Tapping the Potential - Alliance for Excellent Education

TA P P I N G T H E P O T E N T I A L : R E TA I N I N G A N D D E V E L O P I N G H I G H - Q U A L I T Y N E W T E A C H E R Steachers’ education, certification, teaching assignments, professional development, collaboration,and supportive work environment. In addition, comparisons by instructionallevel and poverty level of the school provide information about the distribution ofteacher quality. This information provides a context for understanding teachers’reports of preparedness to meet the challenges they face in their classrooms.National Center for Education Statistics. Progress Through the Teacher Pipeline:1992–93 College Graduates and Elementary/Secondary School Teaching as of 1997.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2000.This report is the second in a series that follows 1992–93 college graduates’ progressthrough the teacher pipeline using data from the Second Follow-up of theBaccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93/97). This report focuses on theacademic characteristics and preparation for teaching of those who took various stepstoward teaching and is organized by a conceptual “teacher pipeline” that represents ateacher’s career. The pipeline includes preparatory activities—considering teaching, studentteaching as an undergraduate, becoming certified to teach, and applying forteaching jobs—as well as teaching experiences and plans for teaching in the future.National Center for Education Statistics. Attrition of New Teachers Among RecentCollege Graduates: Comparing Occupational Stability Among 1992–93 CollegeGraduates Who Taught and Those Who Worked in Other Occupations. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2001.This research examines the occupational stability of bachelor’s degree recipientsduring the first four years after receiving their degrees. The analyses address the question,were graduates who were teaching in 1994 more or less likely than those in otheroccupations to leave the workforce or work in a different occupation in 1997? Thisreport aptly details the teacher attrition problem.National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. No Dream Denied: APledge to America’s Children. Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Teachingand America’s Future, 2003.Building on their 1996 report What Matters Most, NCTAF examines the quality ofAmerica’s teaching profession through the lens of recruiting and retaining excellentteachers for every child. To ensure that “highly qualified” beginning teachers meet thehigh standards anticipated by the No Child Left Behind Act, the commission makesrecommendations about teacher preparation, the characteristics of schools to supportteacher learning, and hiring and support practices, including induction programs, toprovide benchmarks for overall teacher professional development.Public Education Network. The Voice of the New Teacher. Washington, D.C.: PublicEducation Network, 2003.This report contains research into the perspectives of new teachers on the quality ofteacher preparation, the first years of teaching, and supports provided by districts andschools during early years in the profession. Conducted in four communities—Chattanooga, Tennessee; New York, New York; Seattle, Washington; and Washington,D.C.—the research surveyed more than 200 teachers. New teachers made several rec-61