The Teaching Profession As a Career Opportunity: Perceptions of Laboratory School Teachers.

A survey was conducted in seven laboratory schools in order to determine teachers' experience, concerns, and insights as they relate to teaching as a career and various features of education reform. Laboratory schools in nine states participated in the study: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Major findings in the category of teaching as a career indicated that teachers from large communities were more positive about teaching being a good career for males, and job availability and security were viewed more positively by teachers from schools with larger student enrollment. Teacher opinions on educational reform indicated that teachers from smaller communities view restriction of teachers to instructing only in their subject matter major more positively than teachers from larger schools; they also viewed standardized testing of student more positively than teachers from larger schools. Nine tables present specific information on the variables taken into consideration in the study. (JD)