The fourth recommendation in ACTE's postsecondary reform position statement is to ensure portability and transferability of credits and skills attained. All postsecondary learning has value that should be recognized. Students' progress toward completion of postsecondary credentials can be improved with clear, consistent policies that ensure full…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), was first launched in 1997 as a periodic longitudinal study of program performance. Successive nationally representative samples of Head Start children and their families,…

The present report follows an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) Workshop on Quality Assurance and Postgraduate Education, hosted by the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) in Brasov, Romania on 12-13 March 2009. The workshop was an excellent opportunity for ENQA members to exchange…

School counselors (n = 1,704) nationwide were surveyed to determine if the duties performed by them were aligned with the duties prescribed by the school counseling profession since the inception of the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model in 2003. Differences were found based on participants having received ASCA National…

Background/Context: Teacher retention, especially of qualified teachers within high-poverty schools, is an issue of local, national, and international concern. School staffing research has typically examined two groups: those who remain in full-time classroom teaching versus those who quit teaching altogether. This article complicates the teacher…

Recent studies do not find consistent relationships between teacher degree, major, and certification, and PK outcomes (Early, D. M., Bryant, D. M., Pianta, R. C., Clifford, R. M., Burchinal, M. R., Ritchie, S., et al. (2006). Are teachers' education, major, and credentials related to classroom quality and children's academic gains in…

A progress report on the Child Development Associate (CDA) project which is a program for developing a new professional category to assure qualitative staffing of child care programs. Main emphasis of report is placed on development of an assessment instrument for credentialing, based on a set of eleven constructs which are delineated. (ED)

This annual report of the California-based Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing, prepared for its second year of operation, covers (a) committee membership; (b) the committee structure; (c) licensing requirements, accomplishments, and plans; (d) membership on the examination advisory panel; (e) approved programs; (f) description,…

The author presents a summary of his own view on the need for certification of research personnel employed by local education agencies and examines the advantages and disadvantages of certifying educational researchers. Certification is considered desirable upon the development of appropriate standards of competency and the establishment of…

This paper presents four recommendations of the Michigan State Board of Education regarding the certification and professional development of Michigan teachers. The proposals are that a) a system of fees be charged for teacher certificates and permits, b) a competency--or performance-based certification system be developed, c) a comprehensive…

Argues that if librarianship is to change its outside perceptions, it must first change its self-perceptions. Three areas in which true professions that demand recognition and respect have established clearly visible ground rules are highlighted: (1) credentials and librarianship as a profession or trade, (2) research, and (3) continuing…

Needing to fill coaching positions without corresponding openings in teaching positions, administrators are forced to hire coaches of varying competencies who do not teach in the building, thereby lessening opportunities for communications. Suggestions for screening, orienting, communicating with and evaluating "off the street" coaches…

The author emphasizes the relatively new phenomenon of vocational rehabilitation personnel in the private sector; points out the varied professional experience of these personnel which often excludes rehabilitation training; and discusses ethical codes of three professional organizations, four credentialing options, and issues related to client…