Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Teachers for Urban Schools

Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Teachers for Urban Schools
Author: Kenneth R. Howey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2006
Genre: Employee retention
ISBN:

How can the "revolving door" at the nation's high-poverty schools be slowed down? How can diversity be taught in teacher preparation that relates to teaching and learning? How can teachers learn to use the diverse urban classroom as a rich asset? By focusing on reconceptualizing general education studies, addressing key urban understanding and abilities throughout the professional program, implementing multiyear induction programs, and integrating outstanding veteran urban teachers, the authors of this volume take an affirming look at preparing teachers for the complexities of urban teaching. They candidly present lessons from a variety of urban settings for attracting, preparing, and supporting teachers who are both caring and qualified. The book contains the following chapters: (1) The Urban Context and Urban Schools (Kenneth R. Howey); (2) Sociocultural Strategies for Recruiting Teachers Into Urban Classrooms (Elizabeth C. Rightmyer, Ann E. Larson); (3) Urban Immersion: A Prototypical Early Clinical Immersion Experience (Andrea J. Stairs); (4) Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Urban Teachers: One Person's View From Many Angles (Michael J. Froning; (5) UWM's Collaborative Teacher Education Program for Urban Communities and the Pursuit of Program Coherence (Marleen D. Pugach, Hope Longwell-Grice, Alison Ford); (6) Professional Development of Reading Teachers: Biography and Context (William E. Blanton, Alison Shook, Anne Hocutt, Adriana Medina, Jeanne Schumm; (7) Growing Teacher Leadership in the Urban Context: The Power of Partnerships (Elizabeth MacDonald, Dennis Shirley); (8) Voices From the City: The Patrick Henrey High School Residency Program (Sharon Cormany Ornelas, Particia Thornton); and (9) Retaining Highly Effective Teachers in an Urban School District: Challenges and Opportunities (Vivian Gunn Morris, Allan D. Sterbinsky).

Effective School District Recruitment Strategies of African American Teachers

Effective School District Recruitment Strategies of African American Teachers
Author: Christopher P. Watkins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 157
Release: 2010
Genre: African American teachers
ISBN:

Author's abstract: There has been a continual decline in the number of available minority group teachers to supply America's public school for the past six decades. Several factors were noted for this decline which included better opportunities for minority advancement in other professions, low teacher salaries, the low prestige and status of teaching, institutional racism, and challenges with teacher certification and state licensure exams. The purpose of this study was to identify strategies used by school district officials to increase African American teacher hiring in Georgia. This study examined the district strategies that were implemented to recruit and hire minority teachers and the challenges the districts encountered in recruiting African American teachers in Georgia. The researcher examined the Certified Personnel Index data from the 180 public school districts in Georgia to determine which districts had at least 5% growth in African American teacher hiring from 2000-2007. Initially, criteria sampling was used and sixteen districts met the criteria. Purposeful sampling was also used to select nine school districts to participate in this study. The nine school districts included three rural districts, three urban districts, and three suburban districts. The geographical location of the districts consisted of two in South Georgia, three in Middle Georgia, and four in North Georgia. In the findings of this study, there were sixteen district recruitment strategies used and eleven district challenges mentioned by respondents regarding African American teacher recruitment and hiring. The recruitment strategies and challenges were similar in comparable districts based on size and geographical location. Rural, suburban, and urban districts had similar strategies and challenges. The North Georgia districts tended to use somewhat similar strategies and faced similar challenges. The Middle Georgia districts also tended to be similar in use of strategies and the challenges faced by the district. However, there was a noticeable difference in the two South Georgia districts with one being a small rural district and the other being a large urban district. Three district strategies were noted by all participants including college and university partnerships, job fairs, and the use of the Teach Georgia state recruitment website. All participants mentioned a tight budgetary constraint in a struggling economy as the most prevalent challenge in their districts. Five districts also named salary competition and teacher recruitment competition as a major challenge in its overall recruitment plans. The researcher drew two conclusions from the findings. First, there was little difference in African American teacher recruitment strategies and overall teacher recruitment used by the selected districts. Second, there was little difference in the challenges that districts faced with African American teacher recruitment and overall teacher recruitment.

Working in Urban Schools

Working in Urban Schools
Author: Tom Corcoran
Publisher:
Total Pages: 188
Release: 1988
Genre: Education
ISBN:

This document on the working conditions of urban teachers reports data from a survey of 31 elementary, middle, and secondary schools in five urban school districts. More than 400 interviews were conducted with teachers, school administrators, central office personnel, district officials, board members, and union officials. The observations, interviews, and analyses confirm that, in most of these schools, the working conditions of teachers are bleak and would not be tolerated in other professions. Among the findings are the following: (1) physical conditions are sub-standard because of a lack of maintenance, repair, and space; (2) safety is not a serious problem to teachers, except in very depressed neighborhoods; (3) teachers do not have even the basic resources needed, let alone access to new technologies; (4) teachers consider hiring more personnel to address the personal problems of students a higher priority than hiring more teachers to reduce class size; (5) teachers generally understand the cultural gulf between them and their students but are unable to deal with what they consider aberrant student behavior; (6) teachers perceive that they are losing control over what they teach, primarily because of district-wide testing policies although they are in control of how they teach; and (7) teachers have little confidence in supervision, staff development, or central office leadership. Characteristics of good working conditions are identified. Tables illustrate the data. Appendices compare these findings with those of other studies, provide a list of about 100 references, describe the methodology, and compare school effects. (BJV)

Urban Teaching

Urban Teaching
Author: Lois Weiner
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2006
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780807746431

This bestselling guide to urban teaching has been updated and revised to reflect today's challenges, including testing pressures, inclusive classrooms, and helping second language learners. Lois Weiner, a highly regarded teacher with years of experience supervising new teachers in urban and suburban schools, provides invaluable "insider" recommendations for thriving in culturally diverse classrooms and coping with school realities ranging from overcrowded classes and a lack of appropriate materials to frustrating bureaucracy and school violence. This guide is an invaluable resource for teacher educators and essential reading for teachers at all grade levels.