Professionals must teach and operate schools in the best interests of students, using their knowledge to guide their efforts. This article summarizes what educators know about teaching and learning, teachers and work conditions, and school improvement. Decentralization, deregulation, and empowerment will prevail only by creating "elite"…

Examines the future of staff development, noting its inadequacy due to prevailing concepts of teaching. The article traces changes in concepts of teachers and their work, outlines implications of change for future staff development, and describes experiences of one school district in redefining staff development as suggested by conceptual change.…

Compensatory education may reinforce inequality because children must compete with unequal resources. Changing conditions of teachers' work is central because teachers are most strategically placed to affect poor children and have the capacity for strategic thinking about reform. Reforms must be grounded in a larger agenda of social justice. (SK)

Examined the relation of occupational stress in the child care workplace to three facets of staff burnout: emotional exhaustion; depersonalization; and personal accomplishment. Results showed that work role conflict and ambiguity predicted a significant portion of variance in the three aspects of staff burnout, and that social support buffered the…

Reports on a pilot investigation into the perceptions of graduate teachers (n=9) of their science teaching during their first 18 months as educators. Emergent themes relate to the teachers' perceived self-confidence in teaching science, and to school influences such as collegial support, resources, and the perceived importance of science in the…

A survey of 201 of Missouri's beginning teachers exposed a disparity between what they wanted in their induction programs and what they received from their school districts. Respondents recommended five categories of support. This paper examines those categories and presents relevant recommendations for supervisors and administrators who design…

Investigates teachers' professional lives during their early years of teaching in the Victoria, Australia area. Suggests that the concept of the beginning teacher as a novice progressing to expert had limited value. Reveals the critical influence of the social and political context in enabling supportive communities to foster the proper…

Examines the origins and current situation of the recent academic labor movement at Yale University, called the Graduate Employees and Students Organization. Discusses the increased use of non-tenure-track faculty at other universities and analyzes the changing nature of higher education institutions, highlighting reasons for the academic labor…

Describes the work of the Graduate, Adjunct, Lecturers: Organized Labor at the University of Maryland, noting that the bulk of graduate student struggles overall has occurred at state institutions. The group lobbied state legislators to include nontenured faculty in a bill granting collective bargaining to state employees. Highlights the…

A study involving 887 urban special educators investigated factors that lead to attrition and retention and found several critical factors to consider to increase retention and commitment. A leading negative factor was stress due to job design. Perceived support by principals or other teachers helped alleviate this stress. (Contains references.)…

Describes a study that analyzed how community college faculty members' role perceptions affected their teaching styles and effectiveness, specifically those of women and minority faculty members. Concludes that no significant gender differences were obtained, and the only significant ethnic difference was obtained in role conflict. Cautions,…

Explores how principals maintain control when faced with demands for both teacher autonomy and increased environmental involvement. Interviews with 22 Israeli teachers and principals revealed four administrative control mechanisms: direct control and indirect control (via elementary teachers' teamwork), and manipulation of secondary teachers'…

Surveyed teacher education faculty and administrators regarding their views on organizational health in teacher education programs, measuring organizational health on 11 dimensions. Results supported an average view of organizational health. There were relatively high levels of interpersonal trust. The weakest dimension of organizational health…

Analyzed the impact of autonomy and collegiality on elementary teachers' professional development. Data from interviews, questionnaires, document analyses, and observations indicated that autonomy and collegiality appeared in various forms in relationships among the teachers, with certain forms of autonomy and collegiality, and certain…

Examines the Workers' Compensation system and teacher stress to determine if a burned-out teacher should be eligible for Workers' Compensation benefits. Concludes that although most states do not allow Workers' Compensation benefits to burned-out teachers, compensation should be granted because the injuries are real and work-related. (Contains 48…