In this paper we focus on two questions: How well do teachers understand their current pension plans? And, what do they think about alternative plan structures? The data come from administrative records and a 2006 survey of teachers in Washington State. The results suggest that Washington's teachers are fairly knowledge about their pensions,…

The saguaro cactus looked a little like humans, in different shapes and sizes. How on earth do they survive in a climate that seems so inhospitable? It is possible to learn lessons for life from a cactus, if one can only get beyond the thorns, and that these lessons will assist one to survive during tough or prickly times. These plants survive…

Today's school principal has a plethora of duties and responsibilities. Among many others, he/she is expected to supervise and monitor teacher progress in the classroom. Too frequently in the past, principals performed largely management duties in schools, but now each principal must also assist in teaching and learning situations. How might the…

With the death last week of Theodore R. Sizer, precollegiate education lost one of its most influential thinkers and a founder of the contemporary movement to improve schools. Mr. Sizer died Oct. 21 at his home in Harvard, Mass., of colon cancer. He was 77. Over his long career, Mr. Sizer was dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education,…

Many novice teachers have the requisite skills, dispositions, and commitment to succeed, yet are leaving the profession in huge numbers. Despite induction and mentoring programs in many schools, approximately 50 percent of new teachers quit within their first five years. Perhaps what these teachers need is motivation inherent in a different kind…

Conventional approaches for fostering research productivity, such as recruitment and incentives, do relatively little to develop latent capacities in researchers. Six promising unorthodox approaches are the promotion of regular writing, tools for creativity, good luck, happiness, good health and crowd wisdom. These options challenge conventional…

During the past 30 years, the author has worked with children and young adults from ages 3 to 18 (not to mention teachers, families, administrators, lecturers, and visiting authors), and she has read a lot of books. Because there are so many kids' books being published these days, she is not expecting total perfection. Still, there are many things…

Early childhood funding is expected through various federal programs including Early Head Start, Head Start, Child Care and Development Funds, Title I, IDEA, and other education, health, and housing resources. This article presents three concrete recommendations for states and communities to consider. These include: (1) develop stronger…

There is no doubt that the American economy is in the midst of a major restructuring. While the consequences are not yet fully apparent, two powerful implications for higher education have become clear. First, because solutions to the nation's problems will require a highly educated work force, the demands on colleges can only increase. Second,…

The author interviews Muriel A. Howard, president of the State University of New York College at Buffalo, who is set to become the first black leader of any of the "big six" higher-education associations in Washington. She was named last week as the new president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Ms. Howard,…

As the nation's economy began to sputter early last year, two areas proved resilient to the cutback in Americans' spending: luxury goods and college degrees. By the end of 2008, however, luxury stores had recorded the greatest decline in sales of any retail-chain category. Optimistic college presidents believe they will be spared a drastic…

Political advocacy continues to gain ground in the state of Washington after the landmark Washington state legislative support of emergency funding ($4.09 million) for library media centers during the 2008 legislative session. This stepped-up political advocacy is due to the efforts of the Washington Library Media Association Advocacy members…

Any reauthorized version of the No Child Left Behind Act is almost certain to call for monitoring students' academic progress. However, the current method for such monitoring is educationally harmful. The author offers five recommendations for building a more defensible means to monitor student progress.

Inclusive education (IE) has been recognized as a key strategy to ensure education for all in the developing world for the last two decades. As a developing country, Bangladesh is striving to address IE by undergoing various initiatives such as policy reform, awareness creation and teacher development. This paper based on a qualitative approach…

Teachers' social networks can play an important role in teacher learning and organizational change. But what influences teachers' networks? Why do some teachers have networks that are likely to support individual and organizational change, while others do not? This study is a first step in answering this question. We focus on how district policy…