This document presents information from and about two 1999 surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics: "Vocational Programs in Secondary Schools" and "Occupational Programs in Postsecondary Education Institutions." The first 25% of the document consists of an introduction and selected findings. The introduction provides…

Currently, every aspect of Japanese education in undergoing reform. The personnel management system is being structured largely from the viewpoint of two policy interests: introduction of a new teacher evaluation system and dealing with teachers' lack of teaching skills and competencies. This paper examines these two policy interests, noting…

Today's teachers shortage is most severe in urban districts, which struggle to recruit and retain new teachers and face persistent gaps between white, middle class teachers and diverse students. Teachers' lack of cultural and linguistic familiarity in such situations can be damaging to the goal of ensuring that all children achieve to their…

This literature review outlines five measurable, policy-relevant teacher characteristics that reflect teacher quality: teacher experience, teacher preparation programs and degrees, type of teacher certification, specific coursework taken in preparation for the profession, and teachers' own test scores. It reviews a wide range of empirical studies…

This book synthesizes research to identify specific teacher behaviors that contribute to student achievement, focusing on what teachers can control (preparation, personality, and practices). Part 1 examines teacher effectiveness. Chapter 1 investigates prerequisites of effective teaching, particularly the influence of background and professional…

This annual report describes the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), noting that in 2001, it launched five new certificate fields and introduced the Next Generation of National Board Certification assessments. It also worked with local, state, and federal policy makers who provide incentives for candidates and…

This report describes Partners in Accomplished Teaching, a project of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) designed to help increase the number of teachers achieving National Board Certification. It focuses on efforts in St. Paul, Minnesota; Mississippi; North Carolina; and San Antonio, Texas. The St. Paul program is a…

This paper discusses how policymakers can support teaching to high standards. It explains that teacher education significantly influences teacher effectiveness. The United States offers fewer supports for teacher learning than do other industrialized countries, and many U.S. teachers are inadequately prepared for the classroom. The United States…

This study investigated whether student teachers' attitudes toward classroom management would develop the same way in alternative certification (AC) teacher education programs as they would in traditional programs. Participants were 2 groups of Canadian student teachers at the end of their first or second year of a 2-year AC program. All…

Ivy Tech State College (Indiana) is the statewide two-year college system in Indiana, with 23 campuses and a fall 2002 enrollment of 64,110 credit students and approximately 13,000 non-credit students. Ivy Tech has a long history of offering certification training and, in some cases, testing, in a variety of areas from health to business and…

The Maryland Department of Education formed a panel--known as the Visionary Panel--of educators and citizens to review the record of Maryland's public schools during the 1990s and to fashion a vision to make them better. The panel was aided by seven task forces, each with a specific focus: accountability, achievement gap, assessment, leadership,…

In 2001, a decision by the New York State Supreme Court in a landmark school funding case, Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), Inc. v. State of New York, declared the current New York state funding system unconstitutional and ordered the legislature to replace it with a new cost-based system that ensures that every school district has sufficient…

Quality education is dependent in large measure on the supply of qualified teachers. Each year, the number of students enrolled in the nation's schools increases, and the shortage of teachers grows. Traditional teacher preparation programs currently do not produce enough educators to meet the needs of school districts. The shortage is particularly…

This report describes the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund's Pathways to Teaching Careers Program, which is designed to help increase and diversify the supply of well-trained public school teachers willing to work in low-income schools. Program design drew on findings of leading educational researchers that made a strong case for investing in…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that all teachers receive state certification by the end of the 2005-06 school year. Waivers will no longer be allowed. Each state has established standards for licensing teachers. Licensure tests aligned with teacher preparation standards are required for certification. As a result of teacher…