We draw on rich longitudinal data from one of the largest teacher education programs in Texas to examine the properties of rubric-based observational evaluations of preservice teachers (PSTs) during clinical teaching. Using a variance decomposition approach, we find that little of the variation in observation scores is attributable to actual…

In July 2011, the State of Michigan adopted a broad set of teacher labor market reforms, including a high-stakes evaluation system designed in part to remove low-performing teachers. We examine the characteristics of teachers rated as "minimally effective" and "ineffective," as well as their schools, and the relationship…

Attracting and retaining teachers can be an important ingredient in improving low-performing schools. In this study, we estimate the expressed preferences for teachers who have worked in low-performing schools in Tennessee. Using adaptive conjoint analysis survey design, we examine three types of school attributes that may influence teachers'…

This paper reports teacher survival rates in the St. Louis metropolitan area and updates a similar 1978 study by the authors. High dropout rates continue to exist in the beginning years of teaching for each entering cohort. Implications for teacher effectiveness, salaries, and future demand for new teachers are discussed. (Author/BS)

To examine how survival rates change with time, each cohort of new entrants to the public school teaching profession between 1968 and 1976 was examined. Results replicated Charters' downward sloping survival curve, although the curve has shifted up steadily through time. The survival rate differential between men and women is decreasing over time.…

The motivations of African Americans with regard to precollege teaching as a career are examined through case studies of a male and a female who were considering pursuing secondary certification at the graduate level but decided instead to pursue doctorates to teach at the college level. (MAK)