Describes how teachers' evaluation of unions is constructed by historical, organizational, and social features of teachers' work and varies markedly across schools and districts. Presents the contrasting views of teachers in two comprehensive California high schools and considers the consequences of these evaluations for unions' recent strategy…

School districts such as Dade County, Florida; New York City; Petaluma, California; Hammond, Indiana; and Boston have restructured their schools and are using some form of win/win bargaining to achieve this goal. If the schools, unions, the teaching profession, and collective bargaining can continue to evolve together, restructuring could become a…

Practitioners and scholars alike would be well served by new research attempting to draw connections between teacher perspectives and the administrative/organizational structuring of the work place. A sample of experienced teachers selected for detailed interviews described the conditions that facilitated their engagement in meaningful dialogue…

Develops a method for assessing teachers' context beliefs about their science teaching environment. Finds that teachers possess fairly positive context beliefs and should be capable of functioning effectively in the classroom. (Author/CCM)

Researchers examined what South African and Israeli teachers reflected on in their portfolios when writing about professional growth. Teacher interviews and portfolio analyses indicated that what teachers included in their portfolios related to external factors (what was publicly rewarded and valued as good performance). Teachers viewed good…

Reports the barriers and pathways that were experienced during a 3-year period when an induction program for secondary science teachers was developed and implemented. (Author/MM)

Argues that the marginality of English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) expatriate teachers exemplifies the postmodern condition affecting society at the end of the millennium. Uses the image of the paladin and its juxtaposition with the conceptual framework of postmodernity to generate new ways of thinking about issues in ESL/EFL…

A recent report from the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality (SECTQ) lends truth to the assumption that teacher working conditions directly affect student achievement. The SECTQ report, "Teacher Working Conditions are Student Learning Conditions," surveyed 32,000 teachers in North Carolina on their perceptions of numerous factors…

While it is generally acknowledged that the first years of teaching are the most difficult, little is known about the development of subject matter specialists during this period. In order to add to the knowledge in this area, the present study explores the first year of 114 secondary science teachers as they participate in one of four different…

Attracting and retaining competent teachers is a key concern when it comes to managing the supply and demand for teachers. This article examines the motivation that prompts people to enter or leave the teaching profession with the aim of identifying a decision framework for defining teacher policies. The results are based on the teacher workforce…

Exemplary Middle Grades Research: Evidence-Based Studies Linking Theory to Practice features research published throughout 2009 in MGRJ that has been identified by the Information Age Publishing's review board as the most useful in terms of assisting educators with making practical applications from evidence-based studies to classroom and school…

The leadership and career experiences of the principal in other eras are relatively missing from both the writings about school administration nowadays and the social history of schools. Exploring past forms of leadership might shed light on enduring aspects of leadership and its contextual-historical influences as well as on the development of…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Two Roads Diverged in a Hearing Room: Congressional Hearing on the Federal Education Budget Previews Two Possible…

The purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis of whether or not changes in the teaching profession have extended the autonomy and educational responsibilities of teachers. The report consists of six chapters, an annexe and concludes with a synthesis. Chapter 1 deals with the historical and institutional background of the education…

This study investigated inclusive practices in Prince Edward Island (PEI) elementary schools in terms of the supports teachers consider as important for inclusion. Twenty teachers were randomly selected to complete a survey, and 5 teachers were randomly selected to participate in an interview about inclusion supports. The survey in this study…