This report presents results from the Newark, New Jersey, site of the Foundations of Learning (FOL) Demonstration, an intervention and random assignment evaluation of a curriculum designed to target children's behavior and emotional adjustment through the training of preschool teachers. The demonstration adopted the model used by CSRP (formerly…

This report presents results from the Newark, New Jersey, site of the Foundations of Learning (FOL) Demonstration, an intervention and random assignment evaluation of a curriculum designed to target children's behavior and emotional adjustment through the training of preschool teachers. The demonstration adopted the model used by CSRP (formerly…

Traditionally, policymakers have attempted to improve the quality of the teaching force by raising minimum credentials for entering teachers. Recent research, however, suggests that such paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers. The authors propose federal support to help states measure the effectiveness…

In order to provide accurate estimates of how much teachers affect the achievement of their students, this study used panel data covering over a decade of elementary student test scores and teacher assignment in two contiguous New Jersey school districts. The test score data, which spanned the years 1989-1990 to 2000-2001, came from nationally…

The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high, rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards; and advocating related education…

This paper examines alternative teacher certification in the NCREL region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin), reviewing relevant literature, analyzing current Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data, reviewing information on alternative certification programs in these states, and offering results from a survey of…

This paper discusses the importance of teacher professional development to student achievement. Section 1, "The Imperative: Investment in Human Skill and Knowledge," explains that despite contradictory evidence, prevailing assumptions asserts that teachers learn most of what they need during preservice education. Section 2, "The Knowledge Gap in…

The 1998 Head Start Act mandated that 50 percent of all Head Start teachers nationwide have a minimum of an associate degree in early childhood education or a related field by September 2003 and that each classroom in center-based programs without such degreed teachers have a teacher with a Child Development Associate credential or equivalent…

This biweekly newsletter designed expressly for parents and families contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. This issue highlights three new areas of flexibility that the U.S. Department of Education is providing for teachers to achieve a "highly qualified" rating under the No Child Left Behind Act. These new…

This book is designed to help elementary teachers improve their classroom management techniques. It can be used alone or in conjunction with other books in the "Successful Teaching Series." Many issues covered in the book are generic and apply to both elementary and secondary teaching. Section 1, "Skillful Class Management,"…

Great teachers make a profound difference in the lives of children. Each of us can remember the personal qualities of a great teacher whose influence stretches into our adulthood--or who gave our own children a solid start in life. But these elusive qualities are hard to measure. It's even harder to use them to predict who will become a great…

The major focus of this paper is school teachers' integration of educational technology in their curriculum. Single studies made in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Florida will be examined and a more complex study made in Michigan, Tennessee, Illinois, Montana, California, and Massachusetts which were later implemented among the Model School…

Principals and superintendents were surveyed as to how they use concepts of Person-Job Fit (PJF) and Person-Organization Fit (POF) as they assess teacher applicants. An instrument was designed and a random sample of principals and superintendents was assessed. Results indicated that each group focuses on a different set of concepts in selection…

Therapeutic horseback riding for persons with disabilities provides physical, mental, social, and emotional benefits. Most research in this area has focused on the product or benefits of therapeutic riding, while the process of teaching horseback riding has received little attention. Research from the fields of regular education, special…

This study examined whether National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification would impact school districts' educational processes, identifying areas in which NBPTS certification impacted such factors as: classroom teaching practices; professional development; employment procedures and opportunities; teachers' career paths;…