This "Lessons Learned" report finds two specific areas in which teacher training may be lacking: preparedness for the diversity of the contemporary American classroom and teaching students with special needs. Seventy-six percent of new teachers said teaching an ethnically diverse student body was covered in their training, but only 39 percent said…

This report raises questions about the support given to new teachers who come to teaching through "alternate routes." It focuses on new teachers in high-needs schools, comparing the perspectives of those from traditional teacher education versus those from three alternate-route programs: Teach for America, Troops to Teachers and The New Teacher…

This issue of "Lessons Learned" carries the heading "They're Not Little Kids Anymore: The Special Challenge of New Teachers in High Schools and Middle Schools." It goes without saying that almost all parents love their children dearly, but nearly 9 in 10 admit "kids become a lot more challenging when they hit the teen years." So in a way, it…

It is not the kind of atmosphere most adults would find helpful if they needed to study and learn-high dropout rates, kids promoted without learning, schools short on money, profanity and disrespect, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse. Yet these are "very serious" problems in schools, according to surprisingly large numbers of the nation's black and…