Annotation A report on an inchoate reform movement in the remuneration systems for teachers, as implemented in several states and school districts. Brandt (education, Virginia) who helped establish an early program, bases his evaluation on interviews and observational during visits, as well as on primary documentary sources. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation(c) 2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
This report addresses the public's concern on the quality of education provided by elementary and secondary schools and on the productivity and performance of workers and their employers. This report examines schools and workplaces, especially as to how they relate in the following areas: work environment, human resources, and management processes. The majority of this report is a detailed, annotated bibliography of nearly 100 books, reports and articles, each containing: complete citation, practice, source of information, and findings and conclusions.
Specifically designed for the introductory course, this text provides an overview of the field of instructional supervision. Acquaints students with not only the authors’ views on supervision, but with those of other specialists in the field, placing heavy emphasis on practice and the supervisor’s responsibilities as an instructional leader. Continues to stress that the relationship between the supervisor and teacher is built on trust and that the overall goal is to improve student achievement through better instruction.
Since the beginning of the school reform movement in the early 1980's, various efforts have been made to improve teacher evaluation. Most of the initial efforts were designed to promote greater accountability. They were characterized by research-based performance standards, sophisticated classroom observation procedures, and extensive training. More recently, the focus of teacher evaluation has been expanded to include provisions for professional development. Supporters of this trend have argued that accountability-based evaluation diminishes in value as teachers gain experience and expertise. Teacher Evaluation Policy presents case studies describing how new teacher evaluation policies have been created. The contributors go behind the scenes to examine the complex negotiations between politicians and special interest groups that accompany policy making. They identify the public and the private agendas guiding decision makers. What emerges is a vivid portrait of professionals and politicians grappling over the control of education. Accounts include the formulation of teacher evaluation policy in North Carolina, Louisiana, Connecticut, Washington State, and Great Britain.
Recent years have generated a huge increase in the number of research and scholarly works concerned with teachers and teaching, and this effort has generated new and important insights that are crucial for understanding education today. This handbook provides a host of chapters, written by leading authorities, that review both the major traditions of work and the newest perspectives, concepts, insights, and research-based knowledge concerned with teachers and teaching. Many of the chapters discuss developments that are international in scope, but coverage is also provided for education in a number of specific countries. Many chapters also review contemporary problems faced by educators and the dangers posed by recent, politically-inspired attempts to `reform' schools and school systems. The Handbook provides an invaluable resource for scholars, teacher-educators, graduate students, and all thoughtful persons concerned with the best thinking about teachers and teaching, current problems, and the future of education.
The concept of pay for performance for public school teachers is growing in popularity and use, and it has resurged to once again occupy a central role in education policy. Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education offers the most up-to-date and complete analysis of this promising—yet still controversial—policy innovation. Performance Incentives brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts, providing an unprecedented discussion and analysis of the pay-for-performance debate by • Identifying the potential strengths and weaknesses of tying pay to student outcomes; • Comparing different strategies for measuring teacher accomplishments; • Addressing key conceptual and implemen - tation issues; • Describing what teachers themselves think of merit pay; • Examining recent examples in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas; • Studying the overall impact on student achievement.
Known for his extensive writings on professional ethics, law, and labor relations, Derek Bok returns with a persuasive claim that the compensation being paid to top executives, lawyers, and doctors cannot be justified in the most revealing study done yet regarding the compensation practices in various professional fields. As the American economy becomes more complex, the demand for able, highly educated people increases constantly with a steady growth of importance. But when considering the leverage of high pay and extravagant benefits, it is possible that talented individuals will be lost to the appeal of exaggerated compensation, putting the work that they are completing in danger. Bok argues that compensation paid to top executives, lawyers, doctors, and economists does not offer a significant benefit, nor is there evidence that large bonuses and other financial incentives produce better work. Additionally, he presents the concept that the lucrative rewards of Wall Street, elite law firms, and medical specialties deprive poorly paid but vital teaching and public service professions of desperately needed talent. The Cost of Talent asserts that America must enter a new period of national development by rethinking the values, motivations, and priorities that are reflected in our compensation practices in order to better serve the nation’s long-term interests.
