Teaching Profession

Importing Educators: Causes and Consequences of International Teacher Recruitment
The growing number of overseas-educated teachers in U.S. schools has put many talented educators in classrooms, but the trend also has led to a host of concerns about exploitation, questionable hiring practices and harmful effects in the countries that are losing their most qualified teachers. (June 2009)

Meeting the Challenge: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools
The AFT is deeply concerned that not all schools are equally able to attract and retain qualified staff. All children deserve excellent teachers who know their content, how to teach it and how to maximize student learning. This paper puts forth several successful and promising strategies to help solve the school-staffing problem. (June 2007)

This booklet answers questions about AFT’s ER&D program, including information on course offerings and how to start a program in your local. (2007)

This report lays out an expanded vision for the AFT as a professional union. It calls on the AFT to elevate professional issues generally, and professional development specifically, to a more prominent role in the organization and to ensure that assisting members to improve their professional practice is integrated into the core mission of the union.  (July 2001, Reprinted Sept. 2007)

The AFT prepared a set of guidelines to help its affiliates review, evaluate, improve, and design professional development programs. Among the central themes the guidelines highlight are the need for professional development that helps teachers gain deep knowledge of the subjects they teach; reflects current research on teaching and learning; is aligned with the curriculum and standards they use; leads teachers to be intellectually engaged with their colleagues; is job-embedded; and provides teachers sufficient time, support, and resources to master new content and pedagogy. (Reprinted Sept. 2008)

This brochure defines a unique professional development called "lesson study." During the lesson study process teachers increase their knowledge of academic content; explore ways to engage students; and observe how students think about what they are learning. (May 2005)

Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able To Do
Thanks to new scientific research—plus a long-awaited scientific and political consensus around reading research—the knowledge exists to teach all but a handful of severely disabled children to read well. This report discusses the current state of teacher preparation in reading. It reviews the relevant research and describes the knowledge base that is essential for teacher candidates and practicing teachers to master if they are to be successful in teaching all children to read well. (June 1999/Reprinted March 2004)

Lesson study is the primary form of professional development for Japanese teachers. Its goal is continual improvement of teaching so that children will learn more. Its primary focus is how students think and learn. This paper defines the lesson study process, includes a question-and-answer section, and provides a list of resources for those interested in learning more about the lesson study approach. (2004)

Where We Stand: Teacher Quality
This booklet contains resolutions on teacher quality issues passed at the 1998, 2000, and 2002 AFT conventions. Also included are a question-and-answer section, background information, and background reading. (June 2003)

Building a Profession: Strengthening Teacher Preparation and Induction
This report, from the AFT's K-16 Teacher Education Task Force, calls for more rigorous standards and professional development. The report also finds that teacher education programs must be more closely linked to the teaching profession and more directly involved in the teacher induction activities of local school districts. (April 2000)

Peer Assistance and Peer Review: An AFT/NEA Handbook Prepared for the AFT/NEA joint conference on teacher quality, this handbook is designed to assist affiliates interested in developing peer assistance and/or peer review programs in their local sites. Highlights include: how to develop support for the program; features that must be addressed in developing a program; and contract language consideration as affiliates negotiate to develop such programs. (1998)