The study investigated the possible influence of selected personal and background demographic variables on job satisfaction among industrial arts teachers and the relationships between job satisfaction and a job content-context dichotomy for the job factors. Data were collected through mailed questionnaires to a 50 percent sample of industrial…

Consists of six articles dealing with the need to have both a personal and a professional life and ways to do so. Topics include burnout, overcoming workaholism, ways to balance roles, the administrator's view, and the two-career family. (CH)

Analyzes the political implications of two reports on educational reform: "Tomorrow's Teachers" and the Carnegie Task Force's "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century." Proposed changes involving career ladders, a national standards board, and abolition of undergraduate teacher education will produce power struggles over evaluation…

Urges implementation of a 48-week school year offering an optional fourth quarter that could be used for remediation or enrichment. Describes the impact of such a year on students, on parents' schedules, on teachers' salaries and schedules, and on administration. Considers factors affecting public acceptance of such a change. (PGD)

To accurately assess the circumstances and needs of its faculty members, an institution must keep track of the factors that affect their professional performance. A modest investment of staff time and energy in gathering this information can pay generous dividends in the form of enhanced faculty morale, growth, and productivity. (Author/MSE)

Discusses a colloquium of Harvard University faculty, staff, alumni, and graduate students on the reports and studies published recently on the shortcomings of American education. The panelists identified questions that need to be asked, pinpointed what was missing from the reports, and responded from their particular perspective. (JOW)

Argues that the best way to improve teachers' performance and morale is to provide more paid time for essential teaching tasks. Six suggestions are provided: reduce class size; provide clerical help; delegate responsibility; provide student assistants; seek help from parents; provide monthly (nonteaching) work days. (TE)

To improve instruction, teachers need to be brought together to work on common instructional concerns in a professional environment. To create it, supervisors need to provide more opportunities for teachers to make choices, discuss their work, observe each other, and help beginning teachers ease into their responsibilities. (Author/DCS)

Reports on teacher responses to a questionnaire that sought information related to teaching features such as syllabus, book selection, teaching/learning goals, preferred class activities, questions asked during discussion, methods of assessment and arrangements for remedial readers. (HOD)

One of the highest priorities of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Higher Education over the past several years has been the shift away from a corps of full-time, tenure-track faculty to a contingent instructional workforce in American colleges and universities. This document focuses on one aspect of that shift: full-time faculty who are not…

"R&D Alert" covers issues affecting schools in the Western Regional Educational Laboratory's four-state region--Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah--and throughout the United States. This issue of "R&D Alert" shares what WestEd is learning from a sample of their latest work, focusing on three points in the process:…

A simple metaphor about a dipper and a bucket and decades of research to show how even the briefest interactions affect relationships, productivity, health, and longevity, is used in this book. In the short time since the book's release, educators and administrators have already discovered that creating a positive environment can have a powerful…

This study explored how many teachers were leaving public school districts in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin during their first 5 years in teaching. Researchers analyzed four types of novice teachers, including those who: taught continuously in the same district all 5 years, transferred to another district within the state but…

Responding to questions regarding what research tells us about the importance of school size to student achievement, this report reviews recent research on the topic. It concludes that to the extent that small schools are better able than large schools to create forward planning conditions, then small schools appear to be a promising strategy. The…

This book addresses the counterproductive conditions in which part-time and non-tenure-track composition faculty must teach, using case studies, local narratives, and models for ethical employment practices. It presents and evaluates a range of proactive strategies for change, both for local conditions and broader considerations. Section 1,…