This document reports on a 1995 survey of students graduating with a bachelor's degree in physics or astronomy as part of an ongoing series of surveys that have been conducted by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) since the 1960s. The data obtained on the 1995 class build upon established trends in students' immediate postbaccalaureate plans…

The competence of directors and administrators of children's programs is very important to quality, and efforts that seek to bring directors and administrators more support and help them to develop their competencies are worth examination. This paper begins by briefly discussing "A Preliminary Overview of Director Credentialing…

This paper defines professional certification as a voluntary process regulated by a profession to measure competencies possessed by its practitioners. A hierarchy of motives for certification is illustrated, and its importance for the fields of adult education and human resource development (HRD) is emphasized. The evolution of the concept of…

The educational system of Haiti is described, and guidelines for placement of Haitian students in U.S. schools at the secondary and postsecondary levels are presented. An introductory section covers Haiti's history, government, language, religion, school organization and administration, public and private education, and recent reforms. In addition…

A brief overview is presented in this paper of the history of using cooperating teachers to supervise student teachers and the concerns that have been shown over the years about their qualifications. Results are reported of a recent survey of 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico which sought information on legal requirements for…

A nationwide survey examined the role of educational credentials in the employment practices of private sector companies and institutions. In September 1983, surveys were mailed to a random sample of 1,500 members of the American Society for Personnel Administration. A follow-up mailing was conducted a month later. A total of 643 completed surveys…

As the child care field moves toward professionalism, it is necessary to consider the ways in which academic instruction may enhance professionalization. One dimension of the definition of a profession is that a profession has control over the key elements of its own destiny. For example, a profession (1) controls entry into the profession, (2)…

Discussions of accreditation and certification in the field of education often draw examples from law and medicine. In these analogical arguments, two assumptions are commonly made: first, that education is similar and comparable to law and medicine, and second, that accreditation and certification practices in the legal and medical fields are…

Twenty suggestions are given to help university sociology departments develop procedures for hiring good teachers in the field. The first five ideas are about publicizing the position and initial screening of applications. Jobs should be announced in professional journals and at graduate departments with good reputations. Standardized forms should…

This document presents the state standards for certification of teachers and other educational personnel in the state of Maine. Included are an introduction, general regulations and policies, and specific requirements for each certificate. (MM)

The Educational Passport is a service that is being developed at the Educational Testing Service for students or other individuals in order to facilitate their entry to school or college or employment. The Passport is an accumulative record that the individual prepares and owns and uses. At the Educational Testing Service, photographed documents…

The National Association of Schools of Music was established for the purpose of securing a better understanding among institutions of higher education engaged in work in music; of establishing a more uniform method of granting credit; and of setting minimum standards for the granting of degrees and other credentials. This 1976 Association Handbook…

American society is obsessed with "credentials," much of it brought about by institutions of higher education. The proper credentials are those determined by Middle America, and those on the outside, the minorities, must accept these credentials and ways to obtain them before they are allowed "in.""Who should go to college?" is a Middle America…

The objective of this analysis is to outline in broad fashion the current trends and issues in the licensure of health manpower and to contrast two proposed alternative systems of credentialing that focus on licensure of health care institutions instead of individual health care providers. The argument of the analysis is that the current system of…

This presentation discusses information that resulted from a conference on school record keeping. Several of the principles recommended by the conference report are: (1) no information should be collected about students without the informed consent of parents and, in some cases, the student; (2) only the highly stable information collected should…