To attract the best available superintendent candidates boards should (1) sell the advantages of the district; (2) define expectations early; (3) spell out working relationships; (4) develop compensation guidelines early; (5) consider developing leaders and alternative prospects; (6) maintain strict confidentiality; and (7) make the final…

Discusses findings of a survey of 18 women music educators. Reports the educators' career paths, reasons for job changes, and professional influences. Reveals their appraisals of the importance of mentoring and goal setting and their definitions of success. Argues that it is up to women music educators to nurture one another. (SG)

The article highlights the issues and important principles of infusing research and practice into the personnel preparation process for the field of vision disabilities. It discusses significant research and practice changes, current challenges facing the field, and considerations for the next 20 years. (SM)

Forty blind children and adolescents had to learn two unknown environments and then externalize the spatial representation via two methods--building a scale model and verbally estimating distances. High correlations were found between the two methods and between those methods and two systems of measuring mobility. (Author/JDD)

This review of research related to teacher retention and attrition in special education organizes research findings around a conceptual model of teachers' career decisions that includes three major factors: external, employment, and personal. The review also considers major findings from general education retention studies, and conceptual and…

Quantifies the relationships among the personal and professional attributes of teachers, school district characteristics, and the retention behavior of teachers employed by these districts. Retention is negatively related to property wealth and the percentage of Indian and Asian students and is positively related to teaching experience, salary,…

A study of the distances between physicians' (n=2,612) residency program locations and first practice locations indicates that most moved less than 75 miles. Primary care physicians moved significantly shorter distances than did other specialists. This pattern has changed little over the last few decades. (Author/MSE)

This article shows how the methods of survival analysis (also known as event history analysis) lend themselves to the study of the timing of educational events. Using examples from teacher attrition and student dropout research, survival methods are introduced for building statistical models of the risk of event occurrence over time. (Author/SLD)

Examination of the geographic mobility of science faculty within and to/from the United Kingdom finds the academic community of those countries Europeanized but not truly globalized. Inflows of scientific skills mostly benefit the already high-performing institutions and departments; lower-performing universities benefit less because they are less…

A survey of 456 rural physicians identified features of their training that correlated with their self-reported preparedness for rural practice and small-town living, and with how long they stayed in their rural practices. Results suggest residency rotations in rural areas are the best educational experiences to prepare physicians for rural…

Faced with pupil flight to more prestigious public and private schools, French secondary schools create "good classes," reinforce security and discipline, and try to strengthen links to feeder schools. Parents remain skeptical about relevant criteria for judging school quality; measures are needed to equalize their choosing ability.…

Investigates job satisfaction and attrition factors for music teachers through interviews of 30 music teachers within their first 10 years of teaching. Finds that teachers view three factors as essential to their well-being: (1) positive administrative support; (2) resources to do one's job; and (3) a support network, including experienced music…

An informal survey of state superintendent associations and lawyers representing superintendents reveals little change in top executives' contracts over the past decade. Mandatory evaluations and renewable (non-"evergreen") contracts are becoming common; pay-for-performance measures are emerging, yet limited. Contractual and job-leaving…

A survey of 158 rural special education teachers found that 57% expected to be in the same position in 5 years. A predictive model developed through logistic regression analysis suggested that administrative support and job requirements played important roles in teachers' five-year plans. (Author/DB)

This article provides: information on the importance of physical activity for older adults and guidelines to ensure safe and successful activity. It discusses the need for activity, risk levels, prescription of exercise intensity, determination of entry level fitness and monitoring of improvement, and the role of the professional. (SM)