With the introduction of free primary education throughout Africa over the past 20 years, the demand for more qualified teachers has grown tremendously (Nilsson, 2003). Mainstream teacher education programs, typically consisting of 1-3 years of residence in teachers' colleges and some form of practice teaching, are unable to meet this…

A No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Title II audit found the state of North Carolina out of compliance with the definition of teacher quality for secondary special education teachers. The state specific Praxis exam and the Highly Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation these teachers completed to earn certification to teach subject area…

School counselors have been professionals in schools for over one hundred years. During the past century, as the nation has grown and changed, the roles and responsibilities of school counselors have as well. As the initial roles of school counselors have progressed to include more than vocational counseling, their roles and responsibilities have…

Teachers are the largest component of school spending, with more funding being allocated to teacher salaries than to any other education expense (Loeb, Miller, and Strunk 2009). Teacher and staff salaries and benefits consume up to 80 percent of current expenditures (Aud et al. 2010). Yet, there is not a wealth of data on teacher compensation.…

The education research community has spent years debating the value of teacher education and professional development programs and their impact on teaching effectiveness and student achievement. These debates will no doubt intensify as Congress turns its attention this year to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. School…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the National Board Teacher Certification (NBTC) process was an effective form of professional development for teachers that would result in changing teachers' instructional practice resulting in improved student learning. The study also examined how a cohort of NBTC candidates impacted the non-NBTC…

This report contains trend data on the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of first-time, full-time students at Maryland community colleges from 1997 to 2007. Specifically, the report presents retention and graduation data for students two, three and four years after matriculation into a community college. The data is presented for the…

Objective: Determine child/maternal factors associated with overweight among 2- to 4-year-olds enrolled in the Texas Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Design: Matched child and maternal data collected by self-report of the mother during WIC certification. These data were extracted from existing…

Each year brings variations in the certification requirements of many states, and it is the purpose of this publication to bring these changes to the attention of teachers, administrators, librarians, counselors, and other school personnel. An alphabetical listing of the states provides information on certification requirements for all school…

Counselor credentialing can be confusing to counseling students as well as counseling practitioners. There is as yet no definitive set of national standards applicable within and among states. This monograph aims to clarify the meaning, value, and drawback of various types of credentials, so as to help counselors decide which credentials are…

In January 1986, the Texas State Board of Education established performance standards for the Texas Examination of Current Administrators and Teachers (TECAT), an examination resulting from the passage in 1984 of Texas House Bill 72. This Bill called for Texas public school educators to pass a test in reading and writing as a condition of…

This bulletin contains the regulations governing the certification of teachers and other school personnel in the state of Mississippi. (JD)

Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) has developed a field-based two-year experimental program leading to alternative certification (AC) and a master's degree in special education. The program features special recruitment procedures, intensive on-the-job university-based supervision, and local school mentoring. Evaluation of the AC teachers during…

Without profession-based quality control, well-meaning legislators are actually reducing the quality of our nation's teachers by implementing alternative certification laws allowing individuals with no preparation except a college degree to become teachers. Until teachers are well educated and carefully licensed, education reform will not succeed.…