This sourcebook provides substantive ideas for private liberal arts colleges interested in assessing, enhancing, and maintaining the quality of the academic workplace. Additionally, it responds to some of the current trends affecting American higher education involving faculty worklife and development, problems associated with faculty shortages,…

The Teaching Project at the Edward Devotion School (Massachusetts) is made up of four components: team teaching; school/university collaboration; inclass remediation; and alternative roles for teachers. Four third- and fourth-grade teachers' experiences during the first year of program implementation are examined to highlight potential…

Regular and special education teachers were compared to determine the extent of stress and burnout within these groups, environmental factors that were involved, and teachers' and administrators' views on feasible ways to reduce stress. A sample of regular and special education teachers in Utah (n=606) responded to 3 survey instruments: (1) the…

Based primarily on data collected on a sample of nearly 700 public school teachers, a study critically examined several key issues in the field of teacher burnout, coming to the conclusions that: (1) Teacher stress and teacher burnout are distinct and separate concepts; (2) The problem of teacher burnout has reached serious proportions; (3)…

The policy options offered in the literature concerning temporary work address two major concerns: (1) the conditions of temporary work itself; and (2) the elimination of fulltime jobs, or lack of growth, and their replacement by temporary work. Both temporary help firms and the organizations that use temporary help should be required to report on…

The document presents the following papers: (1) "Eliot Wigginton: A "Shining Moment" of the Mini Clinic" (Luis Felipe Clay Mendez); (2) "Telling it Like it Is: Attitudes and Opinions of Beginning Teachers" (Erma Williams and others); (3) "Redesigning the Role of the Student Teacher Supervisor: Use of Reflective Techniques" (Barbara S. De Salvo);…

This survey was conducted at John Abbott College to gauge teachers' responses to issues concerning their job satisfaction, interaction with colleagues, perceptions of student abilities, and perceptions concerning union negotiating priorities and areas of conflict within the institutional environment. Of the 75 teachers contacted, 47 returned…

This paper reports on a: (1) review of recent literature on the principal's role in the implementation of educational reform, and (2) study of teacher perceptions of the role of the principal in the implementation of recent Texas reform legislation. Research on societal and organizational change shows that the inevitability of change should be a…

This presentation discusses strategies upon which to base teacher incentives, and also assumptions within these strategies. The first strategy, influencing teacher turnover rates so that good teachers remain in the profession longer and poor teachers leave teaching sooner, includes consideration of occupational rewards, career structure, benefits,…

Speech teachers in small colleges often feel frustrated because of their course load and other heavy demands made on their time. Because their departments are small, they have few colleagues in their discipline to work with, and this--plus time constraints--makes it difficult for them to remain professionally active. One way they can extricate…

A large-scale sociological study of teacher burnout in the public schools is summarized. Data presented in the study consist of: a sample of 3,500 teachers in Houston, whose attitudes were monitored in 1977; exit interviews of every teacher in the initial sample who subsequently quit teaching over a 5-year period; achievement and attendance…

Causes and prevention of the decline of professional competencies acquired in American institutions of higher education by foreign-trained, Third World scholars and professionals and soon lost upon their return to their home countries are addressed. The context of this problem is described for three countries that were selected as examples:…

The development of a merit pay system in effect since 1953 in a suburban school district is discussed in light of district records and interviews with administrators and teachers. A key element of the system is a standing committee for evaluation of the program, consisting of the superintendent, teacher-elected representatives, and one…

To examine the impact of administrators' opinions on teacher quitting behavior, this document constructs a model using seven categories: (1) "actor traits," a teacher's personal characteristics; (2) "building characteristics," aspects of the work setting; (3) "investments/options," commitment factors such as years on the job and translatability of…

Based on a synthesis of research and on telephone interviews with representatives of 22 school districts, this study analyzes the effectiveness and problems of two types of motivational plans for teachers: merit pay plans in which at least part of a teacher's pay is linked to performance, and nonmonetary performance-by-objectives plans in which…