Dedication and commitment are useful terms to apply when discussing teacher quality and excellence, especially in rural contexts. A two-stage case study examined archival data on teachers and teaching in Vermont and northern New England and interviewed 12 outstanding rural teachers from low income districts throughout Vermont. The teaching…

Teachers' diverse goals for students reflect differences in teachers' conceptions of the teaching task and students' needs. This segment of the teachers' workplace research project (fieldwork and surveys in 16 public and private secondary schools) concentrated on ways in which workplace features generated dissimilar patterns of pedagogical…

A service delivery model that could unite general and special education is cooperative teaching. Cooperative teaching is an educational approach in which general and special educators work in coactive and coordinated fashion to jointly teach academically and behaviorally heterogeneous groups in educationally integrated settings. There is…

Based on Barker's Manning Theory, the behavioral and attitudinal consequences of participation in undermanned settings were examined among university faculty. Faculty from the four smallest (undermanned) and four largest liberal arts departments at Central Connecticut State College were surveyed regarding their academic activities and their…

Few educational issues have caused as much concern as those relating to teacher supply and demand especially as it relates to the recruitment of black teachers. Suggestions are made for reversing the trend of declining minority involvement in teaching, focusing on the role of the state and state universities. It is emphasized that minority student…

This digest briefly reviews major approaches to restructuring American schools and evaluates their potential for improving student learning and their feasibility--politically, financially, and administratively. The following reasons for restructuring are discussed: (1) poor educational performance; and (2) the changing skills needed for today's…

A study was conducted to identify the factors in the school workplace that may contribute to the health status of secondary agriculture teachers in the United States. The research involved a descriptive-correlational study, in which 303 teachers from a random sample of more than 500 replied to a questionnaire. Results showed that teachers…

This is the second of 12 research reports on the phenomenon of language instruction within a large class environment. The report is written in five sections. The second section (following the introductory first section) discusses the reasons for studying large classes in language instruction, including the facts that teachers find large classes…

As reflected in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, no articles with the term burnout in their titles were published prior to 1978. However, by 1980 the number of articles about burnout had increased dramatically in an explosion of awareness of the problem. Various writers and researchers have identified the stressors…

The Indiana Teacher Quality and Professional Improvement Program was established in response to legislation passed in March 1985. The purpose of the law was to review the salary and reward structure for teachers and to identify and develop methods to confer honor and respect on teachers and their profession. The Teacher Quality Team of the Indiana…

This study sought to determine the effects of early field experience on the attitudes of elementary preservice teachers toward the career of teaching and the teaching environment of the elementary school. Participants in the study were 95 elementary teacher education students enrolled in an internship program at the University of South Florida in…

Because few people ever view teaching from the front of a classroom, many fail to understand or appreciate this profession. This report is part of the Tucson (Arizona) Education Association's three-year effort to describe teaching in the words and survey responses of teachers themselves, drawing appropriate parallels and contrasts with other…

For a variety of reasons, including overemphasis on professional autonomy, many classroom teachers experience disillusionment and feelings of isolation. This paper explores teaching clinics as a way to break down barriers and foster dialogue among teachers. The Schenley High School Teacher Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, developed a teaching…

This report examines the participation of teacher unions in the education reform process. It analyzes the many roles that these organizations are playing at the national, state, and local levels through collective bargaining and political action. The focus is upon three major issues: (1) the extent to which teacher unions have attained more…

Some of the difficulties involved in teaching inside maximum security prisons, and ways a media studies teacher met these challenges, are described in this paper. The first section of the paper deals with the prison security system and the stresses it can cause for both teacher and student, while the second section discusses the influence of the…