The political events characterizing the start of a teaching career were investigated for three teachers who told the stories of their early years on the job. Data analysis reveals that their thoughts and actions are influenced and sustained in three streams of consciousness (biography, role demands, and school culture). (SLD)

When Prince George's County Public Schools created a teacher mentor program, administrators also created a system for evaluating it with clear expectations and goals at the outset. Precisely defining objectives enabled leaders to see their progress, determine what needed to change along the way, and build support for the program.

In attempting to identify causes of the high rates of attrition of beginning teachers and possible solutions to their exodus, this study identified what beginning high school and middle school teachers in the Baltimore County Public School system found were their most urgent concerns and most valuable types of assistance. A questionnaire was sent…

An effort to reform teacher professional development is on a parallel course with the statewide academic standards and assessment system stipulated by the State of Washington's School Improvement Act (House Bill 1209). Five college/university and school district partnerships have been commissioned to develop and field test a new performance-based…

This report, prepared for the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission, summarizes the major recommendations for reforming the field of teaching as proposed by the Holmes Group and the Carnegie Commission. The paper compares the recommendations with current practice in the areas of career development and governance. Stages of…

To develop an effective method for experienced, full-time faculty to mentor new, part-time faculty, Cuyahoga Community College (CCC), in Ohio, initiated the 3-year Educator's Peer Instructional Consulting (EPIC) project in September 1987. EPIC was designed to allow new faculty to quickly learn essential information about the college, their…

This publication is intended to assist Holmes Group institutions of higher learning in designing and implementing more effective programs to recruit and retain minority candidates in teacher education. Information from many sources, including the literature, was synthesized, and certain principles emerged as keys to diversifying the teaching…

This presentation examines teacher attrition and defines policies that could help reduce attrition. It first presents a theory of teacher attrition that explains what patterns to expect in teacher attrition and turnover and why some teacher attrition may be inevitable. It presents findings from a longitudinal study of Indiana teachers,…

This report outlines and evaluates a project, Teachers Need Teachers (TNT), developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). TNT is a teacher induction program for first-year teachers who are certified in bilingual education and teach limited-English-proficient students. Beginning teachers are assigned to experienced…

A national mail survey examined the experiences of beginning vocational teachers. The survey had three sections: demographics, a list of assistance items, and a list of events. The latter two sections had two scales: frequency of occurrence and degree of impact. The survey sought to determine the kinds of induction assistance that beginning…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Teacher Excellence for All Children: Senior Democrat Offers Legislation Featuring Teacher Incentives and Induction…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

Projected teacher shortages are due to an expanding need and teachers leaving the profession. With the extreme pressures on beginning teachers, a large percentage of them leave the profession within their first 5-6 years. Causes for leaving the profession include school staffing actions; personal reasons; pursuing another job; and dissatisfaction.…

The Miscellaneous section of the Proceedings contains the following 13 papers: "The Language of Public Journalism: An Analysis of the Movement's Appropriation of the Terms Public, Civic, Deliberative Dialogue, and Consensus" (James Engelhardt); "Incorporating Critical Thinking in an Introductory Journalism Course" (Donna…

States experiencing success in raising student achievement are likely to be taking two key policy steps: identifying teaching standards that articulate what teachers should know and be able to do at different points in their careers and using those standards to develop more thoughtful certification and licensing systems, more productive teacher…