Fostering teacher learning in VET colleges: Do leadership and teamwork matter?

This study explores teacher learning in Vocational Education and Training colleges, combining organizational and psychological factors, such as transformational leadership, teamwork, and self-efficacy. 447 teachers participated in a survey study. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test 7 hypotheses derived from previous research. The results show that transformational leadership has direct and indirect effects on teacher learning as mediated by teamwork processes. Moreover, the impact of teamwork processes on teacher learning was mediated by self-efficacy. The study contributes to research on workplace learning by giving insight into the role organizational and psychological factors play in stimulating teacher learning.     

Adolescent students’ grit: Do parents’ grit and educational expectations matter?

Despite the widespread enthusiasm towards grit, little attention has been paid to how stable grit remains over time and what contextual factors can predict longitudinal changes in grit. The present study investigated adolescent students’ grit and its change over one year. We employed nationally representative longitudinal data from a sample of Korean adolescent students (N = 2,590) and their parents (N = 2,590). Specifically, we evaluated the temporal stability of student grit, parent grit and educational expectations as determinants of student grit, and the relative importance of student grit in predicting academic achievement compared to academic self-concept. Results of autoregressive cross-lagged modeling revealed that grit was fairly stable over one year. In addition, parents’ grit and educational expectations for students’ educational attainment emerged as significant predictors of longitudinal changes in students’ grit. Finally, when students’ academic self-concept was controlled, students’ grit was not predictive of their academic achievement. Implications and areas of future research are presented and discussed.     

Do alternative teacher education programs manage to attract different candidates and students?

During 2009, three alternative teacher retraining programs in English as a Foreign Language, mathematics and biology were launched for the first time in one of Israel’s largest teacher education colleges. The programs, which offered varied economic incentives to participants, were initiated by the state owing to shortages of teachers in these disciplines and the economic crisis in the hi-tech industry. After hundreds of candidates responded to the program’s advertisement, 90 candidates were accepted and enrolled following rigorous screening. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the demographic, academic and occupational profiles of the candidates and students in each of the three programs in comparison with applicants and students in traditional teacher education retraining programs. The research population included a total of 611 candidates who had applied to all the teacher retraining programs offered in 2009. The study’s findings indicate that not only did the alternative programs make the teaching profession more accessible to potential candidates; they also attracted students with impressive demographic, academic and occupational profiles that varied considerably from the profiles of the students in the traditional programs. Longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to investigate the adjustment, success and retention rates of these new teachers in the educational system.     

Teaching Practicum assessment in post-apartheid teacher education: Is it self-serving or serving students?

This article investigates common understandings and practices of a group of supervisors assessing students during the Teaching Practicum in South Africa. In the light of this context and the need for a constructivist approach to develop students to be able to teach in diverse contexts, the question that the research intends to answer is as follows: What are the common foci of supervisors as reflected in their teaching practicum assessment reports? A randomly mixed sample of 33 narrative reports, taken from 5 supervisors was analysed to gain insight into the assessment report. Findings are presented as five assessment discourses and an argument is presented for the Teaching Practicum assessment to shift towards a student-oriented developmental approach that is neither hierarchical nor judgmental but aims at serving students’ professional development that meets the challenges of culturally diverse societies.     

Benefits for coteachers of students with disabilities: Do contextual factors matter?

Drawing on Bandura’s social learning and social cognitive theory, we empirically investigate contextual factors that may influence perceived benefits of coteaching for teachers. Special and general education coteachers have reported that necessary contextual factors for them to be effective include: sufficient coplanning time, relationship quality, and parity. In this study, 147 special and general education coteachers from suburban and rural schools across the United States responded to the Co‐teacher Questionnaire to determine what contributes to their perceived benefits of coteaching students with disabilities. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that coplanning ( β = 0.22; p ≤ 0.01) and relationship quality ( β = 0.30; p ≤ 0.01) positively influenced the coteachers’ perceived benefits of coteaching (Cohen’s f ² = 0.47), whereas parity was not corroborated to have a significant impact. These not previously empirically studied relationships inform the field by clarifying the importance of the contextual factors for coteachers. Implications for the practitioners and researchers are offered.     

Observing and Teaching Reform-Minded Lessons: What Do Teachers See?

We describe the way in which 12 primary-grade teachers responded to reform-minded teaching of multidigit addition and subtraction. Three teachers were hired to deliver 6–12 weeks of specially designed instruction; the other 9 teachers observed this instruction in their classrooms. Results of follow-up interviews showed that teachers who believed mathematics was more than a collection of skills and that students must construct their own understandings were inclined to interpret and appreciate the special instruction as the developers had intended. Teachers who believed mathematics was primarily a set of skills they must teach focused on a few individual features of the instruction, usually the use of physical materials, and, if they transferred any of the special instruction into their own teaching, often distorted the developers' intent. The more intensive involvement of the hired teachers led to more positive assessments of the instruction, but even here antithetical beliefs constrained later practice. Observations are provided on the nature of effective teacher development programs. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Do teacher characteristics matter? New results on the effects of teacher preparation on student achievement

Research fairly consistently demonstrates that teachers are an important measurable factor in student learning, yet few teacher characteristics are shown to be consistently related to student achievement. Using a state administrative dataset that matches individual students to their teachers over time, I find that math teachers’ undergraduate performance, as measured by GPA (overall, math, and math education) and course hours (math and math education), is predictive of 5th grade math achievement. The effects of the teacher characteristics are mediated by years of experience and vary according to student types.     

Why does teacher gender matter?

This paper shows that high school math and science teacher gender affects student interest and self-efficacy in STEM. However, such effects become insignificant once teacher behaviors and attitudes are taken into account, thus pointing towards an omitted variables bias. Teacher beliefs about male and female ability in math and science – as well as how teachers treat boys and girls in the classroom – matter more than teacher's own gender. The student fixed effects estimates also highlight that creating a positive learning environment and making math and science interesting are pivotal in engaging students in these subjects.     

Supporting emerging teacher identities: can we identify teacher potential among students?

The research focuses on Estonian university students’ emerging teacher identity and their interest in becoming teachers. Five hundred and sixty‐five first, third and fifth year students participated in the survey. The results suggest that pedagogical reasons for entering teacher education and clear motives for studying are significant indicators of teacher potential. Pedagogical reasons for entering teacher education or the teaching profession and the wish to function as a change agent in the society were related to academic self‐efficacy beliefs and the belief that the teacher expertise is mainly pedagogical in nature. However, at the point in their studies at which the students are able to choose their masters programme and entry into teacher education, their likelihood of choosing teacher education remains low, indicating that there is a need to develop pedagogical content, study counselling and career guidance services to encourage students’ continued interest in and entry to teacher education and the teaching profession.     

Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between elementary school teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence (SEC). A total of 676 Grades 4–7 students in 35 classrooms rated their classroom teachers' SEC. In addition, teachers self-reported their current level of experienced burnout at work (i.e., depersonalization and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel analyses revealed significant classroom-level variability (i.e., 34%) in student-ratings of teacher SEC. Teacher burnout significantly predicted student-rated teacher SEC, over and above significant student-level variables (school self-concept, sense of autonomy in the classroom) and contextual variables (teacher age, school neighborhood income). Specifically, higher levels of teacher burnout were related to receiving lower SEC ratings by students. Teacher burnout explained a significant portion of the classroom-level variability in student-rated teacher SEC. The present study emphasizes the link between teacher burnout and the SEC. Furthermore, given that teacher reports (burnout) were linked to student reports (teacher SEC), these findings also suggest that students notice stress in their classroom teacher.     

First year university students’ self-perception of ICT skills: Do learning styles matter?

Do ICT skills of freshmen change in 6 months at the university? What is the contribution of learning styles (or patterns) to the explanation of the variance in self-perceived ICT skills and the possible change in these skills? And what is the contribution of learning styles and of gender, social class, and ICT course attendance to the explanation of the variance in these skills? To answer these questions, data were collected in a panel research project that recruited 714 freshmen at a large Belgian university. The data show that the ability of the students to maintain a computer and to develop a website improves at the university but not the ability to use the Internet or to apply basic ICT skills. The analyses show that there is a link, albeit weak, between learning styles and self-perceived ICT skills. Learning styles can partially explain differences between groups of students with different characteristics. The data show that having a certain learning style might influence the perception of students of their ICT skill, but learning styles do not allow one to predict the change in the self-perceived ICT skills of the students.     

Intended college enrollment and educational inequality: Do students lack information?

Despite increasing access to university education, students from disadvantaged or non-academic family backgrounds are still underrepresented in universities. In this regard, the economics literature has focused on the role of financial constraints as a cause of these observed differences in educational choices. Our knowledge of potential effects of other constraints regarding university education is more limited. We investigate the causal relationship between information and educational expectations using data from a German randomized controlled trial in which students in high schools were given information on the benefits of as well as on different funding possibilities for university education. We find that the provision of information increases intended college enrollment for students from a non-academic family background, both two to three months and one year after the intervention. In contrast, it leads students from academic backgrounds to lower their enrollment intentions in the short run. However, this effect does not persist. Our results suggest that educational inequality can be reduced by providing students from non-academic families with relevant information.     

Associations between school absence and academic achievement: Do socioeconomics matter?

This study examined the extent to which the association between increased student absence and lower achievement outcomes varied by student and school‐level socioeconomic characteristics. Analyses were based on the enrolment, absence and achievement records of 89,365 Year 5, 7 and 9 students attending government schools in Western Australian between 2008 and 2012. Multivariate multi‐level modelling methods were used to estimate numeracy, writing and reading outcomes based on school absence, and interactions between levels of absence and school socioeconomic index (SEI), prior achievement, gender, ethnicity, language background, parent education and occupation status. While the effects of absence on achievement were greater for previously high‐achieving students, there were few significant interactions between absence and any of the socioeconomic measures on achievement outcomes. The results of first‐difference regression models indicated that the negative effect of an increase in absence was marginally larger for students attending more advantaged schools, though most effects were very small. While students from disadvantaged schools have, on average, more absences than their advantaged peers, there is very little evidence to suggest that the effects of absence are greater for those attending lower‐SEI schools. School attendance should therefore be a priority for all schools, and not just those with high rates of absence or low average achievement.     

Model-Based Teaching and Learning with BioLogica™: What Do They Learn? How Do They Learn? How Do We Know?

This paper describes part of a project called Modeling Across the Curriculum which is a large-scale research study in 15 schools across the United States. The specific data presented and discussed here in this paper is based on BioLogica, a hypermodel, interactive environment for learning genetics, which was implemented in multiple classes in eight high schools. BioLogica activities, data logging, and assessments were refined across this series of implementations. All students took a genetics content knowledge pre- and posttests. Traces of students' actions and responses to computer-based tasks were electronically collected (via a log file function) and systematically analyzed. An intensive 3-day field test involving 24 middle school students served to refine methods and create narrative profiles of students' learning experiences, outcomes, and interactions with BioLogica. We report on one high school implementation and the field test as self-contained studies to document the changes and the outcomes at different phases of development. A discussion of design changes concludes this paper.     

What motivates students? A study on the effects of teacher leadership and students’ self-efficacy

Students’ educational motivation is significant for performance and achieving learning, but little is known about what fuels such motivation. Educational motivation is regarded as the drive and inner state that energise educational activities, facilitate learning and channel behaviour towards achieving educational goals. Educational motivation paves the way for students to learn and acquire the knowledge that is essential for successful study outcomes. This article aims to explore what determines students’ educational motivation. Building on the self-determination theory, we modelled the influence of teachers’ leadership and students’ self-efficacy on students’ educational motivation. We used survey data from a sample of upper secondary school students in Sweden; we received a total of 993 answers, equal to a response rate of 74%. The results show that students’ self-efficacy and teacher leadership are of extreme importance for students’ educational motivation, and that highly efficacious students lose most educational motivation when the teacher’s leadership is poor. The results thus support the importance of teachers’ leadership for encouraging student learning.     

Diversifying the faculty across gender lines: Do trustees and administrators matter?

Our paper focuses on the role that the gender composition of the leaders of American colleges and universities - trustees, presidents, and provosts - play in influencing the rate at which academic institutions diversify their faculty across gender lines. Our analyses make use of institutional level panel data that we have collected for a large sample of American academic institutions.     

Does school context matter? Relations with teacher burnout and job satisfaction

This study examined relations between teachers' perception of the school context, teacher burnout, and teacher job satisfaction. Participants were 563 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. Four aspects of teachers' perception of the school context (supervisory support, time pressure, relations to parents, and autonomy) and three dimensions of teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) were measured. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modelling using the AMOS 5 program. Teachers' job satisfaction was directly related to two of the dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment) and indirectly related to all aspects of the school context, through emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment. The three dimensions of burnout were differently related to the school context variables. Emotional exhaustion was most strongly related to time pressure whereas depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment were most strongly related to teachers' relations with parents. Implications for both research and educational practices are discussed.     

Awards and recognition: Do they matter in teachers’ income trajectory?

Do teaching awards affect the growth in income of teachers recognized for excellence? Our study is one of the firsts to use income as the primary indicator of success when evaluating the impact of an award. Taking the case of Metrobank Foundation Award for Outstanding Teachers in the Philippines, our analysis reveals that the award had a higher impact on the income of winners who were in the middle of their career when they received the award. This implies that timing as to when an award is received matters. Relatively younger winners, in their mid-career, have more years in their professional career to capitalize on the award.     

Collaborative learning and positive experiences: does letting students choose their own groups matter?

This study used self‐determination theory as a framework to examine the relationship between choice regarding group membership and student motivation within classrooms that use collaborative learning as an instructional tool. Data were collected from over 500 students across seven classrooms from a large university in the Midwestern United States. In three of the seven classrooms, students were allowed to choose with whom they worked; in the remaining four classes the professor formed the groups. Using hierarchical linear modelling, the choice condition was a positive and significant predictor of students’ intrinsic motivation and classroom community, even when accounting for autonomy support and class size. The practical implications of affording choice during collaborative learning are discussed.