Although teachers' unions and advocates argue that teacher abuse of leave is rare, economists studying the issue say more could be done to cut down on teacher absences and some districts are experimenting with rewarding exceptional attendance, paying teachers for unused earned leave, adjusting reporting procedures, and closer monitoring of leave…

The presence of a teacher in the classroom is central to the provision of schooling, with accumulating evidence showing that teacher absence compromises student learning. Teacher absence is common in schools in low- and middle-income countries. With much of the developing world making rapid progress in achieving universal primary school enrollment…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is the latest development in a long history of standards-based-reform in the United States. As of November 4, 2011, 46 states and the District of Columbia have adopted new curricular standards, called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These states and the District of Columbia are now implementing…

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' attitudes toward multicultural education and problems caused by the application of an assimilationist paradigm in the South Korean classroom. Twenty-six South Korean middle and high school teachers were given a survey to assess multicultural attitudes and experiences. Select teachers with…

Imagine school district staff inputting school data and sharing it in real time, managing teacher absences and arranging substitutes from the comfort of home, or deploying IT personnel to the right site at the right time to tackle the highest-priority jobs first. The concept of managing applications from anywhere with a network connection, known…

Many districts struggle with multiple--and often incompatible--data systems for tracking payroll, collecting teacher evaluations, recruiting and hiring. Aligning these systems and annually assessing where a district stands is the first step towards developing a smart human capital strategy. This checklist outlines the goals, data and questions a…

What does research say about the four-day week as an alternative school schedule? More than 100 districts in at least 12 states currently use a four-day week alternative schedule. Most are located in rural areas, serve less than 1000 students, and made the move to a shorter school week with longer instructional days for financial reasons. Although…

Teacher absenteeism is a persistent problem in Pakistani government schools. Under a new policy, teachers hired in Pakistani schools after 2002 are hired on fixed term contracts that are renewed, in part, based on low absenteeism. This study uses qualitative analysis techniques to assess the impact of contractual hiring on teacher absenteeism…

This article exploits highly detailed data on teacher absences from a large urban school district in the northern United States to shed light on the determinants and effects of teacher absences. The topic is important because both school and district policies can influence teachers' propensity to be absent. The authors estimate the impact of…

In 2007-08, the WCPSS teacher absence rate was 10.3 days, slightly higher than a national rate of 9.5 days in 2004-05 but lower than the 11.3 to 14.6 days reported in large school districts more recently. In comparison with other studies, WCPSS teachers averaged smaller proportions of personal and sick leave days, slightly more annual leave days,…

This article addresses an analysis of current literature on employee and student absenteeism and seeks to provide key recommendations that may yield higher levels of attendance and student achievement in urban school districts. It hones on the idea that educational leaders must be cognizant of the factors relating to absenteeism and its cost to…

Poor classroom acoustics are impairing students' hearing and their ability to learn. However, technology has come up with a solution: tools that focus voices in a way that minimizes intrusive ambient noise and gets to the intended receiver--not merely amplifying the sound, but also clarifying and directing it. One provider of classroom audio…

This dissertation reports a study of a year-round school in comparison to a traditional calendar school and whether the year-round school calendar was related to higher student achievement in a large, school district in the southeastern United States. The data represented the results of third through fifth grade student state test scores in the…

Evidence in literature indicates that Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of teachers is essential in creating effective schools. Since 2001 the implementation of education legislation and policies has progressively shifted the new agenda within a transformation framework aimed at reconstructing the education system to the fore. The many…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the predictive ability of six teacher variables: absenteeism, age, gender, degree level, certification status, and experience on fifth-grade mathematics achievement as measured by norm- and criterion-referenced tests. The study was conducted in a large suburban school district in Georgia…