The conditions under which graduate students teach freshman composition militate against a comfortable and productive relationship between instructors and students. As instructors are constrained by political forces beyond their control, such as lack of position and power, teaching undervalued courses, and the lack of respect from students, their…

This book describes the teaching experiences of Stella Gipson Polk, who taught in one-room schools in rural Texas. She was 16 at the time she took her first teaching job in 1918. After high school graduation, she had intended to enter a 4-year college or university. However, World War I left numerous schools without teachers as many were called…

This study was conducted to examine high school teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy and ways in which self-perception is affected by: (1) differences in the characteristics of classes taught; (2) differences in the organizational environments in which teachers work; and (3) interactions that neutralize the negative effects of difficult classes.…

Given the current need for collegial interaction among teachers, a teacher collegial group (TCG) was designed and implemented as a participatory structure in an elementary school. An interpretive research design was used to: (1) identify interactions occurring among the six participating teachers during TCG meetings; (2) improve the TCG meeting…

This document, published by WCOTP in 1986 in observance of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, was jointly prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and adopted by a special intergovernmental…

This paper reports the findings of a survey of 686 secondary school teachers in England on their involvement in their work and the factors to which it is related. Three facet-free and 13 facet-specific measures were derived from a questionnaire sent to teachers who proportionately represented the characteristics of teachers in all secondary…

The relationship between class size and scholastic outcomes is addressed in this paper. A literature review focuses on the research of Glass and Smith (1978) and Larkin and Keeves (1984). Contradictory and inconclusive research findings about teacher effectiveness in relation to class size indicate that emphasis should be placed on training…

This paper analyzed the policy implications of disparate compensation and working conditions associated with teaching in three publicly funded early childhood systems in New York City. Survey data from 559 teachers (336 in public school, 134 in day care, and 89 in Head Start) included information on levels of training, credentials held, course…

A study was made to determine to what degree teachers, trained in the use of the Hunter Instructional Model, appropriately used the skills and strategies taught by the model, and what influenced the application of the learned skills in the classroom. Fourteen first through fourth grade teachers in two elementary schools participated. The…

This collection of articles gathers reprinted materials on teacher attraction and retention for small and rural school districts. The material is organized in two sections: (1) Attracting and Retaining Quality Teachers and (2) Challenging and Enriching Current Staff. Reprints from a number of publications present strategies for addressing the…

This study examined the time constraints imposed on teacher interns by the fact that they enter a classroom already established and owned by a cooperating teacher and leave the scene before the actual year-end closure. Participants in the study were eight secondary language arts student interns. Separate case studies were completed for each…

This paper discusses a variety of incentives that can make a difference in attracting and retaining high quality teachers. These incentives include salaries, retirement benefits, working conditions, quality of life, tenure and seniority rights, and sick leave. The states in the Northeast vary considerably in their ability to attract quality…

This study investigated secondary teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate relative to their own professional growth and development attitudes. Instrumentation consisted of the "School Climate Profile," chosen for its range of determinants of school organizational climate in the secondary school, and a Likert scaling procedure to…

How beginning secondary schools teachers shift from university-based to school-based practices was investigated. Thirty-one subjects were followed over a 3-year period through their preparation programs and into their second teaching year. Findings suggested that beginning teachers use conscious selection, processing, and use of information for…

This book reports on the current condition of teaching in the United States and presents an analysis of variables for each state and the District of Columbia that affect teaching now and in the future. These variables include population changes, enrollment patterns, numbers of teachers, projected teacher shortages, salaries, school spending and…