RE: Question 1: Attracting and Retaining Teachers

I agree with Arthurlene Towner ‘s points.  Teacher preparation (at least for secondary teachers) is often just an end-of-college add-on to the more-highly regarded specialty subject area(s) of interest.  We might want to re-think this, especially in view of the fact that student scores on tests seem to drop for students in middle and high school.  Perhaps more attention to effective pedagogy should be made not only for college professors, but even for secondary teachers.

Part of a solution for this would be to include emphasis on research-supported pedagogy presented in long-term staff-development programs (as described in my previous message).   This would be helpful not only for secondary teachers, but also for college professors.

Another part of the solution could be the use of retired teachers who were effective teachers, and are willing to serve as part-time long-term mentors to new teachers, as I described in a detailed message earlier this morning.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if the passion and experience of seasoned teachers could be passed on directly to the next generation of teachers?  This probably wouldn't cost much, and would be a rich legacy truly honoring retired teachers.  The state really needs to tap this resource.  What a way to stem the 50%/5 years loss of young, inspired and energetic new teachers.