Teaching quality is a crucial factor in student success, contributing to students' short- and long-term learning opportunities. High-quality teaching not only contributes to the improvement of student test scores and graduation rates but also gives students a "strong foundation from which to advance and achieve" in the future. Long term,…

An increasing number of states are mandating teacher performance be considered in educator employment decisions, including awarding tenure and layoffs, according to a 50-state policy review of teacher tenure laws. Tenure laws have historically granted job protections based on years of employment. The Education Commission of the States (ECS)…

This article examines the pattern of incentives for work versus retirement in six state teacher pension systems. We do this by examining the annual accrual of pension wealth from an additional year of work over a teacher's career. Accrual of wealth is highly nonlinear and heavily loaded at arbitrary years that would normally be considered…

Kansas school districts reduced employment by 327 full-time equivalent positions this school year, the smallest reduction in three years of cuts to district operating budgets. Districts reduced positions by 561 in FY 2010 and 1,626 in FY 2011. Districts eliminated nearly 400 "regular" teaching positions this year, but added 114 special…

Paper screening in the pre-selection process of hiring teachers has been the focus in an ongoing series of similar studies starting with Allison in 1981. There have been many independent variables, including, but not limited to, age, gender, ethnic background, years of experience, type of experience, and grade point average, introduced into the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher selection practices in public high schools on Long Island, New York. More specifically, this study sought to identify criteria used to guide teacher selection, how the criteria are developed and used within the process, and the role of the principal in teacher selection. This research was…

Teacher compensation reforms have been on the rise in recent years, yet research has yet to fully demonstrate how teachers interpret these policies and how they may influence their instructional practices and professional decisions. This qualitative study of a performance pay program in an urban district in Texas drew on cognitive approaches to…

A grade school teacher objects to the fact that school boards require an intimate personal history of a teacher before considering her for employment, but do not in turn allow her to choose her own school. (CK)

In May 1985, a survey was conducted by Napa Valley College (NVC) to determine the salary and personnel practices of the 48 single-campus community college districts in California and compare them with personnel practices at NVC. The survey focused on salary and benefit allocations in school budgets, estimated reserves or ending balance in 1984-85,…

This report addresses one central issue: the nature and extent of the teacher shortage in Arizona. Its purpose is to inform policymakers and help prevent poor policy decisions and wasted resources. The report presents new research along with policy and program recommendations intended to serve as points of departure for understanding and…

Probability-based targets, instead of tenure quotas, work with a longer view of the future and permit flexibility in decisionmaking by asserting that performance standards remain the key criterion for promotion. (Author/PG)

Comments are divided into four sections: (1) a summary of the problems posed by the tenure system; (2) a brief survey of several alternatives to conventional tenure; (3) a review of some problems facing colleges in financial exigency; and (4) a few positive suggestions for the future. (Author/PG)

Effective tenure policies, including periodic post-tenure review of performance, can not only protect academic freedom but assure high levels of faculty achievement. (Editor/PG)

Asserts that tenure may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or more general affirmative action concepts. (Author/PG)

"Casebook I: Faculty Employment Policies" presents six cases developed by the Project on Faculty Appointments at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "Teaching Notes to Casebook I" provides detailed suggestions and strategies for leading an effective classroom or workshop discussion about each of the casebook's six case studies, all of which…