The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit, operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. The foundation seeks to identify and address the challenges to making democracy work as it should through interrelated program areas that focus on citizens, communities, and institutions. Each issue of this annual newsletter…

Each issue of this annual newsletter focuses on a particular area of Kettering's research. The 2015 issue focuses on a yearlong review of Kettering's research over time. This issue contains the following articles that address this review: (1) How Kettering Discovered Democracy (David Mathews); (2) Key Events in KF History (Collette McDonough); (3)…

Leaders of successful high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers are strengthening their skills and involving the entire school in plans to raise student achievement. The best school leaders establish an environment of continuous progress in which teachers and leaders work together to upgrade curriculum and instruction, examine…

Much of the conversation in recent years about how to attract and retain high-quality teachers has focused on salaries--how much teachers are paid, the possibilities of differentiated pay scales, and pay for performance. But it has become increasingly clear that teachers take much more than salary into account when tallying up working conditions.…

This research brief takes a look at the role of teacher efficacy-how teachers' beliefs in their own abilities affect student achievement. The brief examines the influence of perceived efficacy and building teacher confidence (social persuasion, collegiality, and shared decision making). It concludes by asserting that more positive steps must be…