Reviews recent analyses of relative teacher compensation and provides a detailed analysis of trends in the relative weekly pay of elementary and secondary school teachers. Shows that teacher compensation lags that of workers with similar education and experience, as well as that of workers with comparable skill requirements, like accountants, reporters, registered nurses, computer programmers, clergy, personnel officers, and vocational counselors and inspectors. Finds that teachers' weekly wages have grown far more slowly than those for these comparable occupations; teacher wages have deteriorated about 14.8 percent since 1993 and by 12.0 percent since 1983 relative to comparable occupations.

This report presents information regarding the patterns of variation in the salaries paid to public and private school teachers in relation to various personal and job characteristics. Specifically, the analysis examines the relationship between compensation and variables such as public/private schools, gender, race/ethnic background, school level and type, teacher qualifications, and different work environments. The economic conceptual framework of hedonic wage theory, which illuminates the trade-offs between monetary rewards and the various sets of characteristics of employees and jobs, was used to analyze The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) database. The national survey was administered by the National Center for Education Statistics during the 1987-88, 1990-91, and 1993-94 school years. Findings indicate that on average, public school teachers earned between about 25 to 119 percent higher salaries than did private school teachers, depending on the private subsector. Between about 2 and 50 percent of the public-private difference could be accounted for by differences in teacher characteristics, depending on the private subsector. White and Hispanic male public school teachers earned higher salaries than their female counterparts. Hedonic wage theory would predict that teacher salaries would be higher in schools with more challenging, more difficult, and less desirable work environments. Schools with higher levels of student violence, lower levels of administrative support, and large class sizes paid higher salaries to compensate teachers for the additional burdens. However, some of the findings contradict the hypothesis. For example, public school teachers working in schools characterized by fewer family problems, higher levels of teacher influence on policy, and higher job satisfaction also received higher salaries. In conclusion, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that a complex array of factors underlie the processes of teacher supply and demand and hence the determination of salaries. Teachers are not all the same, but are differentiated by their attributes. At the same time, districts and schools are differentiated by virtue of the work environment they offer. Seventeen tables and two figures are included. Appendices contain technical notes, descriptive statistics and parameter estimates for variables, and standard errors for selected tables. (Contains 84 references.) (LMI)

Teachers play a critical role in the success of their students, both academically and in regard to long term outcomes such as higher education participation and economic attainment. Expectations for teachers are increasing due to changing learning standards and a rapidly diversifying student population. At the same time, there are perceptions that the teaching workforce may be shifting toward a younger and less experienced demographic. These actual and perceived changes raise important questions about the ways teacher education may need to evolve in order to ensure that educators are able to meet the needs of students and provide them with classroom experiences that will put them on the path to future success. Changing Expectations for the K-12 Teacher Workforce: Policies, Preservice Education, Professional Development, and the Workplace explores the impact of the changing landscape of K-12 education and the potential for expansion of effective models, programs, and practices for teacher education. This report explores factors that contribute to understanding the current teacher workforce, changing expectations for teaching and learning, trends and developments in the teacher labor market, preservice teacher education, and opportunities for learning in the workplace and in-service professional development.

Unlike the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have developed (3z (Bvalue-added (3y (B immigration policies designed to boost GDP and per-capita incomes. These countries accept the proposition that markets are valuable institutions. But they also recognize that in highly competitive globalized economies, markets untempered by moderating policies and institutions will produce declining real incomes for many or most workers and unsustainable inequalities in income and wealth. In Value-Added Immigration Ray Marshall details how these three major U.S. trading partners developed their immigration policies, how these policies work, and what specific features can be adapted for the creation of a high-value-added U.S. immigration policy. Marshall, professor emeritus at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, served as secretary of labor in the Carter administration.