A description of a learning center built on a low budget with a design aimed toward enhancing academic programs through a variety of environments. (EB)

A review of the literature dealing with faculty load in colleges and universities from 1929 reveals that this problem has not been resolved satisfactorily in any institution. Two plans are described for determining assignment loads. (Author/LBH)

This paper examines how the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future will address the high teacher attrition rates. Sections discuss: "The Conventional Wisdom is Wrong" (it is important to focus on how to keep the good teachers who have been recruited, trained, and hired rather than ask how to find and prepare more teachers); "A Closer…

Although states have maintained a focus on recruiting and retaining teachers, many schools and districts still face daunting challenges in ensuring a qualified and competent teaching corps. It is particularly difficult for schools considered hard to staff-those with high concentrations of low-performing, low-income students; high teacher turnover;…

Metaphors such as "gypsy academics,""freeway flyers," and "contingent laborers," ascribed by compositionists to their work and its conditions, comment on the low status of composition specialists and teachers in academic hierarchies. Work is the activity around which a profession forms, and, as such, it produces…

This book investigates time dilemmas in education, explaining how educators deal with time issues. Section 1, "It's About Time," describes what a special committee found out about the time dilemma and makes recommendations for educators regarding time use. Section 2, "Building Time into the School Year" (Linda Bacon), presents one Florida school…

This study explored teachers' reasons for teaching in Catholic secondary schools and examined why they stayed in Catholic secondary schools. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with four teachers representing different ethnicities, religions, and genders indicated that respondents considered the environment in Catholic schools to be…

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether a similar a line of reasoning holds true for special educators. Though critical teacher shortages in the area of special education remain an ongoing problem in the United States (Billingsley & McLeskey, 2004; McLeskey, Tyler & Saunders Flippin, 2004), little work has been done on the teaching…

The year-round calendar is an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional 9-month school calendar. This digest examines the benefits and challenges of teaching in year-round schools. Year-round schools may be on a single-track or multi-track schedule. Single-track schedules call for an instructional year of 180 days with short breaks…

In 2001, the College of the Canyons (COC) (California) surveyed all faculty members hired between May 2000 and March 2001 to gather information about the experiences of newly hired faculty. Thirty-eight anonymous questionnaires (with both open- and closed-ended questions) were placed in the mailboxes of new faculty; 23 were completed and returned,…

This paper describes the experience of a Brazilian art teacher who relocated to Japan to teach. The paper focuses on the teacher's experience with Brazilian manners, Japanese culture, and art. It reports on her teaching experiences, such as her general aims in teaching, her recollections of several adult Venezuelan and Japanese female students,…

This monograph describes a research program that will assess the cumulative effects of education policies on the teaching environment. It also focuses on how these policy outcomes affect the ability of schools to attract and retain highly qualified teachers and principals. The document presents the results of interviews conducted at two elementary…

In several problematic college composition teaching scenarios, loss of faith in possibility is best described through the concept of disappointment. By articulating the nature of disappointments, instructors might develop an understanding of the collectivity of their experiences which would thus help to change such scenarios. The context of…

This paper analyzes data from the 2001 survey "BCTF (British Columbia Teachers' Federation) Worklife of Teacher Survey Series, I: Workload and Stress." Surveys were mailed to 1,500 teachers in British Columbia, and 644 teachers responded. Teachers identified and explained the most significant aspect of workload or stress in their…

This paper examines the development of beginning teacher support programs, noting that the attrition rate for beginning teachers is extremely high. Support programs can help schools and districts improve teacher retention rates by enhancing new teacher satisfaction. Support for beginning teachers can include personal and emotional support; task-…