Teaching

Internet Sites:

• Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action (2004)
“The purpose of this report is to offer specific policy recommendations that will break through the barriers to meaningful improvement efforts—such as low standards, low, lockstep pay, mistrust of efforts to identify what makes for effective teaching, education schools out of touch with current school needs, and outmoded and inflexible work rules and district regulations—so that student learning, rather than teacher protection, is the number one priority.” Produced by The Teaching Commission.
http://theteachingcommission.org/publications/FINAL_Report.pdf

• Recruiting and Retaining “Highly Qualified Teachers” for Hard-to-Staff Schools (2004)
An article appearing in the March 2004 NASSP Bulletin.
http://www.nassp.org/publications/bulletin/bltn_0304_berry.cfm

• Status of the American Public School Teacher 2000-2001
“NEA Research has conducted surveys on the status of the American public school teacher every five years since 1956. The current report profiles the status of teachers for the school year 2000-2001. These surveys provide continuing data on the professional and personal characteristics of teachers, the current status of their teaching conditions, their attitudes toward the profession, and their community and civic activities.”
http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/status.pdf

• Teacher’s Mind
This site includes articles “on topics related to teacher thinking and its influence on education.” The menu on the left also includes additional information on teacher thinking, education myths, and links to related resources.
http://www.teachersmind.com/articles.htm

• Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.
RNT is a national non-profit organization which was formed in 1986 to raise esteem for teaching, expand the pool of prospective teachers, and improve the nation’s teacher recruitment and development policies and practices. This site offers guidance and resources for prospective teachers, as well as insight on current trends and issues in the field. We also provide unique networking opportunities for educators, summaries of RNT’s cutting-edge policy research and surveys, and highlights of our publications, services, and advocacy efforts.
http://www.rnt.org/

• Ahead of the Class: A Design Handbook for Preparing New Teachers from New Sources (2001)
Focusing on the success of the Pathways to Teaching Careers Program, this handbook aims to help create successful recruiting programs focusing on non-traditional teacher sources. Published by the Urban Institute. Full text is available online in pdf.
http://www.urban.org/education/ahead_of_the_class.html

• Excellence & Accountability in Teaching: A Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs and Resources
Describes resources that states and communities can use to support high-quality teacher preparation and career-long professional development, as well as other challenges related to the President’s goal of making sure every classroom in America has a talented, dedicated, well-prepared teacher.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ExcellAcctTeach/

• Teachers Leading the Way: Voices from National Teacher Forum
A 26-page report discussing how teachers can promote change in their schools & communities, and how schools & communities can support teacher leadership. Based on suggestions from of more than 100 outstanding teachers attending the 4th annual National Teacher Forum & from teachers across the U.S.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/TeachersLead/

• Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to
2008-09
This report finds that approximately 2 million additional teachers will be needed by 2008-09. Some of these additional teachers will be needed to replace teachers leaving the profession and others will be needed as enrollments continue to increase. Published by the National Center for Education Statistics. The full report is available as a pdf document.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999026

• CEO Forum on Education & Technology — Teacher Preparation STaR Chart
This site includes: Teacher Preparation STaR Chart (self-assessment tool for universities and schools of education that measures how well they are preparing the teachers of the future to use technology), and Year 2 Report on Professional Development.
http://www.ceoforum.org/

• AFT Research Department: Teacher Salary
“Includes 50-state survey, profiles of salaries in the largest cities, international teacher pay, cost-of-living info, a graveyard of historical data, and more.”
http://www.aft.org/research/salary/home.htm

• Radical Pedagogy
An interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the analysis of teaching and learning.
http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/

• American Teacher
A publication of the American Federation of Teachers.
http://www.aft.org/publications/american_teacher/

• Teachers.Net
This website for teachers focuses on providing networking opportunities such as chat rooms, message boards, & live meetings. Also includes lesson plans, curriculum resources, and job listings.
http://teachers.net/

• Wright Group – TeacherHelp
Includes:  Curricular Tracks, Teaching Today, Brain Bits, Events Calendar, Glossary of Educational Terms, State Education Agency Web Sites, Teacher to Teacher message boards, Reading Specialists Online, and Lesson Plans.
http://www.teacherhelp.com/

• Teach for America
National teacher corps of dedicated and diverse individuals who commit a minimum of two years to teach in under-served urban and rural public schools. Corps members are provided training and support and work as full-time salaried employees of the school districts in which they teach.
Teach For America
20 Exchange Place, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10005
Toll Free: 800/832-1230
http://www.teachforamerica.org/

• Americorps
Email: Questions@AmeriCorps.org
General information on all Americorps programs and activities:
http://www.americorps.org/

Online Communities:

• TeacherTalk Forums
“TeacherTalk is a discussion forum where K-12 teachers can discuss teaching techniques, trade lesson plan ideas, and support one another. TeacherTalk is a free public service from Teaching.com.” Free registration is required.
http://www.teaching.com/ttalk/

• Teacher Focus
Includes forums for teachers to discuss a variety of topics.
http://www.teacherfocus.com/

• Teachers.net Chatboard
General interest discussion.
http://teachers.net/chatboard/

• Teachers.net Schedule of Live Meetings and Events
http://teachers.net/chatroom/

• Teachers.net Chatboard Network
“Welcome to the Mentor Support Center, bringing together hundreds of thousands of educators in an environment specially designed to foster peer support and development. Take advantage of this incredible panel of experts and friends, you won’t find teacher support like this anywhere else on Earth!”
http://teachers.net/mentors/

Organizations:

American Federation of Teachers
Union representing over one million teachers, school support staff, higher education faculty and staff, health care professionals, and state and municipal employees.
555 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 879-4400
http://www.aft.org/

National Education Association
The nation’s largest union for educators with over 2.7 million members.
1201 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036-3290
Phone: (202) 833-4000
Fax: (202) 822-7974
http://www.nea.org/

National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th Street, Box 117
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212) 678-4153
Fax: (212) 678-4039
http://www.nctaf.org/

• RISE: Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators
“RISE is a non-profit organization dedicated to making teaching in K-12 public schools in low-income communities more sustainable by providing teachers with resources that enhance their effectiveness and job satisfaction.”
177 Post St., Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 399-9929
Fax: (415) 421-5510
Email: info@risenetwork.org
http://www.risenetwork.org/index.html

• National Council on Teacher Retirement
NCTR is an independent organization dedicated to safeguard the integrity of public retirement systems in the United States and in its territories to which teachers belong and to promote the rights and benefits of the members, present or future, of such systems.
12710 Research Blvd., Suite 110
Austin, TX  78759
Tel: 512/335-0055
Fax: 512/335-8823
http://www.nctr.org/

• Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium
INTASC is a consortium of state education agencies, higher education institutions, and national educational organizations dedicated to the reform of the education, licensing, and on-going professional development of teachers. INTASC had established model core standards for licensing teachers which represent the principles that should be present in all teaching regardless of the subject or grade level taught and serve as a framework for the systemic reform of teacher preparation and professional development.
http://ccsso.org.red.doceus.com/projects/interstate_new_teacher_assessment_and_support_consortium/