Reports results of research of occupational stress among elementary school teachers. Identifies four factors that contribute to teacher stress: (1) pupil misbehavior, (2) time/resource difficulties, (3) professional recognition needs, and (4) poor relationships. Discusses the relationship between job satisfaction, career commitment, and job…

Advocates cooperative learning, rather than competitive learning, in the classroom. Offers an example of cooperative learning among nursery school children in Tenants Harbor, Maine. Discusses ways for teachers to facilitate cooperative learning in program and classroom design. (BB)

The factorial validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the equivalence of factorial measurements and structure across groups were studied for 163 intermediate-grade teachers, 162 secondary school teachers, and 218 university teachers in Canada. Reasons why the MBI may not be appropriate for university educators are discussed. (SLD)

This ethnographic case study examined the socialization of a beginning kindergarten teacher as a means for better understanding the socialization process and the implications for teacher education. Recommends that organizational literacy be incorporated into teacher education programs to help new teachers understand the bureaucratic and…

Access to reliable technology. Help from classroom aides. Out-of-classroom duties. Planning time with colleagues. Administrator accessibility. All those working conditions and more play a vital part in whether good teachers feel sufficiently satisfied to stay in their schools. Now, policymakers are beginning to gather evidence on just how much…

Catholic education in the United States continues to face mounting economic challenges. Dioceses are being challenged with the painful reality of closing Catholic schools that have long served communities. These school closings leave behind wounded and disillusioned professionals. The Process of Compassion Workshop was developed to provide…

This study was conducted to determine the degree to which a randomly selected sample of teachers in Mississippi and Louisiana (N=291) experience various types of work-related problems. It provides an opportunity to either confirm or deny the findings of previous studies, many of them limited by various methodological problems. Data were collected…

This paper compares the two educational sectors in Romania K-12 schools and higher education seeking to understand why reform in the K-12 educational system has failed while higher education reform has been more rapid and effective. The analysis uses concepts from U.S. organizational theory, such as school climate, school culture, and permanently…

Colleges without tenure are rare; in the United States 97 percent of research universities and 99 percent of four-year public colleges offer tenure. This study, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, examines the 9 percent of private colleges that operate without tenure; some are highly specialized professional schools, others…

A study was done of Atlanta (Georgia) public school teacher morale in May of 1990. About 40 percent of the teaching staff (1,520 teachers) voluntarily completed a 91-item questionnaire that contained subsets of questions from the Maslach Burnout Inventory and three subscales of emotional exhaustion, departmentalization, and personal…

This paper discusses a study that examined the characteristics of part-time faculty in order to gain a better understanding of their needs so that better decisions might be made in part-time faculty management. Implications for institutional researchers who plan to study part-time faculty were also examined, including the challenges of obtaining…

Focusing on the shortage of minority group teachers, the first section of this book discusses global issues related to the teacher shortage. It is pointed out that a great imbalance exists between multicultural school populations and racially homogeneous teaching staffs. Some specific solutions and suggested reforms are made for increasing the…

In 1990, a survey was conducted of all full-time humanities and social sciences faculty at eight community colleges in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The study collected demographic data and examined the relationship between aging (both an individual's chronological age and length of time in the system) and job satisfaction through…

The paper summarizes recruitment and retention approaches designed to assist rural school administrators in securing/holding well-prepared/qualified teachers and presents findings from a 1985 study that examined teachers' perceptions of professional preparation. Outlined recruitment approaches include paying candidate's interview and moving…

The problem of attracting and retaining qualified teachers is defined; and the complicating factors, current research, and policy options and implications are outlined in this issue brief. Complicating factors cited range from increased employment opportunities for women and minorities outside the teaching profession to difficulty in objectively…