Whilst teaching Assistants (TAs) are a crucial part of the education workforce, their role and contribution is little understood, even by teachers they work alongside. By giving a voice to TAs, The Teaching Assistant Dilemma helps to tackle this lack of understanding. Highlighting the problems TAs face, not just that their contribution is…

Research continues to confirm that without "excellent" teachers consistently, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. Schools that "consistently" provide all students with…

Furman Brown has spent over a decade figuring out how to design a better school. As a first-year teacher in South Central Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he got a taste of what was wrong with the traditional public school model: It was not designed to serve students "or" teachers well. Convinced there was a better way to organize and…

Describes tensions within Australian universities, which must be responsive to various stakeholders, examining the perspectives of new associate professors and professors and their university managers. Observation and interview data indicated that educators were not allowed to participate enough in decision making, policies were imposed without…

Identifies 10 questions that dominated the 1990 WPA Conference at Portland, Oregon, part of a continuing dialogue over professional standards in writing instruction. Captures the voices of conference participants as they pose answers to the issues raised in the Wyoming Resolution and the Statement of Principles and Standards. (RS)

This booklet describes major issues in teaching and significant initiatives to strengthen teaching in New York State's public schools. The following topics are covered: (1) recruitment and preservice education; (2) teacher certification; (3) staff development and other improvements in the condition of teaching; (4) recognition of outstanding…

Discusses problems in recruiting and retaining high-ability teachers and the need to provide motivation for teachers. Provides a listing of incentives to enhance and professionalize the teaching profession. (MD)

Explores "second-wave" reform efforts aimed at restructuring schools and reshaping teacher roles to permit greater autonomy, responsibility, and status. As better working conditions increase teacher satisfaction, education will compete more favorably with other professions as a career choice. Includes 16 references. (MLH)

This article discusses the status of the teaching profession, addressing such issues as entry into the profession, the job market, the image of teaching and teacher education, and reform efforts. The success of reforms will largely depend on whether teaching conditions, especially salaries, improve. (PP)

This study replicated earlier state-wide studies of Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas teachers with a current sample of Alabama teachers. Data from a random sample of 196 teachers in the fall of 1988 revealed that more than one-third of the state's teachers are seriously considering leaving the profession. They cite inadequate pay as their major…

This document, published by WCOTP in 1986 in observance of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, was jointly prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and adopted by a special intergovernmental…

The connections between class and gender must be recognized if attempts to rationalize and proletarianize teaching are to be understood. Behaviorally-specified curriculum, prepackaged programs, and repeated testing and accountability measures represent attempts by state governments and by male administrators to wrest control of instruction from a…

Teaching is not considered a desirable occupation in China, and many teachers are unhappy in their jobs. Education is the weak sector within the bureaucracy. Because it has been neglected for a long time, especially during the Cultural Revolution, many people, including government officials, do not take the problems of education seriously. From…

Three broad areas of recommendations in the teacher education reform agenda are addressed in this paper. These areas are preparation and continuing education of teachers, the conditions of teaching in the schools, and the requirements of teacher certification and licensure. The reform recommendations are aimed at: (1) the professional status of…

Without governors' support, the emerging teaching reform agenda will go nowhere. States should eschew their "deja vu" attitudes and embrace quality of education as a major determinant of state and national economic survival. The governors' action agenda includes 10 recommendations addressing teacher education and standards, work…