Describes a conceptual framework to measure various school climate aspects, including institutional integrity, initiating structure, consideration, resource support, principal influence, teacher morale, and academic emphasis. The Organization Health Inventory is a 44-item questionnaire asking educators to describe their behavior along a 4-point…

As one survey shows, although collegiality within academic departments determined secondary teachers' innovation norms, conceptions of students, sense of subject area, and enthusiasm, teacher commitment and pride are primarily products of district-level influences. Teacher autonomy without strong district professional community, with its…

Discusses problems with first-year composition in higher education, primarily the marginality and the tenuous hold writing maintains within the academy. Reconsiders the English department's role in serving the general curriculum. (SR)

According to the reviewer, this book's four objectives are to identify related issues such as professional efficacy, teacher attitudes and job satisfaction, decision-making processes, and working conditions; to define the concepts of commitment, performance, and productivity; to review relevant theory, research, and practice; and to describe known…

Reviews trade union education practices in the Netherlands, roles of volunteer tutors, and types of support they need. Develops a model for support environments ranging from structural (extra strong, medium strong, and strong support) to incidental (light support). (SK)

Today's staff developers are truly social architects aiming to build a culture of learning by transforming the workplace. When teachers and principals develop as caretakers of learning communities and as collaborators, problem seekers, action researchers, and designers of responsive student-centered curricula, then schoolwork will become more…

To stay on the job, exhausted teachers need to get massages or do yoga, exercise regularly, get a pet or a plant to care for, recruit "wannabe" friends to teaching, surround themselves with appreciative friends, seek colleagues' assistance, and take real vacations to recharge batteries. (MLH)

Interviewed teachers from 17 California charter schools to examine their attitudes toward charter school reform. Results indicated that their professional lives were profoundly influenced by both local and larger contexts for teaching. Locally, they liked teaching at small schools with like-minded professionals. However, their relationships to…

Elementary teachers (n=20) and headteachers (n=7) in British schools were asked what conditions would facilitate inclusion of students with special educational needs. They identified additional support staff, teacher training, planning time, physical accessibility, and attention to parents' concerns. (Contains 26 references.) (SK)

Interviews Simon Edgewood, a former university-level instructor who is trying to re-enter the profession at the secondary level. Provides a brief analysis and discussion. Discusses implications for the profession. (RS)

A study of two elementary schools identified school conditions affecting implementation of Kentucky state reforms of primary education: innovation advocates, teacher-relevant implementation strategies, and supportive principals. Essential elements were a fit between leadership style and faculty needs and time to develop collaborative working…

Examined the extent to which experienced high school teachers were satisfied with their work, noting principal motivators to remaining in the classroom. Survey and interview data indicated that teachers had a high level of satisfaction, despite difficult working conditions. After working with students, other important motivators included passion…

In the days before computers, passing on information to substitutes was difficult. Now teachers can individualize their lesson plans to guarantee that substitute teachers and the students will both have a good day. This article provides some plan-ahead procedures that have worked for the author.

Visual images within social studies textbooks need to be actively "read" by students. Drawing on literature from cultural studies, this article suggests three instructional conditions for teaching students to read visual texts. Agency implies that readers have the (1) authority, (2) opportunity and capacity, and (3) community for engaging in the…

The long-term health of each state's economy rests on the state's ability to educate and eventually employ citizens who contribute to its economy by filling jobs in a variety of sectors. With the globalization of the economy and shifts in supply and demand for a wide variety of occupations, students in public schools need effective teachers and…