Discusses barriers to preparing bilingual para-educators to assist in the teaching of limited English proficient students. These include financial, social, and academic obstacles. Effective recruitment of para-educators requires critical factors such as financial aid, social support, academic counseling, and improved working conditions. (28…

Reports a study of on-the-job special education trainees' perceptions regarding job satisfactions and challenges, congruence between expectations and reality of working conditions, and predicted commitment to special education. Results indicated 48 percent would eventually leave special education. (SM)

Discusses events leading to the Texas legislation limiting professional education courses to 18 semester hours for initial certification and eliminating undergraduate education degrees. Noting implications for other states, the article suggests that teacher educators collaborate to develop a knowledge base, create coalitions, and provide national…

Describes teacher training practices, problems, and reforms in the Turkish educational system. Because three different types of institutions, each with its own preparation policies and practices, contribute personnel to the educational system, Turkey faces problems in the training, recruitment, employment, and professional development of its…

Uses Indiana public school file data to examine African-American representation in the state's teaching force, including entry and attrition. An aging African-American teaching force, attrition resulting from retirement, and a decreasing proportion of new African-American hires suggests that representation may become a concern unless active…

The way in which changes in overall university funding can affect systems for paying staff, and in turn affect faculty career patterns and mobility, is examined. Data on pay, responsibilities, and qualifications of different faculty ranks in 8 countries (Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, United States) are compared. (MSE)

A policy is proposed to enhance recruitment and retention of quality teachers in Catholic schools. Teachers would receive educational scholarships based on years of service, redeemable for the educator or the educator's dependent child. Such tuition scholarships would provide incentive for persons to enter or stay in teaching. (SLD)

If we deconstruct the university--and set aside the trendy rhetoric of a multiversity--are we not actually approaching a "strativersity," a hierarchy of teaching that imposes a hierarchy of learning? In this article, the author discusses the ways in which typical contingent working conditions may undermine student learning conditions. Highlighted…

A large central government providing numerous public services has long been a hallmark of Swedish society, which is also well-known for its pursuit of equality. Yet in the 1990s, Sweden moved away from this tradition in education, introducing market-oriented reforms that decentralized authority over public schools and encouraged competition…

This proceedings document from a conference on the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), which is authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), offers perspectives provided by Martha J. Fields and Thomas Hehir, on reauthorization of the IDEA. A discussion of the topic of paradigm shifts in staff development…

This digest focuses on the data that show significant disparities between the number of teachers of color and the number of students of color and examines how well schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing in supplying teachers of color for U.S. classrooms. The document is organized into three sections. The first section discusses…

The contemporary academic labor market is examined using concepts from labor market economics and sociology to elucidate why teaching, universally acknowledged to be at the center of American academic life, is not at the center of the academic labor market and is only modestly rewarded. First, tenets of the neoclassical labor market model are…

This conference report includes summaries of the following presentations: (1) "Overview and Opening Remarks" (Elridge W. McMillen); (2) Luncheon Address: "Diversity Equals Quality" (Joseph Vaughan); (3) "Overview of North Carolina Consortium Projects" (Nathaniel Jackson); (4) Session 1: "Academic Enhancement for…

This report on the supply of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) is based primarily on data from the Recent College Graduates (RCG) study of 1991. The survey, which was originally designed to provide information on NQTs alone, was expanded to cover graduates in all major fields of study; however, it continues to emphasize graduates qualified to teach…

Anticipated teacher shortages together with concern for increased subject matter background have contributed to the development, both nationally and in Florida, of alternative teacher preparation programs and alternative routes to teacher certification. This report includes chapters on: teacher supply and demand in the United States and in…