National Center for Education Statistics to collect data on teacher preparation and qualifications using a nationally representative survey of full-time public school teachers whose main teaching assignment is in English/language arts, social studies/social sciences, foreign language, mathematics, or science…

This article examines the similarities and differences for one course, Foundations of American Education, when offered in traditional face-to-face and online formats. The data analysis used both qualitative and quantitative measures. Several conclusions were reached: (a) for the course to be effective, the time that must be allotted for online…

A study examined the job requirements and working conditions of vocational and technical education teachers (VTETs) in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Data were gathered (1) from published materials and interviews with officers and staff of concerned agencies and (2) from a project-developed questionnaire that was administered…

This volume contains the appendices for the report on the Teacher Efficacy Study, an investigation of teachers' sense of efficacy and the extent to which teachers believe they can have a positive effect on student learning and achievement. Included in this volume are: (1) middle school site descriptions; (2) the middle school questionnaire; (3)…

Urging new directions for American high school education, this book outlines problems with contemporary high schools and describes the experience of small high schools (those having approximately 200 students), designed in the past 15 years, that have developed excellent and diverse alternative programs within the constraints of existing district…

This report updates information on private schools and provides nationally representative data on private school teachers. Two separate questionnaires were administered, one collecting information on school characteristics from administrators in a nationally representative sample of 1,174 private schools, and the second collecting information from…

The collective bargaining agreement between Wilberforce University and Wilberforce University Faculty Association covering the period September 1, 1986-August 31, 1989 is presented. Items covered in the agreement include: unit recognition, dues checkoff, nondiscrimination, university rights, university governance, academic freedom, academic rank,…