The latest title in the popular Spotlight series, this timely book focuses on issues involving recruitment and retention of music teachers, a crucial issue in these days of budget constraints. Arranged chronologically, it features a collection of articles from state journals focusing on issues such as mentoring, teacher shortages, burnout, and…

Edvantia, Inc. (formerly AEL) publishes "TransFormation" twice a year to provide policymakers with interpretive summaries of significant reports and rigorous studies about school transformation, giving special attention to research with possible implications for improving low-performing schools.This final print issue of…

How can the "revolving door" at the nation's high-poverty schools be slowed down? How can diversity be taught in teacher preparation that relates to teaching and learning? How can teachers learn to use the diverse urban classroom as a rich asset? By focusing on reconceptualizing general education studies, addressing key urban understanding and…

While the shortage of qualified administrators is not as serious as the shortage of qualified teachers, some schools continue to fail to attract qualified leaders. Referred to as "hard-to-staff" schools, they are often characterized by high-poverty students, low test scores, high staff turnover, and under qualified teachers. This ERIC…

This document provides background for those looking to establish workplace mentoring or buddy systems. It touches briefly on the other two legs of an effective workplace preparation program, which are orientation and on-the-job training. These six steps for setting up a mentoring system are described: recruitment, flexibility, training, written…

This issue focuses on what recent research from Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, and Alabama says about the most significant factor that impacts student achievement: the teacher. After presenting teacher effectiveness data from the four states, it discusses what makes an effective teacher, focusing on the need for strong verbal and math skills,…

Many schools across the country face persistent teacher working condition challenges that are closely related to high teacher turnover rates and chronic difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers. Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) research examining working conditions survey results in both North Carolina and South Carolina demonstrates…

The impact of 1996 federal welfare reform legislation on state work force development programs was examined through a study of work force development programs and policies in 13 states: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The study focused on…

This final performance report for the St. Charles Public Library and Literacy Volunteers of America-Fox Valley literacy project begins with a section that provides quantitative data. The next section presents a summary of activities during 1993 based the following project goals and related objectives: (1) increase visibility to attract students…

This collection of essays on rural education in the United States aims to fill a gap in the educational literature by highlighting the available research on rural schools and their contexts. The three sections of the book focus on the historical, social, political, and economic contexts of rural education; topics of practical interest for rural…

States experiencing success in raising student achievement are likely to be taking two key policy steps: identifying teaching standards that articulate what teachers should know and be able to do at different points in their careers and using those standards to develop more thoughtful certification and licensing systems, more productive teacher…

This hearing focused on the subject of teacher recruitment and preparation. The hearing began with opening statements by several Congressmen (the Honorable Frank Riggs, Matthew Martinez, William Gooding, George Miller, and Robert Scott). Following the opening statements were statements by the Honorable Eugene Hickock, Secretary of Education,…

A human resource (HR) function should be strategically integrated with a company's business plan to help the company achieve its business objectives. Four elements ensure that the HR function carries out this role: plan strategically, align activities, value employees, and be proactive. The major components of a strategic HR program--obtaining,…

This document is a practical guide for designing principal-development programs. The target audience includes individuals involved in the design and implementation of principal-preparation and development programs, particularly at the school-district level. Chapter 1, "The Call for New School Leaders and Leadership Development," expresses the need…

This manual on conducting an adult English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) program is designed for professional development of new ESOL instructors. It is one of three manuals developed to supplement a previous series of professional development manuals. The Adult ESOL Instructor Self-Directed Assessment is provided to assess prior adult…