Teachers of elementary and secondary mathematics and science have been the focus of increased attention in recent years. The Schools and Staffing Survey, conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics in school year 1987-88, provides an opportunity to look at the characteristics of the professional men and women currently responsible…

Although it is relatively simple to check on applicants' basic professional competency, ensuring the moral competency of potential school employees is much more difficult. This digest examines major legal issues, district liabilities and responsibilities, suggested guidelines, and information sources involving employee background checks. Of more…

Encouraging a professional dialogue among teachers of English, this journal issue focuses on teachers' feelings about their own lives, their classrooms, their students, their specialized knowledge, and their problems. The titles of the essays and their authors, are as follows: (1) "Of Pigs and Stars: A Nebraska Memory" (G. L. Nelson);…

A study investigated the relationship between teacher training and teacher competence. The Classroom Performance Record and the Class Context/Planning Record, two instruments constructed for use with the Virginia Beginning Teacher Assistance Program, were used to study 12 competencies of 230 beginning secondary school teachers. Teachers were…

This paper describes the results of a student science assessment test and teacher questionnaire surveying 424 sixth grade teachers in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The student test measures student attitudes to science and scientists, knowledge in life, physical and earth science, and student competence on 12 science processes…

This research study examines the practical, personal, and intuitive knowledge that elementary fine arts teachers employ in their classrooms and how that knowledge is transmitted in the profession. Chapter 1 reviews the assumptions about elementary arts teachers. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on personal knowledge with emphasis given to Michael…

Plans for an oral history project involving Hispanic academics are presented. Although the 1980s were heralded as the decade of the Hispanics, Chicanos and Puerto Ricans continued to be poorly represented in the academy, and in 1983 they comprised less than 2% of all full-time academic faculty in the United States. The project is designed to…

Responses to a questionnaire seeking information on personal characteristics, opinions, and practices were received from 90 primary public school teachers in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The instrument included questions on age, ethnic background, sex, educational background, and previous teaching experience. Opinions were also sought on…

This publication, offering support for the preservation and implementation of comprehensive school health education programs: (1) determines what comprehensive school health education should be; (2) describes the skills and knowledge that should be required of health educators; and (3) recommends methods for providing effective health education at…

In this compensatory education field study of the relationships between certain instructional practices, teacher characteristics, and student achievement in and attitude toward reading and math at the first and third grade levels, the major focus was on individualized instructional practices and instructional settings. A purposive sample of…

This paper reports the results of an 11 item questionnaire designed to ascertain the personal characteristics and backgrounds of newly-hired faculty in the 19 state North Central region. Useable responses were obtained from 406 full-time community college faculty who were hired for the 1973-74 school year. Ninety-six percent were white, 57 percent…

This paper traces the rising interest in the use of modules as a means of improving instruction for teachers of reading, and examines the pressures for innovation and the results of research efforts. Acknowledging that the teacher is the key component in determining whether children learn to read successfully, training institutions are accepting…

Cuyahoga Community College--Eastern Campus is attempting to devise an organizational structure which facilitates an open, creative environment, and to select faculty who have attitudes consonant with openness and experimentalism. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were relationships between (1) dogmatism of faculty and their…

This study posed the following questions: (1) Do English teachers have theories of language? (2) If so, what is the nature and strength of those theories? (3) How are the factors of education, experience, professional affiliation and teaching situation related to the presence of such theories? (4) What implications do the answers to these…