Testing teachers for recertification to ensure that all certified teachers and administrators can read and write adequately is supported. Insofar as possible, tests must be developed and used in ways that are not demeaning to educational professionals. Recertification testing may recapture public support for education, which has seriously eroded.…

Surveys effect of enrollment size on 117 teachers and 892 middle and junior high school students in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Finds middle school teachers prefer small schools, junior high teachers prefer larger schools, and middle school students' self concept may increase with enrollment size. Analyzes school organizational structures. (LFL)

Describes how a last issue of the school newspaper carrying senior class wills offended some faculty members and how the issue of censorship was raised and dealt with. (CRH)

This potpourri surveys research on various topics: neurologically based curricula, midafternoon slumps in student attention, accounting for contexts in research, feelings of powerlessness among students and teachers, further equity implications of computers in schools, misreporting of research findings, and accounting for media transfer in…

This study represents an initial effort to gather information about new teacher-induction relationships that can be used to establish criteria for judging organizational theory. Its purpose was to assess whether a pupil-control or an organizational-defensive routine model characterizes new teacher-induction programs. Data were gathered from two…

The constant state of "simply making it through the day" for many beginning teachers affects their physical and mental well-being, and impacts their decision to stay in the field of education. Given the seriousness of teacher burnout, it behooves school systems to provide an induction experience for beginning teachers that will contribute to their…

Teachers from predominantly Black, White, or Hispanic inner-city, elementary schools report on the factors which cause physical and mental stress. The report claims that these stresses undermine teacher morale, and ultimately, the quality of instruction suffers. (APM)

Contains information on a vocabulary game for the content areas; maintaining teacher morale through weekly team meetings; using the typewriter in an adult literacy program; and rewarding completed performance contracts with free books. (JT)

Alienation among teachers has increased as their demands for greater professional autonomy increase. Conflict arises when principals reject teachers' need for independence. The professional teacher's rejection of bureaucratic organizational techniques results from professional training with its commitment to higher ideals. (JN)

Burnout is a syndrome involving a person's inability to cope effectively with the continual bombardment of perceived stressors. More than any other public service professionals, teachers are affected by burnout, resulting in a negative attitude toward students and a loss of idealism, energy, and purpose. Suggests strategies to effectively manage…

An Ontario study of 68 caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease revealed that those respondents living in more remote areas of northwestern Ontario expressed greater needs for information, education, and social support; experienced significantly more difficulties with morale; and employed coping strategies that reflected an inadequate social…

Describes a teaching approach successful with 1960s at-risk students, in which literature was carefully selected for readability, interest, brevity, and literary quality. Notes that all activities were literature-based and that discussion was short and text focused. Explains that each lesson was a miniature language arts curriculum and that…

This study surveyed 201 teachers in schools belonging to the American Association of Christian Schools to identify the greatest problems within the conservative Christian school movement. Teachers cited salaries as the most pressing problem, followed by difficulties in school administration/operation and concerns about spirituality. (SM)

A beginning teacher appointed to a remote Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory (Australia) describes experiences that led him to question his worth as a teacher, including social and professional isolation, his idealistic expectations of becoming a teacher, and difficulties in teaching students of various ages and academic levels. (LP)

The degree to which teachers' sense of efficacy and other hypothesized influences on commitment to teaching predicts responses to the question of whether they would enter teaching again was studied for 170 elementary school teachers. General and personal efficacy were the two strongest predictors of commitment to teaching. (SLD)