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CHAPTER 2: The Teaching Profession teaching practices, describe new trends and policies affecting the entire field of education, have a wide range of membership, and work to advance the teaching profession in general. Each organization publishes a well-respected journal: Educational Leadership by ASCD, and the Phi Delta Kappan by PDK.
2-3d Religious Education Organizations As of 2014, in grades K–12, there are an estimated 397,000 non–public-school teachers, of whom approximately 71 percent teach in religious-affiliated schools. One of the largest religious education organizations is the National Association of Catholic School Teachers (NACST), founded in 1978. It currently comprises more than 4,000 lay teachers, mainly from large cities in the eastern United States. Few Catholic K–12 schoolteachers belong to either the NEA or the AFT.57 The largest and oldest Catholic education organization is the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), comprising 150,000 Catholic educators. Most members are administrators who serve as principals, supervisors, or superintendents of their respective schools. It is estimated that currently more than 1.9 million students attend approximately 6,594 Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States. By comparison, 245,000 students attend Jewish-affiliated schools, and 204,000 students attend schools affiliated with the Baptist religion.58
2-3e Parent-Teacher Groups parent-teacher group An
organization of parents and teachers in a local school community.
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) A national organization of parents,
teachers, and students to promote the welfare of children and youth that has affiliated local groups in school communities.
Parent-teacher groups provide forums for parents and teachers to work together in creating positive learning environments in schools across the nation. As a teacher, you can take an active part in these associations and work with parents on curriculum and instructional programs, student policy, and school-community relations. Founded in 1897, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)—the most prominent of the groups—is a loose confederation of fifty-five state congresses and more than 20,000 local units in the fifty states and the territories, with approximately 5 million members in 2014. Every PTA unit devises its own pattern of organization and service to fit its school and neighborhood. PTA membership is open to anyone interested in promoting the welfare of children and youth, working with teachers and schools, and supporting PTA goals.59 It maintains open lines of communication through Facebook, Twitter, and its official blog, “OneVoice.” Our Children is the official print publication of the association.60 The PTA website also offers an online newsroom (go to the National PTA website and click on “News & Events”) as a source for legislative information and current news of interest to the organization. As the nation’s largest child-advocacy organization, the National PTA is constantly assessing children’s welfare to respond to changes in society and in children’s needs. Recently, the National PTA lobbied Congress to “reauthorize the Elementary and
“Number of Teachers in Elementary and Secondary Schools, and Instructional Staff in Postsecondary Degree-Granting Institutions, by Control of Institution: Selected Years, Fall 1970 through Fall 2023,” Digest of Education Statistics: 2013, at http://nces.ed.gov/programs /digest/d13/tables/dt13_105.40.asp?current=yes; Steven P. Broughman and Nancy L. Swaim, Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2011–12 Private School Universe Survey (NCES 2013–316). US Department of Education (Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 2013); telephone conversation with Virginia Crowther, office manager–membership, National Association of Catholic School Teachers, January 5, 2015. 58 See www.ncea.org/about-us; and www.ncea.org/data-information/catholic -school-data (January 5, 2015). 59 Susan Ludwig, “Education Interest Groups,” Research Starters Education: Education Interest Groups (June 2008), p. 1; see “Today’s PTA” at www.pta.org/about/?navItemNumber=503 (January 5, 2015). 60 See www.pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1177&navItemNumber=574 (January 5, 2015). 57
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