In July 2007, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) began implementation of AISD REACH, a comprehensive and strategic compensation initiative. The initiative addressed three key areas: student growth, professional growth, and recruitment and retention of teachers and principals at highest needs schools. REACH combines an outcome-based pay…

This report describes outcomes for the first year of the REACH strategic compensation program in Austin Independent School District.

This article aims to define what "transversal training" represents in secondary teachers' training in France. It attempts at the same time to assess critically the place it holds in the framework of the two years of training that university institutes for teacher training provide for young teachers. Noting the small place occupied by…

Multiple studies explore the issue of the absence of teachers of color in the profession at large. Few studies, however, address the issue from the angle of the teacher candidate of color. With so many competing professions, why do they ultimately make the decision to join the profession? What are the contexts that influence and support that…

In this article, the author offers suggestions for reconceptualizing the Teach for America (TFA) program. She recommends that TFA develop a residency training model with the following features: (1) Extend the program's current two-year commitment to three years; (2) Require first-year corps members to complete a residency year in an experienced…

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he is eager to use a proposed $15 billion federal incentive-grant fund in part to reward states, districts, and even nonprofit organizations that have set high standards for the students they serve. Duncan's comments came in an interview in which he named as priorities reauthorization of the federal No…

School administrators are facing the perfect storm: a growing number of baby boomers retiring each year, an absence of experienced teachers to take their place, and high turnover among young teachers. The need to hire and retain a new generation of teachers is one of the biggest challenges facing school administrators. To fill these vacancies,…

In recent years, it has been reported that an alarming number of teachers are leaving the profession in the first three years after graduation from a pre-service program. This phenomenon is common in North America and it is essential that educators identify the challenges surrounding new teachers and provide supports to assist them. The vast…

Catholic schools struggle with issues of teacher recruitment and retention. The experience of new teachers--both those recently graduated from college as well as those new to the Catholic sector--often impacts retention rates. This article presents a study of induction programs for such new teachers in the US and Canada, summarizes current trends,…

For decades, the supply of qualified special educators has been critically low. In 1983, the shortage of special educators was highlighted in "A Nation at Risk," and the situation remains much the same 25 years later. The most recently available data indicate that just 0.86 teachers were prepared for each available position in special…

Using a teacher recruitment and preparation model, a unique partnership between PK-12 schools, a community college, and a university is examined. The focus is on the training and credentialing of future educators, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds, in an efficient and quality manner to assist in meeting the current PK-12 teacher…

In this article, the authors, deans of three universities, provide their response to Megan Hopkins' article that talked about what Teacher for America (TFA) should do to help train teachers. The authors discuss that their schools maintain a deep commitment to preparing and placing effective, knowledgeable, and caring teachers in every classroom.…

Current initiatives to recruit international teachers are on the rise. Although international teachers have always played a part in educating American students, their presence in U.S. schools have increased over the past few years as a result of overseas recruitment programs (Francis, 2005; Hutchinson, 2007). This increase in the recruitment of…

Find out how to keep your best teachers on staff, and make sure your new teachers stay motivated beyond their first years on the job. In this book, leading educational consultant Franklin Schargel offers 162 easy-to-apply tips and strategies for principals and administrators looking to hire quality teachers, raise faculty job satisfaction, and…

The attack against teacher education has seemed increasingly focused and pervasive in recent years with the national government joining the discussion. The 2002 U.S. Secretary of Education's Annual Report on Teacher Quality (U.S. Department of Education) called for the dismantlement of teacher education programs and their "burdensome requirements"…