Schools flush with students' parents showing up and helping out have long been the envy of those where classrooms echo on back-to-school night. But in recent years, incidents reported in the news media have dabbed shadows on that glowing picture of parent involvement, raising issues about whether demanding adults have made teachers' jobs harder…

This article describes how the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues is reviving debate competitions among high school students in city schools. Starting in Atlanta in 1985 and boosted by seed money from the billionaire George Soros' Open Society Institute, urban educators and their supporters in 2002 formed the National Association for…

This article reports that by next fall--only months before she leaves office--U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings plans to have five teachers on her staff and set up a group of 20 ad hoc advisers still working in classrooms. Under the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship program the teachers would work at the department for one year starting…

Independent studies of the nation's largest performance-pay system suggest that the state-backed plans in Texas could be having positive effects on teacher attitudes, with educators reporting they collaborate more with colleagues and encourage students to work harder than they did before the plans were implemented. Schools participating in the…

The pairing of books and teachers might seem natural, but it has taken the convergence of at least two trends to move "book study" far up the list for the way teachers spend their professional-development time. For one, many observers are convinced that teachers are obligated to upgrade their classroom skills. For another, the most effective way…

Some teachers, under a professional cloud, are paid to leave their jobs. It is a fact little examined in schools or policy circles, and mostly unknown to the public. But when it does surface, it inevitably raises fears that teachers who should be out of the classroom entirely are helped to new teaching jobs at public expense. Defenders of the…

Although teachers' unions and advocates argue that teacher abuse of leave is rare, economists studying the issue say more could be done to cut down on teacher absences and some districts are experimenting with rewarding exceptional attendance, paying teachers for unused earned leave, adjusting reporting procedures, and closer monitoring of leave…

The National Education Association is poised for a change in leadership this year as its president of six years, Reg Weaver, bumps up against term limits. Now, speculation is widespread that Edward J. McElroy, his counterpart at the American Federation of Teachers, might not seek re-election in July. The possible exit of Mr. McElroy--and the…

A major strand in the current national push to improve secondary education is the movement to scale down schools into smaller, more personalized units, especially for students facing the greatest obstacles to success. Hundreds of small schools and learning communities have cropped up in recent years, famously helped along by the Bill & Melinda…

The debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over whether the mass killings of Armenians that began in 1915 should be declared "genocide" has been resolved in practice in many American classrooms. That era has become intertwined with lessons on the Holocaust in the history curriculum. This article describes how teachers are finding ways to give…

The end of the school year marks a deadline for states to meet a federal requirement that most teachers be "highly qualified." However, the cutoff holds little threat these days. Even one-time proponents of the provision are conceding their disappointment and are fixing their sights on new ways to raise teacher quality. Advocates vary in…

How many teachers stay, especially in the schools that need them most? The question has attracted widespread attention as policymakers have recognized that expert teaching is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Data show that poor and minority students assigned to ineffective teachers lag significantly behind their…

"About half of all new teachers leave the profession after just five years on the job." It is a neat and memorable statistic that has been repeatedly cited by news reporters, advocacy groups, union officials, and state education departments, among others. Trouble is, it is arguable and often used misleadingly. Richard M. Ingersoll, the University…

When the Adams 12 school district introduced a new mathematics curriculum to elementary schools several years ago, leaders have turned to an idea both old and new to make the change a success. They created a position dubbed "student-achievement coach" that gives each school a skilled teacher ready to urge her colleagues forward in three areas:…

This article reports on a new study which concludes that teachers entering the profession today have higher academic qualifications than their counterparts a decade ago. The report, released this week by the Educational Testing Service, says the finding bodes well for greater student learning because of the evidence that teachers' academic ability…