Summarizes the Carnegie Foundation president's September 1987 speech concerning this generations's most urgent task--rebuilding the nation's schools. Warns that today's teachers may have gained in competency and responsibility, but not in empowerment to shape curricula, plan inservice programs, or shape student retention and special education…

Teachers are in the awkward position of exercising authority, yet have dubious control over the conditions within which they do so. The ideal teacher role is authority exercised in good faith and a commitment to the burdens and uncertainties of educational authority. (CB)

Although teachers and administrators have been treated as subject matter for numerous major reports on American education, seldom have they been asked to analyze their own situation and to propose their own solutions. This report presents the observations and recommendations of the Select Seminar on Teacher Evaluation comprised of 9 master…

Raising professional standards and improving teacher preparation programs will have little effect unless teaching becomes a more attractive career. Local administrators should involve faculty members effectively and satisfactorily in the decision-making and management process so that teachers don't need to enlist collective bargaining to force…

Addresses the problem of bureaucratic control over what is taught and how in the classroom. Suggests that only by allowing classroom teachers to be part of curriculum decisions will public schools promote the growth of academic freedom and creative thinking. Argues that quality teaching is more important than political safety or obedient teachers.…

This digest discusses why special education teachers may become stressed by role overload and lack of autonomy, and presents strategies for successfully managing stresses related to teaching. Strategies include: (1) setting realistic expectations; (2) making distinctions between job and personal life; (3) finding ways to exercise professional…

Control over content, teaching, and evaluation of social studies is moving outside of the classroom. Organized action is needed to see that teachers do not lose their autonomy. (RM)

Teachers must play a central role in attempts to reform public education. Teachers are losing control over their work. They must organize, defend schools as institutions essential to maintaining a democracy, and portray themselves as transformative intellectuals who combine scholarly reflection and practice to train students to be responsible…

Private school teachers earn less than public school teachers but can cite autonomy, contact with a small and stable student body, participation in policymaking, opportunities for independent study, and attractive facilities as reasons for their preference. Notes that independent schools do not pursue novelty in educational methods or curricular…

For a variety of reasons, including overemphasis on professional autonomy, many classroom teachers experience disillusionment and feelings of isolation. This paper explores teaching clinics as a way to break down barriers and foster dialogue among teachers. The Schenley High School Teacher Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, developed a teaching…

Teachers, in cooperation with parents and industry, are the key to revitalizing public schools. Giving technology-based education a central place in the planning process is an important dimension of school reform. (MLF)

An intensive two-phase study of teachers' unions in three small school districts in southern New York State over a 10-year span investigates the changes within the union movement and assesses the impact of unionization on the school systems. The study discloses that teachers' organizations and the collective bargaining process are subject, over…

The internal politics of colleges and the influence of a current emphasis on efficiency on the traditional independence of the academician are analyzed. It is suggested that the academician does not work in the same differentiated, and therefore interdependent, way as someone in industry or a bureaucracy. Academic activity is segmented, which…

This paper discusses the problems of the teaching profession from the perspective of the classroom teacher, and attempts to develop a set of policy recommendations related to improving teaching conditions and teacher effectiveness. Information collection focused on data obtained from in-depth interviews conducted with 73 elementary and secondary…

Examines 1,213 Tennessee elementary teachers' responses to 6 organizational indexes to determine effects of school organization and administrative support on teacher commitment. Finds novices needed organizational support for behavioral management and boundary tasks, midcareer teachers needed autonomy and empowerment, whereas veterans' commitment…