Assessing Student Achievement in Large-Scale Educational Programs Using Hierarchical Propensity Scores

Many researchers assessing the efficacy of educational programs face challenges due to issues with non-randomization and the likelihood of dependence between nested subjects. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate a rigorous research methodology using a hierarchical propensity score matching method that can be utilized in contexts where randomization is not feasible and dependence between subjects is a concern. Although propensity score matching is not new in helping to create quasi-experimental models, many studies limit propensity score matching to student-level variables. To address this limitation in educational research, this study extends propensity score matching to the next level so that hierarchical modeling techniques can be used to help minimize error due to the likelihood of dependence between nested students. A large-scale educational program that targets first-semester freshmen was used to illustrate the utility and value of the methodology. This type of program is typical in higher education where student self-selection creates difficulty in assessing its true effects on student achievement; however, by using a rigorous methodology, administrators can have higher confidence when making programmatic and budgetary decisions.     

Institutional and Student Factors and Their Influence on Advanced Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

The author examined advanced mathematics achievement with 1,839 students from 162 schools. The data were obtained from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Population 3 cohort; the author used hierarchical (multilevel) linear modeling to examine student- and school-level factors. Even within the advanced mathematics cohort, gender and economic disparities existed, but the magnitude of these disparities varied from school to school. Average parent education was observed to be associated with the magnitude of the coefficient for attitude toward mathematics on achievement. The more a student believed that success in mathematics was caused by natural ability, the higher the score on the test. Finally, resources, school size, and average parent education were significantly associated with school mean achievement in advanced mathematics.     

Exploring the Impact of Student Teaching Apprenticeships on Student Achievement and Mentor Teachers

Abstract

We exploit within-teacher variation in the years that math and reading teachers in grades 4–8 host an apprentice (“student teacher”) in Washington State to estimate the causal effect of these apprenticeships on student achievement, both during the apprenticeship and afterwards. While the average causal effect of hosting a student teacher on student performance in the year of the apprenticeship is indistinguishable from zero in both math and reading, hosting a student teacher is found to have modest positive impacts on student math and reading achievement in a teacher’s classroom in following years. These findings suggest that schools and districts can participate in the student teaching process without fear of short-term decreases in student test scores while potentially gaining modest long-term test score increases.     

Designing Curriculum-Based Mathematics Professional Development for Kindergarten Teachers

This study examines the influence of a year-long mathematics professional development program on Kindergarten teachers’ beliefs, content knowledge, instructional practices, and their students’ achievement. The professional development program is grounded in the theoretical construct of learner-centered professional development and focuses on supporting teachers’ integration of standards-based pedagogies aligned with the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. Data analysis included examining 15 Kindergarten teachers’ mathematics content knowledge, their beliefs about mathematics, their enactment of student-centered pedagogies, and student achievement on curriculum-based assessments. Findings indicated that teachers adopted more student-centered pedagogies and embraced more student-centered beliefs about mathematics teaching during their time in the project. Further, Kindergarten teachers also demonstrated gains in their mathematical content knowledge, and those content knowledge gains were linked to gains in student achievement.     

The Impact of a Professional Development Program on Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching,Instruction, and Student Achievement

In this paper, we describe findings from a three-year evaluation of a well-developed mathematics professional development program that is commercially available on a wide scale. The professional development is designed to improve teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching and to enable them to elicit more student thinking and reasoning during mathematics lessons. Specifically, it focused on helping teachers (a) learn more mathematics, (b) understand how children learn math, (c) use formative assessment to develop insight into what specific students know and do not know, and (d) develop effective classroom instructional strategies that enable student problem solving. Participants included 105 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers teaching in 19 low-income schools within a single district. Teachers were randomly assigned within schools either to a “business as usual” control group or to receive the professional development. The training consisted of a week-long summer institute and four to six in-service days during the school year. The training was run by full-time trained associates. We find some limited evidence of positive impacts on teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching, but no effects on instructional practice or student outcomes.     

数学教师职业发展需要调查研究

高中数学课程标准对数学教师的职业发展提出了更高的要求.数学教师对高中数学课程标准的准备需进一步强化.数学教师职业教育的目标是帮助教师熟悉新课程的内容,帮助他们学习数学课程的新理念和新方法.对数学教师职业发展需要的研究应思考数学教师职业发展的广泛性与多样性,教师职业教育与课程发展的相关性等问题.     

The Impact of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment on Technical and Professional Communication Programs

Because of accreditation, budget, and accountability pressures at the institutional and program levels, technical and professional communication faculty are more than ever involved in assessment-based activities. Using assessment to identify a program's strengths and weaknesses allows faculty to work toward continuous improvement based on their articulation of learning and behavioral goals and outcomes for their graduates. This article describes the processes of program assessment based on pedagogical goals, pointing out options and opportunities that will lead to a meaningful and manageable experience for technical communication faculty, and concludes with a view of how the larger academic body of technical communication programs can benefit from such work. As ATTW members take a careful look at the state of the profession from the academic perspective, we can use assessment to further direct our programs to meet professional expectations and, far more importantly, to help us meet the needs of the well-educated technical communicator.     

The Impact of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment on Technical and Professional Communication Programs

Because of accreditation, budget, and accountability pressures at the institutional and program levels, technical and professional communication faculty are more than ever involved in assessment-based activities. Using assessment to identify a program's strengths and weaknesses allows faculty to work toward continuous improvement based on their articulation of learning and behavioral goals and outcomes for their graduates. This article describes the processes of program assessment based on pedagogical goals, pointing out options and opportunities that will lead to a meaningful and manageable experience for technical communication faculty, and concludes with a view of how the larger academic body of technical communication programs can benefit from such work. As ATTW members take a careful look at the state of the profession from the academic perspective, we can use assessment to further direct our programs to meet professional expectations and, far more importantly, to help us meet the needs of the well-educated technical communicator.     

专业化发展中当代教师职业道德的建构

现代社会人们对教师的职业道德要求越来越高,传统的职业道德有了新的视野.伴随教师专业化发展逐步深入,教师的职业价值观在发生变化,教师专业道德需要提升.回归教师职业道德的本质属性以及由此而派生的实施要求,已刻不容缓.     

基于实践性教学的数学教师专业化发展研究

加强实践性教学有利于教师教学知识发展,有利于提升师范生的数学教学观念.泰山学院在数学教育类课程计划的编制、课程开设、教学组织形式等方面开展了实践性教学的实践和研究,通过加强实践教学内容、开展教师技能训练、教学设计、模拟数学教学活动、感悟教学理论知识的生成过程,积累教学经验、提高数学教学技能,提升师范生的就业竞争力.     

The Work of Providers of Professional Development for Teachers of Mathematics: Two Case Studies of Experienced Practitioners

This paper is an initial investigation into the practice of providers of professional development for teachers of mathematics. The study examines the work of two providers of professional development for teachers of mathematics. Both provided professional development while working with teachers on implementing a new mathematics curriculum for seventh grade. Although their work conditions were quite different from each other the study reveals that there were similar characteristics in their practices. The most salient ones were acting out lessons, analyzing principles of the new curriculum, encouraging the teachers to explicate their concerns, and asking teachers to solve concrete practical problems related to the reservations they have about specific components of the new curriculum. The role of a program that prepared the two participants to be providers of professional development for teachers is also discussed.     

美国幼儿教师专业准备标准述评

制定和实施幼儿教师专业准备标准是促进幼儿教师专业发展的重要策略,也是提高幼儿教师教育质量的基础性工作。美国幼儿教师专业准备标准要求教师能够促进幼儿的发展和学习;能够构建与家庭和社区的良好关系;能够观察、记录和评价,以支持幼儿和家庭的发展;能够运用适宜、有效的方法联系儿童和家庭;能够运用内容知识建构有意义的课程,并成为一名专业者。美国幼儿教师专业准备标准的编制具有民主性和发展性的特点,其内容具有全面性和时代性的特点,其用途具有广泛性和实用性的特点。     

Professional Development Programs for Elementary Science Teachers: An Analysis of Teacher Self-Efficacy Beliefs and a Professional Development Model

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

研究型教师及其发展研究

随着课程改革的逐渐扩大和日益深入,教师素质和专业发展水平受到越来越多的关注。目前我国教师的科研素养不容乐观,教师培训弊端日益凸显,学校评价失当。为此,需要改善学校制度建设、实施校本培训、开展反思性教学。     

教师专业发展与教师的道德影响力

教师专业发展与教师的道德影响力密切相关。从学科教学活动看,教师需要形成专业知识、教学能力与人格之间内在的平衡性、融合性和作用方向上的一致性,才能对学生的道德产生和谐的、丰满的、持久的影响。从师生关系看,教师在人格方面的民主性特征与道德影响力有重要的相关。要实现教师的道德影响力,学校管理必须转向以教育生态和谐为目标和基点的道德模式:加强对教育价值观的引导;将学校看作是成人(教师)与学生复杂交织在一起、共同成长的团体;鼓励和提供条件促使教师通过扩大个人阅读、参与教改与反思性研究、拓展人际交往以及自我修养;对教师工作的评价需要从外显性的评价走向更加重视和逐步实现内质性的评价。     

大学教师的角色变化和专业发展

教师的专业发展关系着学校教育的可持续发展和教育改革的成败。从大学教师的角色特点出发,教师的专业发展可以划分为"讲"师、"教"师、"导"师三阶段,各阶段的教师在教学关注、教师角色、教学理念、教学行为、师生关系、教学效果等方面表现出不同的特征,教师本人以及教育部门应根据不同阶段教师的特征和发展需求提出不同的发展目标和重点。     

A Comparison of Professional Development Models for Teachers of Primary Mathematics and Science

The authors have been involved in two substantial Australian teacher professional development projects, with the Mathematical Association of Victoria and with the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria, which focused, respectively, on a whole‐school professional development and an extended workshop programme. The research described in this paper explores the experiences of participants in these two programmes, in order to identify the advantages and limitations of each type of professional development model in supporting teacher development, and the different needs of teachers in relation to mathematics and science. The findings from a questionnaire, supported by participant interviews, show a range of differences in experience and outcomes due to programme style and subject area. These are used to suggest a developmental framework for conceptualizing teacher professional development needs.     

我国远程教育教师角色与专业发展

远程教育并没有削弱教师在教学过程中的作用,而恰恰对从事远程教育的教师提出了更高的要求和挑战。自1998年起,远程教育界为建设专业化的师资队伍进行了持续的实践探索和理论研究。本文在回顾相关文献的基础上,对远程教育教师角色、教师素养和专业发展的实践与研究进行梳理和分析,反思该领域的现状与存在的问题,希望能对推进远程教育教师专业化进程及相关研究有所助益。