Hi Melissa,
When you mention "the newest version" are you referring to 1.8 beta? As far as I know, roles work as expected in this version. There is also a course managers setting in the site administration which allows you to set only teachers to be listed in the course description.
If you find any bugs in 1.8 beta, please add a report to the tracker.
Roles and permissions
Problems with default settings for roles
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