This report presents the results of a survey of 1,010 K-12 public school teachers about their views on the teaching profession, teachers unions, and various reforms aimed at improving teacher quality. It reveals the challenges teachers see in their profession, including weak evaluation processes and a rigid tenure pay system; how teachers feel…

The image of the schools and the teaching profession according to the media is usually negative. The negative picture is one reflecting the social problems of society and the failure of schools to educate, that is, drop-outs, teenage pregnancies, substance abuse, guns, knives, and attacks on students and teachers. Occasionally, the positive…

This research aimed to explore the attitudes of teachers of practically based subjects (arts and sports) towards ability grouping. Teachers from 45 secondary schools adopting different levels of ability grouping completed a questionnaire which elicited their responses to statements of beliefs about ability grouping and its effects. Overall, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the factors and conditions of moral leadership that affect the potential for teacher retention among Alternative Route Certification teachers. Design/methodology/approach: Alternative Route Certification teachers participated in a single focus group. Participants' dialogues were…

Akiba, LeTendre, and Scribner (2007) identified two problems with mathematics education in the United States: (a) a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers and (b) unequal access to those teachers by students of high and low socioeconomic status. Akiba et al. called for further research on how South Korea and other countries have achieved…

Drawing upon data from case studies of four teachers conducted over the course of eight years, this research examines the role that teachers' visions--their images of ideal classroom practice--play in teachers' career paths. This paper demonstrates the ways in which teachers' decisions to "leave" schools were often made for personal reasons, while…

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) is a public domain questionnaire measuring the degree of physical and psychological fatigue experienced in three sub-dimensions of burnout: personal, work-related, and client-related burnout. This study first examines the reliability and validity of the CBI in measuring burnout in New Zealand secondary school…

In this article, Tina Axup, an educational psychologist working in Southend-on-Sea, and Irvine Gersch, director of educational and child psychology programmes at the University of East London, describe a small-scale study of teachers' attitudes regarding the impact of student behaviour on their professional lives. Anecdotal evidence within a local…

Background: On a normative level as a subject physical education and health seems to adjust rapidly to changes in society, whereas at the practical level it seems receptive to limiting factors such as time, facilities and dominating inherited practices. How can the structuring components and processes relating to the shaping, transformation and…

The society is violent, the urban neighborhoods are violent, and the schools are violent. People who want to teach in urban schools need to recognize the reality of the situation they will enter. Beginning teachers must recognize that preventing violence is an integral part of their legitimate work; the more effective they are at empowering…

There is widespread interest in the impact of unauthorised absence on pupil attainment, links with disaffection, exclusion from school and criminality. However, little is heard about what those who take unauthorised absence from school think that the effect has been on them; nor do we hear the voices of other pupils and their teachers. This…

This article describes when teachers in Detroit, Michigan and Gary, Indiana went on strike in September 2006, which have resulted in the closure or relocation of 35 schools to other campuses since the end of the 2004-05 school year. The 2006-07 school year has brought with it a fresh wave of labor unrest, as teachers in districts large and small…

This dissertation investigated the beliefs and practices of a novice high school social studies teacher through her first and second years as a classroom teacher. Results of the study indicate that while her beliefs and goals changed little over time, her classroom practices changed and adapted to the school climate and to student needs. In…

This paper reports the results of an investigation of satisfaction of 135 resource room teachers and 190 mothers of children served in resource room programs in Jordan. Information from teachers was gathered using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and classroom visits. Information from parents was gathered using a brief questionnaire.…

This multimethod study investigates the attitudes teachers in urban and low-income schools have about teaching early elementary students. The authors examine the contextual characteristics of elementary schools where such teachers are willing to take responsibility for children's learning. The quantitative analyses focus on a subsample of students…