A Virginia district's voluntary teacher incentive program is credited with rewarding excellent performance, encouraging teacher attendance, and being simple to administer. Requirements include few absences, superior teaching evaluations by principal, good standardized test scores, successful evaluation by outside experts, and completion of course…

The report of the AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure regarding the one-year disciplinary suspension of Professor Richard William Rosenbaum for taking four days of unauthorized leave of absence is presented. Procedural and substantive issues of the grievance procedures are reviewed. (LBH)

Using a sample of 291 respondents from a teacher's union in a large urban school district, this study explored relationships among job stress, stress-induced illness behavior, and social support by principals and coworkers. Although illness increases as job stress increases, supportive principals have a positive effect on stress-induced illness…

Teacher absenteeism is the topic of the 12 ERIC abstracts contained in this leaflet. Research on the topic discusses the causes of the problem, including, among others, job dissatisfaction, the organizational structure of the school, school size, weather conditions, and relaxed teacher responsibility. Strategies for improving teacher attendance…

This guide discusses the results of a national survey of school administrators who were asked to rank from a list of 13 problems the top problems facing their schools today. Their responses, which are discussed in this report, include how to cut costs in areas like salaries, fringe benefits, and energy; how to better manage their schools and set…

This report reviews the experiences of two New Jersey school districts that have initiated Attendance Improvement Plans (AIP) for professional school personnel. It is intended to summarize a 1974 report entitled "Program to Improve Teacher Attendance." The districts that participated in the pilot project were Newark, with approximately…

A Dallas, Texas, districtwide campus incentive pay plan rewarded all personnel in schools that ranked in the top quartile of schools exceeding achievement expectations and that met student and teacher attendance requirements. Program goals were achieved, suggestions for improvement noted, and future plans include campus and individual incentive…

This 2-year study investigated how teaching assistants affected Dutch secondary school teachers, examining: the impact of teaching assistants on teachers' tasks, teachers' attitudes toward task relief, job satisfaction, and teacher absence. Teaching assistants were hired by 16 Dutch high schools to take over non-teaching, administrative tasks.…

Describes the development of a program to improve school productivity in Richland County (South Carolina) School District One. Lists the program's six criteria, involving reading and mathematics test performance, teacher and student attendance, and parent and student attitudes. Presents the results of the program's first year. (RW)

Researchers used school district data and an attitudinal survey to assess an incentive pay plan for teachers instituted by the Houston (Texas) Independent School District for the school years 1979-81. Called the Second Mile Plan (SMP), the scheme aimed to improve student academic achievement and teacher attendance, lessen teacher turnover, fill…

Research supports the notion that substitute teachers generally are ineffective. This study examines whether trained substitutes can be as effective as assigned teachers in teaching students with behavior disorders. Findings showed that substitutes with intensive inservice training in behavior management were equally effective for one-day…

In the rural areas of developing countries, teacher absence is a widespread problem. This paper tests whether a simple incentive program based on teacher presence can reduce teacher absence, and whether it has the potential to lead to more teaching activities and better learning. In 60 informal one-teacher schools in rural India, randomly chosen…

This overview of substitute teaching in K-12 schools looks at why substitutes are needed, factors that attract individuals to the work, and what school administrators can do to facilitate good substitute teaching. While schools continue to utilize substitutes for traditional reasons such as personal or family illness or emergency, the school…

This paper reviews five popular and emerging models for the implementation of Internet and network technology in higher education: low tech, lab, laptop, virtual, and networked systems. Three perspectives on these models--that of a faculty member at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada), an administrator at the University of Lethbridge,…

Ten guidelines that may improve staff attendance are: create a written sick leave policy, do not make exceptions, be a good role model, require staff to get their own substitutes, have staff call in personally, monitor patterns in absences, supervise through observation, listen and show concern, greet each person when he or she returns, and reward…