Educators need collaborative opportunities to renew their love of learning, not just to review data and rework lessons. Researcher Ian Parker Renga and coauthors examine the power of Math Teachers' Circles--a group of educators that get together to play math games and solve problems just for the joy of it.

In the face of yet another crisis in teaching, it's time for a bold and comprehensive plan to revitalize and better support the profession. Education expert Linda Darling-Hammond explains how the current shortage of teachers is not entirely new, but the result of decades of cutting programs, lack of respect for the profession and poor working…

The authors provide an updated analysis of demographic trends in teaching profession, finding that the profession is growing, becoming more inexperienced, and more diverse. The trends and others, they write, shed light on the teacher pipeline today and offer insights on teacher-staffing issues, even as they raise important policy questions.

Schools need to think more like other industries to seek top talent and reframe the teaching profession. Herrmann argues that if schools can more actively and aggressively recruit teachers to their schools, the reputation of the teaching profession will be enhanced and more high-quality teachers will be attracted to the job.

The authors describe Pathways2Teaching, a grow-your-own-teacher program operating in high schools in six Colorado school districts that focuses on getting students of color interested in going into K-12 teaching.

Although they may not have to confront the physical dangers fire fighters, and pilots face every day, teachers, principals, and administrators are responsible for many children and to many adults, our authors note (Tomlinson, Danielson, DuFour, Collins, Anderson). What teachers do or don't do affects the well-being of many and they have to make…

For those who believe in the promise of public education, here's an antidote to the many negative messages that educators have been receiving. In doing research for her new book, "Why Teachers Teach Now" (Teachers College Press, 2014), Sonia Nieto contacted teacher educators from across the United States and asked each to nominate a…

The teaching profession in the United States is under assault. A regimen of reforms threatens educators with sanctions under No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Pay-for-performance measures are a slap in the face, implying that teachers need financial carrots dangled in front of them to ensure they work hard. And there's also the public…

Reflecting on her 40 year-long "happenstance" career in teaching--a field she had as a child vowed to avoid--Carol Ann Tomlinson describes five personal practices that have helped her and her colleagues achieve an effective, personally meaningful practice. She shares stories from her professional journey that illuminate these elements of a…

As school district administrators, the authors have observed that too many beginning teachers struggle in their first few years. Questioning the quality of the university teacher preparation programs that supply a majority of their district's teachers, they decided to ask the new teachers themselves how well prepared they felt. A focus group with…

Although today's performance pay plans take many forms, the most commonly proposed version--in which teachers are rewarded on the basis of their students' standardized test scores--flows from flawed logic and several troublesome assumptions: that teachers lack motivation and supposedly need financial awards to give students what they need; that…

Recounts the influence of a fourth-grade teacher, who taught the author about Brazil during the Depression era and inspired him to dream about traveling there. Has teachers' dream-building time been squeezed out by an overwhelming emphasis on the basics, test scores, and mandated lesson plans and evaluations? Has the potential for inspiration…

A teacher describes her choice of teaching as a gift, a desire to attend college and make her life bigger than her hometown. She stays in the profession because she enjoys helping children believe in themselves as readers and writers. (MLH)

A noted educator reflects on six satisfactions that he experienced during his career in teaching: introducing students to great ideas, getting a foothold on immortality, improvising on the job, enjoying teaching as a meaningful aesthetic experience, sharing your love of what you teach, and knowing you made a difference in a student's life.

South Carolina high school teacher became newly inspired when asked to implement Teacher Cadet Program to help bright seniors consider teaching profession. She took four steps to professionalism by developing a strong commitment to the profession, gaining a sense of group power and purpose, recognizing the need for continued growth and learning,…