To ensure that schools enjoy a steady supply of competent and committed teachers, federal, state, and local policymakers should look to the extensive research literature in this area, focusing on five strategies in particular: strengthening teacher preparation, improving hiring practices, increasing compensation, providing support for new…

A highly competent teacher workforce is a necessary foundation for improving children's educational outcomes, especially for those who rely most on schools for their success. Yet in the United States, shortages in the teaching force have been growing across the country, reaching crisis proportions in some teaching fields--such as mathematics,…

One of the most pressing issues facing policymakers is how to staff classrooms with a stable teaching force responsive to complex student needs and the growing demands of the knowledge economy. Recurrent teacher shortages are a function of both declines in entrants to teaching and high rates of teacher attrition, especially in low-income schools.…

Is there a better education model for English learners (ELs) in the United States? The Internationals Network for Public Schools (the Network) now supports 21 schools and six academies in seven states as well as Washington, D.C. They are open only to immigrants who have been living in the United States for less than four years and who score in the…

In this multi-method case study, the authors explore the success of school reform in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), whose school reform combines a portfolio strategy and a managed instruction approach. Portfolio strategy is a term used to describe an approach that decentralizes resources and decision-making to school sites--increasingly in…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

This article explores the contributions of professionalism to school accountability in the context of a new phenomenon in American education: the professional development school. (IAH)

International High School, New York (New York) is a secondary school for students who have been in the United States less than 4 years and who score below the 20th percentile on an English language proficiency test. The 310 students of 1988 came from 37 nations, and spoke 32 languages. An evaluation conducted in the 1991-92 school year indicates…

This monograph examines issues that will shape teacher education programs in the future. Following a foreword by Robert M. McClure, the monograph is organized into three chapters. The first, "Perestroika and Professionalism: The Case for Restructuring Teacher Preparation" (Linda Darling-Hammond), focuses on changes wrought by school…