Administrative data from North Carolina are used to explore the extent to which that state's relatively sophisticated school-based accountability system has exacerbated the challenges that schools serving low-performing students face in retaining and attracting high-quality teachers. Most clear are the adverse effects on retention rates, and hence…

Explores issues related to teaching music in an urban setting. Addresess issues such as budget problems, lack of support, and problems with teachers related to isolation and turnover. Focuses on recruiting minority teachers for urban schools. (CMK)

While an expansive body of literature exists on the performance and retention of first-year students, there is a paucity of research examining the persistence and attrition of faculty who teach these seminars and colloquia. The present survey of 18 full-time, first-year seminar faculty members at Northern Michigan University identifies marked…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) is a landmark reform reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, 1965). In its second year of implementation, NCLB is the most ambitious federal effort to raise student achievement in 38 years (Mathews, 2003). Its intent is to close achievement gaps among students who belong to minority…

Teachers' lives and teachers' work remain important areas of educational research today, particularly given the influence of school-based management and the significance of shared leadership in schools. Almost nowhere do the two research fields intersect more closely than in the remote school setting, where teacher turnover is high and the…

This study focuses on schoolteacher job satisfaction, dissatisfaction, morale, and facets of professional experience likely to lead to retention or exit from the profession within five years. It was undertaken in an English local education authority which has experienced difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers. Forty facets of professional…

A few weeks before the fifth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, Principal Frank DeAngelis reflects on how his school has changed over the past five years. Much like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, "Columbine" carries a chilling meaning that resonates across the…

In light of shortages of mathematics and science teachers, alternative certification was introduced in the mid-1980s. This study examined the effect of alternative certification among math and science teachers who moved to a different school or left the profession. This was accomplished using the national "SASS" and "TFS"…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

Many schools across the country face persistent teacher working condition challenges that are closely related to high teacher turnover rates and chronic difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers. Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) research examining working conditions survey results in both North Carolina and South Carolina demonstrates…

This report sets out to define and construct a working model of a school management guide that will help school officials, school leaders, and community members make sense of the mountains of data they are generating. It is not so much a map to buried treasure as it is a guide to action. It does not say "X marks the spot," but it does provide some…

Under the leadership of State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, with the support of the South Carolina Department of Education's Division of Teaching Quality (DTQ) and the South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA), South Carolina became only the second state in the nation to study teacher…

The early childhood education workforce is critical to the economic well-being of the state of Arizona as well as the future of children. Research has consistently shown that the commitment, education, experience and continuity of teachers for young children are primary factors affecting their early learning and their development of math,…

This study, commissioned by The Abell Foundation, analyzes new teachers hired by the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) over the past several years. In particular, the study compares different categories of new teachers: those with full professional certification, teachers in alternative certification programs (Teach for America, the…

We report on a series of pilot programs that we developed and carried out to support the success and satisfaction of new faculty, particularly faculty of color. We hope that others committed to retaining and supporting underrepresented faculty can apply our learning from this pilot project, as a whole or in part.