A major debate among education reformers over how best to reduce the achievement gap broke out during the 2008 presidential campaign. Most advocates on both sides backed Barack Obama, but they urged him to pursue different policies. The Education Equality Project (EEP) supported a continuation of accountability and other school-focused reforms.…

Teachers in the second stages of their careers--those with 4-10 years of experience--are often eager to vary their responsibilities, work collaboratively with peers, and influence teaching beyond their own classrooms. With many veteran teachers retiring, principals are apt to recruit these second-stage teachers to fill teacher leadership…

First introduced in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has evolved over time, emphasizing education reform priorities that mirror the changing national education policy conversation. The most recent iteration of ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), was enacted in 2001. It emphasized improving outcomes for…

For decades, investments in public education have boosted U.S. productivity and earnings, forged a path out of poverty for many families, helped disadvantaged students narrow the learning gap with their peers, and developed a workforce that continues to be among the most productive and innovative on Earth. More recently, this engine of growth has…

The combined goals of recruiting and retaining effective teachers are often difficult to realize due to fluctuating student enrollments and class-size targets, teaching-load norms or requirements, and budgetary and resource constraints. While schools and districts market and recruit bright new teachers to the field, they too, struggle to maintain…

The negative consequences of the current economic recession are vast, both for the education field and for all sectors of society. Yet one benefit has emerged from these recent tough economic times: Teaching is becoming a more attractive career choice. Although states and local policymakers should "always" work proactively to attract effective…

Qualified special education teachers have a strong foundation in pedagogy and are experts in the characteristics of students with disabilities. They have successfully completed several supervised field and clinical experiences, are adept in the skills of their respective specialty, and have passed the certification or licensure exam attesting to…

This article describes a program created to improve mathematics instruction in a school district's lowest-performing schools. The program was initiated as a partnership among the University of North Carolina, Action Greensboro (a group of six local foundations), and Guilford County Schools that had a goal of attracting a full complement of…

Paraprofessionals represent a growing segment of district employees seeking professional licensure. National preparation programs through the American Federation of Teachers, national testing programs, and state initiated portfolio programs offer a variety of options for meeting the stipulations set under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation…

Staffing each classroom with an effective teacher is the most important function of a school district. Doing so requires strategic personnel policies and smart practices. The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), working with its local partner, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, undertook an analysis of the Boston Public…

The tools and resources in this book help school leaders seamlessly incorporate minority teacher recruitment and retention programs into current human-resources activities. With details about exemplary minority teacher recruitment and retention programs, this book also showcases strategies for how to replicate such programs in your own school or…

The purpose of this paper is to describe and present results from the fourth year of a five-year collaborative research project between an interactive science center and a local college. The purpose of the project is not only to recruit and train approximately 50 highly qualified science teachers who will teach in New York City public schools, but…

Considerable research has been conducted into teacher retention. Less is known of ex-teachers' circumstances: salary, workload, working conditions, "job prestige". For this study, telephone interviews were used to ask 21 ex-teachers about their journey from teaching, and views on their current working conditions by comparison. This paper…

In "Do Teacher Effect Estimates Persist When Teachers Move to Schools with Different Socio-economic Environments?"--a paper presented at the February 2008 National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference--Sanders, Wright, and Langevin describe how teacher effectiveness outcomes are consistent when teachers switch…

The Central Region states have greater percentages of rural students and schools than the U.S. average. This report describes how nine teacher preparation programs in the region prepare their graduates for teaching positions in rural settings. The study found that, of 120 institutions in the Central Region that offer teacher preparation, only 17…