For well over a decade, teachers have been recognized as the single most important school-level factor influencing student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2000; Rowan, Correnti & Miller, 2002; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). Tremendous public resources…

In the report "From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum," (See full report in ERIC at ED555657) National and State Teachers of the Year shared their views on what helped them become great teachers. This accompanying "Discussion Starter Tool" builds…

This study applied expectancy theory to integrate the numerous and disparate explanations that researchers and educators have proposed to account for teacher resistance to implementing cooperative learning as an educational innovation. The cooperative learning implementation questionnaire (CLIQ) contained 48 items grouped under three broad…

To examine how knowledge of history and politics informs the early education and child care field, this paper identifies sources of historical knowledge and unexamined underlying presuppositions frequently held by early childhood professionals which, if allowed to remain unchallenged, contribute to professional burn-out, repeated frustration at…

Research reports show that in many schools, teachers are isolated and have little chance for professional collaboration with fellow teachers. However, research also demonstrates that when teachers collaborate, instruction improves. Seven examples of teacher collaboration throughout the United States show how collaboration can be implemented and…

This guide answers three basic questions on how to develop a professional community of learners: (1) What type of polices, structures, and procedures will help staff to connect with and learn from one another? (2) What incentives help schools to undertake community-wide learning? and (3) How can schools transform themselves into professional…

Examines methods of reducing teacher burnout, including strong peer support systems, teacher participation in decisions that directly affect their job performance, flexible scheduling, provision of advancement opportunities, inservice training programs, fair wage scales, and the understanding of school administration. (CT)

Enumerates negative emotions that early childhood teachers may feel when first encountering the handicapped child and suggests ways to overcome these feelings. (KS)

Following a brief discussion of the "occupational diseases" of teaching are some questions which teachers can ask themselves to help define for themselves how they might use the teaching process to enrich themselves as people. (KC)

Describes symptoms of teacher burnout, notes specific problems faced by reading teachers, and suggests ways reading teachers can treat professional burnout and enhance their personal lives. (GT)

Describes the experiences of a teacher using a mathematics curriculum called Six Through Eight Mathematics (STEM). Discusses how experiencing this curriculum helped shape views of mathematics and teacher role. (ASK)

Teachers' conceptions of assessment can be understood in terms of their agreement or disagreement with four purposes to which assessment may be put, specifically, (a) improvement of teaching and learning, (b) school accountability, (c) student accountability, or (d) treating assessment as irrelevant. A 50-item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment…

Identifies problems judged by teachers to be crucial to their professionalism (e.g., lack of participation in the determination of their tasks, inadequate teaching in theory, lack of collaborative activities, inapplicability of positivistic research to teaching-learning situations, and political pressures). Recommends developing mutual respect and…

A study examined issues of teacher professionalization within adult literacy education. Relevant research and theory on professionalization were reviewed, the historical experiences of other professional fields were examined, data on state certification requirements for adult basic education (ABE) teachers were analyzed, officials from states…

This paper describes the development of a teachers' book club as a form of professional development, based on the premise that teachers are leaders and can be responsible for their own professional development, if given a framework and opportunity to do so. Data sources included a survey and interviews with club members. Analysis of the success of…