Beliefs and Achievement: A Study of Black, White, and Hispanic Children

School achievement among black, white, and Hispanic elementary school children was investigated, and efforts were made to study the beliefs about academic achievement of the children and their mothers. A total of approximately 3,000 first, third, and fifth graders enrolled in 20 schools in the Chicago metropolitan area were given achievement tests in mathematics and reading. Black and Hispanic children performed at a significantly lower level than white children, but at fifth grade ethnic differences in mathematics scores were no longer significant when mothers' education was statistically controlled. This was not the case in reading, where differences were found after controlling for the effects of mothers' education. Interviews with subsamples of approximately 1,000 mothers and children revealed greater emphasis on and concern about education among minority families than among white families. Black and Hispanic children and mothers evaluated the children and their academic abilities highly; they were positive about education and held high expectations about the children's future prospects for education. Mothers of minority children and teachers in minority schools believed more strongly than white mothers and teachers in the value of homework, competency testing, and a longer school day as means of improving children's education.     

Teacher Morale in Western Australia: A Multilevel Model

As part of a larger longitudinal study of Western Australian high schools, 212 teachers were surveyed about their perceptions of the school in which they teach and the management of that school. In particular, teachers responded to questions about the school environment, their morale and the organisational health of the school, and they were asked some self-concept and teaching efficacy questions. A multilevel model was used to investigate the effects of these and other school characteristics on teacher morale (the dependent variable), while accounting for school level differences. This study demonstrated that teacher morale varied between teachers and between schools, with school environment explaining 54% of the variability in morale. That is, when the school environment was positive, teacher morale was higher. The implications of this finding point to the importance of both improving the school environment and teacher morale in order to enhance the health of schools. This is only achieved when teachers believe that their school is improving and has a positive climate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Knocking on the door to the teaching profession? Modeling the entry of prospective teachers into the workforce

We use a unique longitudinal sample of student teachers (“interns”) from six Washington state teacher training institutions to investigate patterns of entry into the teaching workforce. We estimate split population models that simultaneously estimate the impact of individual characteristics and student teaching experiences on the timing and probability of initial hiring as a public school teacher. Not surprisingly, we find that interns endorsed to teach in “difficult-to-staff” areas are more likely to find employment as public school teachers than interns endorsed in other areas. Younger interns, white interns, and interns who completed their student teaching in suburban schools are also more likely to find a teaching job, all else equal. Prospective teachers who do their internships at schools that have more teacher turnover are more likely to find employment, often at those schools. On the other hand, few of the characteristics of an intern's cooperating teacher are predictive of workforce entry. Finally, interns with higher credential exam scores are more likely to be hired by the school where they did their student teaching.     

社会公平视野下美国联邦政府教师教育改革政策的社会学分析

面对教育改革面临的诸多社会挑战,包括新冠疫情对美国教师队伍的冲击以及美国中小学教师队伍离职率高、缺乏多样性等问题,美国联邦政府将教师教育改革纳入其“重建更好”一揽子改革计划的重要组成部分。“公平”价值转向、从“缺陷”到“优势”的政策话语转变和弗雷泽三维社会公正理论构成了美国联邦政府教师改革政策的重要理论基础。美国联邦政府采取的教师教育改革措施主要包括:修改大学和高等教育的教师教育援助计划;实施“培植你自己”教师教育项目;完善一年制教师驻校培养模式;加大对少数族裔学校的资助力度;提高教师工资与专业发展水平。美国联邦政府的教师教育改革凸显了社会公平与多元种族和谐相处的政策价值导向,其政策机制体现了联邦政府协调角色的不断增强和市场化教师教育改革方式的适度消退。     

Using Mentoring,Coaching, and Self-Mentoring to Support Public School Educators

Assimilating new teachers into schools is a critical component of administrative responsibility and sustainability. About 580 000 teachers (17% of all teachers) were newly hired at their school, according to the US Department of Education. Most of these positions were created because of “teacher turnover.” Some of these newly hired teachers filled new teaching positions in the workforce as well—which grew by three percent over the previous two years. As this number rises, there is a concentrated effort by building administrators to provide support and resources for beginning teachers to help eliminate teacher turnover and strengthen staffing at schools. Support for new teachers varies from district to district and even from school to school. Traditional induction programs offer mentoring and coaching methods. More recently, the concept of self-mentoring emerged. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of self-mentoring as a tool for beginning teachers.     

从深圳中学教师招聘现象看我国当代师范教育改革

2019年,深圳中学教师招聘中出现的“豪华现象”值得教师教育行业反省,其内蕴的合理性是:高中学段对教师的本体性知识要求较高,优秀教师的核心知识构成——PCK具有实践合成性,人生早期习得的职业性向很大程度上决定着教师成长的轨迹,因此,名校非师范毕业生也可能成为高中教学名师。该现象对师范教育改革的启示是:必须科学处理四对关系,即学科与教育、职前与职后、学段差异与共性素养、人格测试与考试成绩间的关系,方能持续生存发展。展望未来,师范教育应该坚持“学科+教育”“学科+项目”的教师培养模式,坚守综合化、高端化的办学理念,以赢得更大发展空间。     

Progressivism Meets Jim Crow: Curriculum Revision and Development in Houston,Texas, 1924-1929∗

As was true for many school districts across the United States during the early decades of the twentieth century, Houston Independent School District sought modernization through a multimillion dollar building program and curricular reform. Houston's new course of study, heavily influenced by the theories of child-centered pedagogy, received widespread praise from curricular experts at the nation's top schools of education. In the 1920s, Houston was a segregated, southern city that, in many ways, shared the conservatism of the region. Nevertheless, Houston's superintendent, E.E. Oberholtzer, was able to overcome resistance from taxpayers and teachers to successfully implement his program. Corporate élites from the petroleum industry, among the biggest boosters of progressive educational reform in Houston, believed that a child-centered curriculum would develop the leadership skills and creative ability needed to train white-collar workers for the expanding economy. Those left behind, primarily students of color, were further disadvantaged in the changing job market. Jim Crow was an essential component to the success of the reform policies in Houston. As twenty-five per cent of the population, African-American students deserved twenty-five per cent of the district's revenues. Segregation allowed the district to use almost one hundred per cent of the money for curriculum reform on only seventy-five per cent of the population. Nevertheless, Houston manufacturers were dependent on unskilled black labor and were hit hard by the exodus of the Great Migration. Thus, corporate élites could not be too blatant in their discrimination against African-Americans. The pro-industry school board responded to the threats of migration and the demands of Houston's vociferous black press by building two new modern African-American high schools, refurbishing "Old Colored High School," and vastly improving the number and condition of elementary schools for black children. Yet, although these new schools did represent a vast improvement over black education before Oberholtzer's arrival in Houston, in the face of massive expenditures and dramatic improvements in white education, the material gains of black students lagged far behind the educational opportunities for white students. While the new, child-centered curriculum excluded black students (except for the heroic efforts of individual black educators), curriculum development excluded the vast majority of teachers. White teachers lost considerable power over pedagogical decisions in their own classrooms as they faced onerous, top-down directives. The district maintained control over teacher education by opening a junior college in 1927 to train white teachers according to the new pedagogy. Many white teachers resented the district's efforts to tie salary raises to increased educational qualifications, even for experienced teachers. In 1928 conflicts with the superintendent contributed to the growth of new memberships in the all-white Houston Teachers Association. In response, the school district passed a significant salary increase for white teachers that was funded partially by reducing the automatic annual increases in black teacher salaries. Intense job competition within African-American schools kept black teachers from protesting their discriminatory salaries and treatment. Ironically, many black teachers, excluded from training in child-centered pedagogy, welcomed additional educational opportunities. Black teachers themselves fought for the creation of Houston Junior College for Negroes, although the new college failed to receive adequate funding. Thus, the school administration modernized white schools by denying new educational opportunities to black students and teachers. While many scholars have criticized the supposed "advantages" of progressive education, in Houston, at least, progressivism operated as another form of unearned white privilege.     

Teacher Absenteeism and Ill Health Retirement: A review

Teachers who take time away from work through sickness present problems for school principals in covering their work. Their absence will have an impact on students and other teachers, as well as on the money available to schools. When teachers become too ill to teach again, their absence before retirement may affect the organisation of the school, while their premature retirement due to disability can have adverse consequences both for the individual and the education system as a whole. This paper reviews research into teacher illness and absenteeism. Drawing on data from Europe and North America, it examines a number of issues, including the definition and measurement of absenteeism, its cost, and the relationship between absenteeism and student attendance and school performance. Research comparing teacher absenteeism data with figures for other public employees is also considered. Approaches to managing absenteeism, including policy development and implementation, are reviewed. Possible causes of teachers' early retirement because of disability are set within the context of management practice, educational reform and making best use of 'older' employees.     

Teacher morale: More complex than we think?

The literature suggests that teacher morale is at an all time low in Australia (Hicks 2003, Smyth 2001) with teachers feeling undervalued, frustrated, unappreciated and demoralized (Smyth 2001; Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee (SEETRC) 1998). In this paper the author utilizes the data gathered in a recent study into teaching excellence awards (Mackenzie 2004) as the medium to explore and discuss the issue of teacher morale and to provide some tentative suggestions for improving morale as proposed by the study participants. If we accept a reciprocal relationship between teacher morale and student learning (Ramsey 2000, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2000), students in some schools may not be getting the best possible value from teachers affected by low morale. Participants in the Mackenzie (2004) study agreed that morale was generally lower than in previous times, although many suggested that morale was positive in their own schools. This suggests that morale may be more complex than has been previously understood, with three levels of morale operating concurrently for teachers, a concept which is explored in this paper.     

DIE BERUFSAUSBILDUNG DER VOLKSSCHULLEHRERINNEN UND VOLKSSCHULLEHRER IN ITALIEN VON 1860 BIS 1900

Social respect for elementary‐school teachers in liberal Italy of the nineteenth century was very low. This was due, to a great extent, to the teacher training system ‐ the ‘scuola normale” ‐ which was expected to provide teachers with a good cultural education on the one and to offer them a professional preparation on the other hand. The reforms undertaken at the end of the century did not succeed because they did not take into account this fundamental problem of the double function of the teacher training system. The difficulty to professionalize teaching was hightened by the fact that ‐because of the lack of female secondary schools ‐ many women attended the “scuola normale” not for professional reasons but in order to polish up their personal education. The government's resistance towards real professionalization of elementary‐school teaching was further strengthened by the on‐going process of feminization. Since teaching seemed to be the “natural profession” of women the problem of professionalizing it became less urgent.     

The Nature of Social Practice Among School Professionals: Consequences of the Academic Pressure Exerted by Teachers in Their Teaching

The purpose of this study was to measure teachers' views about trust between teachers, trust between the principal and teachers, peer collaboration, positive attitudes towards the school and how these antecedents influence the academic pressure teachers put on pupils with respect to learning and learning intensity and performance. The methodology involved was a cross-sectional survey of 234 teachers from 11 Norwegian schools. The structural equation analysis indicated that principal-teacher trust has a moderately high impact on such constructs as “teacher-teacher trust” and “academic pressure” and that “teacher-teacher trust” has a moderately high impact on teachers' “peer collaboration”. “Peer collaboration” has a lower impact on “academic pressure”, while the impact of “positive attitudes towards the school” was moderately high. The article concludes with a discussion of the knowledge basis for understanding how social practice among teachers and school leaders in school communities is mobilised for a sustained focus on pupil learning. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Secondary agricultural education from a “learning to learn” perspective

Abstract

This article argues the importance of adopting a “learning to learn” perspective in secondary agricultural education: school organisational development should take place in the perspective of active learning by students. Three factors affecting innovation processes are discussed: school policy-making capacity, school in-service training policy, and professional orientations of teachers. Moreover, a program to support schools for secondary agricultural education while implementing a “learning to learn” approach is presented. The implementation process is tuned to the individual teacher and teacher coaching and in-service training are provided. In this respect, the need for school management and school policy reflecting a clear educational perspective is stressed: fostering the quality of students' independent learning should take a central position on all levels in the school. Therefore, the school organisation as a whole should become a “learning organisation”.     

“双高计划”背景下专业群的组建逻辑与建设策略——以小学教育专业群为例

高水平专业群建设是实施“双高计划”的重要抓手,是专业建设顺应经济社会发展和产业结构调整的必然要求。作为高水平专业群建设的小学教育专业群,是师范院校建设的特色和亮点,其组建的逻辑机理包含了学校与专业的共生逻辑、群内专业的共性逻辑、牵头专业与群内专业的共进逻辑,从而形成资源共享、互惠共生的小学教育相关专业建设的新生态。在小学教育专业群建设过程中,通过培养“一专多能”人才、优化课程结构、重构课程内容、打造创新团队、探索协同机制等策略,构建小学教育专业群发展的良性生态,彰显类型教育的办学理念和特色,着力培养“下得去、留得住、教得好”的农村小学教师。     

Myra and Me

This study investigates the factors that influence whether teachers with learning disabilities (LD) choose to disclose their disability status within public school settings. Four special education teachers who self-identify as having LD identify and clarify the complex, ongoing issues that “disability disclosure” raises in educational environments. Through narrative, these teachers describe their self-negotiated decisions about why, how, when, and to whom to disclose. Using the metaphor of “the closet,” we make connections between the experiences of people labeled as having learning disabilities and the experiences of people who are gay—exploring their similar positioning in the mainstream as individuals who evaluate the risks and benefits of “coming out.” Drawing upon the emic perspective of teachers with LD, implications for public schools and teacher education programs are discussed.     

The Task of Professional Development

Policies of inclusive education are emerging from many ministries and departments of education in countries around the world. McLesky and Waldron (2002) have argued that when teachers and administrators in schools begin to have discussions about inclusion the discussions often lead to two conclusions about how schools must change: (a) the change must address the needs of all students, not just those with disabilities, and (b) “school improvement” replaces references to inclusion. That is, teachers and administrators begin to rethink and restructure their programs in special and general education to improve the education of all students. In having to reform their practices general education teachers, in particular, must develop new understandings related to inclusion and reconceptualise how students with disabilities and learning difficulties might best be taught. As a consequence these teachers are recognising that they must change their practices in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. However, in order to make the changes and to develop new classroom practices general education teachers often reveal a need for inservice training. Thus there is a call from general education teachers for professional development in various areas. Several authors have described a range of initiatives in professional development in the context of school improvement. For example, there are alliances between teachers and researchers through teacher-researcher professional development groups (e.g., Vaughn, Hughes, Schumm, & Klinger, 1998) and collaborative communities (e.g., Englert & Zhao, 2001); professional development schools (PDS) where special educators are viewed as “catalysts” who further the knowledge of both inservice and preservice teachers (Voltz, 2001); “critical friend(s) groups” which are teacher support groups (Bambino, 2002); “Friday Forums” where teachers within a school use internal school expertise to inservice each other (Hudson, 2002); and professional learning communities or networks of various types, sometimes developed by professional organisations and itinerant specialists who are assigned to school districts to work on school reform with schools and teachers.     

Persuading girls to take elective physical science courses in high school: Who are the credible communicators?

Eighth-grade girls (N=257) randomly selected from nine different public junior high schools in central Texas were questioned in order to identify the communicators whom they perceive as highly credible regarding reasons for taking elective physical science courses in high school and the attributes associated with these communicators. Four persons were each identified by better than 10 percent of the sample as the best person to try to convince junior high school girls to take elective physical science courses in high school. In order of perceived credibility, these persons are “father,” “woman science teacher,” “mother,” and “boy high school student.” Slight variations in the order of perceived credibility were found when the responses from girls of the different ethnic groups represented in the sample (Caucasian, Hispanic, Black, and Asian) were examined separately. Attributes listed by the respondents for “father,” “woman science teacher,” “mother,” and “boy high school student” were examined and classified into the categories of prestige, trustworthiness, similarity, attractiveness, and power. Prestige and trustworthiness are the attributes associates most frequently with communicators identified as highly credible. Implications of the present study and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

School Reform,Families, and Health in the Emergent National Agenda for Economic and Social Improvement: Implications

The school reform movement is under way. Like previous reform movements, this one has competing constituencies and goals. There is, however, growing consensus among powerful constituencies about the roles of schools in an emergent national agenda. This agenda emphasizes economic and social improvement via school reform. It also prioritizes the relationship among schools, familes, family agencies, and health organizations; it invites changes in schools and their relationships with home environments and cornmunitybased, family, and health agencies. Schools, in varying degrees, are being “reinvented.” The question is not whether physical education will be impacted, but how. After all, reinvented schools imply reinvented subjects and subject-matter relationships, including the relationship between physical education and health education. There are attendant implications for the preparation of teachers and teacher educators. These and other implications invite proactive planning and decision making.     

Lake Wobegon: Where All Teachers Are Competent (Or, Have We Come to Terms with the Problem of Incompetent Teachers?)

The major purpose of this study was to assess the presence of evaluation system components that assist principals in responding to incompetent teachers. According to Virginia principals, 5 per cent of the teachers in their schools were incompetent; however, only 2.65 per cent were documented formally as being incompetent. The typical principal with a staff of 100 teachers identifies 1.53 incompetent tenured teachers per year and remediates 0.68 teacher, encourages 0.37 teacher to resign or retire, reassigns 0.29 teacher, and recommends dismissal for 0.10 teacher. The four evaluation system components of remedial procedures, evaluation criteria, evaluator training, and organizational commitment were found to predict 69 per cent of the variance in the principals' effectiveness rating of their evaluation systems, but none of the evaluation system components were found to predict administrative responsiveness to incompetence. Such findings suggest that principals and school systems are avoiding a serious problem that undermines the education of millions of children, staff morale, and the publics perception of education.     

STEM课程校本开发的国际经验与启示

在STEM教育起步阶段,课程选择是教学实践的首要问题。通过文献分析发现,“国家或地方非营利性组织机构”提供的支持或指导型STEM课程、“第三方机构”提供的直接交付型STEM课程以及学校自主开发或与其它组织合作开发的校本开发型STEM课程构成了STEM课程可选择的三种类型。其中,兼具“学生发展立场-学校改革创新-教师专业实践”多重内涵的“校本开发型STEM课程”是办学主体实践智慧的凝结。国际上主要从教育决策、学校发展定位、教师专业发展、课程开发方法和策略等四个方面展开STEM课程校本开发的研究和实践。STEM课程校本开发的国际经验为我国STEM教育起步和发展提供了有益借鉴。     

新形势下我国基础教育阶段教师退出机制探究

近年来,受学龄人口下降的影响,大部分地区在基础教育阶段出现了教师资源相对过剩的局面。为了缓解中小学教师结构性过剩这一矛盾,很多地区实行了教师退出机制。实行这一制度,是时代与社会发展的需要,是教育发展和教育管理的需要。基础教育阶段中小学教师的退出,可以通过科学合理地确定中小学各类人员的岗位、采用灵活的区别对待的退出模式、全面拓宽教师退出渠道、实行离职补偿制度、全面推行真正意义上的教师聘任制度和大力开展教师培训制度等途径来进行,以减轻或化解退出阻力,稳妥且有序地安置与消化退出教师,从而促进基础教育事业稳步健康且高质量地发展。