Choosing a Career in Teaching

All About Teaching
This page from the Recruiting Teachers organization is designed for those who are considering teaching as a career. It includes teachers' personal responses to the question "Why I Teach," as well as a good overview of job conditions for teachers.

Becoming a Teacher
This page from ERIC, the Educational Resources Information Center is a concise collection of some of the most useful links for prospective teachers.

Tips on Becoming a Teacher
This article on the ADPRIMA web site discusses several things to consider, and several other sites to visit, as you decide whether teaching is the career for you.



Supply and Demand

American Association for Employment in Education
This organization provides helpful information for education students who are looking for jobs.

American Federation of Teachers Research Department
Here you'll find the AFT's annual survey of trends in teacher salaries, as well as state-by-state information on salaries, and more.

CPRE Teacher Compensation Project
The Consortium for Policy Research in Education has undertaken a massive research project to learn more about teacher compensation. You can find out about the ongoing project and some of its results, including reports on specific states and districts, at this site.

National Center for Education Statistics
This branch of the Department of Education offers statistical research, including the very helpful annual Digest of Educational Statistics, as well as other services, including the "School District Locator," to help you learn more about districts in which you may be interested.

Private School Directory
This online listing is sponsored by Peterson's, a company that publishes printed guides to schools of all kinds. It is intended mainly intended for prospective students of private schools but may be useful for prospective teachers as well.

Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.
This site features information on how to become a teacher, including the online newsletter, Future Teachers.

Triage for the Teacher Shortage
This is a short list of alternative certification organizations, published by Education News.



Preparation of Teachers

50 States' Certification Requirements
This site from the University of Kentucky is intended to help teachers move from state to state more easily by making the requirements for certification in every state readily available.

American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
The motto of this organization for teacher preparation programs is "ensuring competent and caring educators for all children and youth."

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
You can find research reports on various aspects of teaching, including a study of teacher preparation programs, at this organization's web site.

National Center for Research on Teacher Learning
This mission of this research center, based at Michigan State University, is to learn more about how teachers are educated.

Teach for America
Learn more about this alternative certification organization, which places students from nearly every college major into their first teaching positions.

Who Should Teach?
A special report from Education Week on what states are doing to attract, screen and retain competent teachers.



Ability and Testing of Prospective Teachers

Educational Testing Service
The organization that administers the PRAXIS tests for prospective teachers, as well as other famous standardized tests, such as the SAT.

Eliminating Barriers to Quality Teaching
This report from the U.S. Department of Education includes useful observations and suggestions regarding many of the topics in this chapter.

National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching
You can find information on teacher education, induction, and recruitment at this organization's site.

Teacher Quality Clearinghouse
The weekly Teacher Quality Bulletin is available at this site.



Job Conditions for Teachers

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
You can find professional development information related to curriculum and supervision topics at this organization's site, including information from the group's 2001 conference, which focused on standards.

New-Teacher.com
Well-written, interesting, and useful, this Internet site provides material relevant for future as well as new teachers.

No Child Left Behind
Read President Bush's plan for education at the U.S. Department of Education's web site.

Phi Delta Kappa
The web site for this professional organization includes a section called the New Teacher Connection and access to the journal First Year Teacher.