Background: The remarkable economic growth in contemporary China is unprecedented, but scholars voice concerns regarding unintended consequences during this transitional phase. Of particular concern is the constant challenge to staff schools with highly qualified teachers. Purpose: This study sets out to understand subtle yet consequential changes…

Background: School leaders are challenged by the relatively limited supply and high turnover of qualified secondary school mathematics teachers. In response, policy makers and teacher educators have developed various pathways and incentives to recruit, train, place, and support highly qualified mathematics teachers to work in hard-to-staff…

Background: Educational reform responds to local and national pressures to improve educational outcomes, and reform efforts cycle as similar pressures recur. Currently, reform efforts focus on teachers, even though confidence in a host of American social institutions is dropping. One of the most widespread reforms regarding teachers is the…

The president of the American Federation of Teachers accepts the basic model of teacher education found in the Holmes Group Report, which includes a liberal education, mastery of a subject, professional specialization, and a structured clinical induction program. He calls for a profession-based national teacher exam. (Author/MT)

This article raises the possibility for genuine reform in the Holmes Group Report and the Carnegie Report. The questions of differentiated staffing, professional development, and attracting minority group teachers are discussed. (Author/MT)

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), which provides national data on rates of teacher turnover and sources of supply of new teachers, helped dispel certain myths about U.S. teacher supply and demand and led to concerns over teacher quality instead of teacher shortages as the central staffing issue of the 1990s. (SM)

Recent research indicates that large numbers of U.S. classrooms are staffed with unqualified teachers. This is not due to teacher shortages, but rather to shortages of qualified teachers for specific positions. Hiring practices result in out-of-field teaching. The research indicates that qualified teacher shortages stem from teachers leaving or…

Article describes educational problems inherent in the modern metropolis. (MM)

In discussing Donna Kerr's recommendations for improving teaching through better preservice training (Teachers College Record, Spring 1983), Sykes points out the need to enhance the quality of a teacher's work life in the schools as a requisite for reform. Specific changes at the school level are suggested. (PP)

Draws on recent data from surveys and research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education to sketch the outline of the approaching changes in the teacher labor market and to comment on the issue of teacher quality. Enduring teacher quality requires institutional reform in the teacher preparation and compensation system. (SM)