Exploring the contribution of classroom formats on teaching effectiveness and achievement in upper elementary classrooms

This study examined the contribution of classroom format on teaching effectiveness and achievement in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Secondary data analyses of the Measures of Effective Teaching database included 464 US classrooms. Classrooms were defined as self-contained if a generalist teacher provided instruction on all subjects and departmentalized if a specialist teacher provided instruction on a specific subject. Beginning-of-the-year classroom-level covariates were compared. Both ELA and mathematics self-contained classrooms had larger class sizes, served more students of color, served students with lower initial achievement, and had teachers with fewer years of teaching experience but more likely to have a Master’s degree. Regression models were used to determine if classroom format predicted teaching effectiveness and achievement while controlling for beginning-of-the-year classroom-level covariates. Departmentalization had a small positive association with higher teaching effectiveness ratings in ELA classes. Classroom format was not a significant predictor of achievement in ELA or math.     

How does leadership affect student achievement? Results from a national US survey

Using survey responses from a national sample of US teachers, this paper provides insight into 2 questions: (1) Do 3 specific attributes of leadership behavior – the sharing of leadership with teachers, the development of trust relationships among professionals, and the provision of support for instructional improvement – affect teachers' work with each other and their classroom practices? and (2) Do the behaviors of school leaders contribute to student achievement? We tie this investigation of school leader behaviors to 2 additional factors that have also received increasing attention in research because they have been shown to be related to student achievement: professional community and the quality of classroom instruction. Our analysis provides an empirical test of the notion that leadership variables are positively related to student learning. It also suggests that both shared and instructionally focused leadership are complementary approaches for improving schools.     

The Relationship of Teachers' Instructional Decisions and Beliefs about Alternate Assessments to Student Achievement

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers' instructional decisions and beliefs about AA-AAS have on the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. A survey of nearly 400 teachers across three states provided evidence of teachers' beliefs, as well as their instructional planning processes for students. Students' learning characteristics were also identified. Survey responses were analyzed in conjunction with students' 2010–2011 scores on their statewide AA-AAS. The results indicated that students with presymbolic communication systems had a lower likelihood of achieving proficiency in English language arts/reading and math than students with abstract symbolic communication. Students with concrete symbolic communication systems had lesser odds of proficiency in ELA/reading but not in math. Teachers who agreed that AA-AAS had an impact on instruction tended to have students with higher achievement proficiency. However, more negative views of the validity of AA-AAS scores were associated with greater odds of proficiency.     

The consequences of “school improvement”: Examining the association between two standardized assessments measuring school improvement and student science achievement

For more than half a century concerns about the ability of American students to compete in a global workplace focused policymakers' attention on improving school performance generally, and student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) specifically. In its most recent form—No Child Left Behind—there is evidence this focus led to a repurposing of instructional time to dedicate more attention to tested subjects. While this meant a narrowing of the curriculum to focus on English and mathematics at the elementary level, the effects on high school curricula have been less clear and generally absent from the research literature. In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between school improvement efforts and student achievement in science and thus explore the intersection of school reform and STEM policies. We used school‐level data on state standardized test scores in English and math to identify schools as either improving or declining over three consecutive years. We then compared the science achievement of students from these schools as measured by the ACT Science exams. Our findings from three consecutive cohorts, including thousands of high school students who attended 12th grade in 2008, 2009, and 2010 indicate that students attending improving schools identified by state administered standardized tests generally performed no better on a widely administered college entrance exam with tests in science, math and English. In 2010, students from schools identified as improving in English scored nearly one‐half of a point lower than their peers from declining schools on both the ACT Science and Math exams. We discuss various interpretations and implications of these results and suggest areas for future research. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 804–830, 2012     

A promising science and literacy instructional model with Hispanic fifth grade students

Abstract

This study evaluated the Science and Literacy Instructional Model aimed at helping primarily Hispanic bilingual/English Learners (ELs) and economically disadvantaged fifth grade students with science achievement as measured by high-stakes standardized science achievement scores. The model combined purposeful planning, innovative academic vocabulary instruction, and a Lesson Design Lab. Difference-in proportions tests were used to determine if students at two school campuses showed positive achievement gains on a state science test. This study found statistically significant results with medium to large effect sizes at both campuses. Findings contribute to much needed research, practice, and policy in the area of effective models to assist both teachers and students in an era of high-stakes testing.     

The school-level standardized testing policy and math achievement in primary grades: The mediational role of math instructional approach

This study investigates how school-level standardized testing policy at Grade 1 is directly and indirectly linked to math achievement in primary grades. Using nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort data drawn from the U.S., the sample consists of 6774 children nested in 925 elementary schools. Findings from a multilevel full structural mediation analysis indicate that despite children’s short-term gains at Grade 1, the positive effects of frequent testing policy at Grade 1 do not persist in Grade 3. In contrast, school-level standardized testing policies were negatively associated with math achievement at Grade 3 mediated by procedural instructional approaches (e.g., drills). The findings provide empirical evidence on the validity of standardized testing in primary-grade mathematics and offer implications for teachers, educational policymakers, and researchers.     

Measurement properties as a possible cause of digital device effects on a standardized assessment of learning

Recent research found a substantial effect of digital device type on a computerized, standardized assessment of learning. Findings were consistent across grade and content domain. To investigate the source of these differences, the current research probed whether measurement differences or, equivalently, test bias due to device type could explain achievement or proficiency differences. We used 2018–2019 results on the Indiana Learning Evaluation Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN). The data are census-based and cover grades 3 and 8 in the content domains of mathematics and English language arts (ELA). For our analysis, we use the root mean-squared deviation (RMSD) for detecting measurement differences across students that took ILEARN on different digital devices. Our findings suggest that few, if any, achievement differences that depend on the type of digital device can be explained by test bias. We discuss our findings in the context of multiple-group versus multiple indicator, multiple cause measurement models. Our findings suggest that digital device operates directly on the construct (math or ELA) rather than on the indicators that measure the construct. Finally, we conclude that a competing hypothesis – that differences are due to a digital device familiarity effect – remains plausible.     

Leveraging the power of peer-led learning: investigating effects on STEM performance in urban high schools

The Peer Enabled Restructured Classroom (PERC) is an instructional innovation developed to address gaps in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in urban high schools. The PERC model changes instruction from teacher led to peer led by bringing peer students into the classroom to lead small-group work. Our study sought to provide empirical evidence in support of the peer-led model as a means of improving STEM learning for tutored students in urban schools. We used propensity score matching to evaluate the innovation's impact on students’ achievement on standardized end-of-course tests in two 9th-grade courses – Integrated Algebra and Biology. Results suggest that by the 2nd year of implementation, enrolment in PERC Biology increased the likelihood of passing. Similar effects were not observed for PERC Integrated Algebra, but when comparing cohorts, we found that the 2nd year was twice as likely to pass as the 1st year. We discuss implications for programme improvement.     

The Domain-Specificity of Elementary School Teachers’ Judgment Accuracy

Teachers’ diagnostic competence for accurately judging students’ achievement is essential for instructional practice and professional decisions. To promote their judgment accuracy, it is important to know if this is a general or domain-specific skill. We investigated teachers’ judgment accuracy in German language (one subdomain: reading) and mathematics (two subdomains: geometry; stochastics) and examined differences across domains (i.e., German and mathematics) and across subdomains (reading; geometry; stochastics). We examined the judgment accuracy of 59 German elementary school teachers who teach both German and mathematics, judging the achievement of 1227 students in the three subdomains. We conducted multilevel analyses with a subsample of 39 teachers and 787 students and calculated different accuracy components (i.e., rank, level, and differentiation) to examine the comparability of our results. In line with prior research, findings revealed that teachers’ judgments were fairly accurate. However, there were significant differences between teachers’ average judgment accuracy in different subdomains (between-person comparisons) and no or only a weak relation between individual teachers’ judgment accuracy in different subdomains (within-person comparisons). Findings support the notion that teachers’ judgment accuracy of student achievement is domain-specific with respect to the investigated subdomains. Practical implications for the promotion of teacher judgment accuracy are discussed.     

Does teaching style explain differences in learner achievement in low and high performing schools in Kenya?

Quality of instructional delivery is an important determinant of the extent to which the teaching process has an impact on learning achievement. The literature identifies many contributors of learning achievement including teacher, curricula, teaching, student, home and school environments. On an ‘education production function’ approach, achievement may be modelled as an outcome determined by school and classroom based inputs. The processes of achievement determination are typically assumed, in the absence of detailed information about actual classroom practices. In Kenya, primary schools continue to report differentials in performance on standardized tests even when policy implementers distribute teachers normally to these schools. Such differences in academic performance have been reported even among schools within the same neighbourhood. Schools from the same neighbourhood draw students with similar backgrounds and expose them to teachers who have gone through the same training. This paper hypothesizes that teaching style plays a key role in explaining the differences in academic performance among students between primary schools. Using data from 72 math lessons that were filmed in 72 primary schools in Kenya, the authors demonstrate the extent to which teaching practice explains differences in performance among students and schools. While controlling for individual and school based factors, the paper uses mixed methods to analyse the linkages between teaching practices and learning achievement. The main research finding and policy implication is that students learning achievement can be improved through quality teaching, even when other conditions such as class size are not conducive.     

The relation between classroom management and mathematics achievement: A multilevel structural equation model

The impact of teachers on their students’ academic achievement continues to be an area of inquiry. One area not fully explored is the relation between teachers’ behavior and classroom management (CM) skills, student motivation, and student achievement. We examined these relations using a multi‐level structural equation model. Data included Behavior Management subscale scores of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System for 247 fourth and fifth grade teachers, indicators of academic motivation, and end‐of‐year state standardized mathematics assessment results for 4,847 students from the National Center of Teacher Effectiveness Main Study. The results indicate teachers’ CM skills have a significant direct effect on student motivation and a significant indirect effect on students’ math achievement, suggesting that students in classrooms of teachers with better CM are more motivated to learn math and have higher math achievement scores. This underscores the importance of helping teachers increase their use of evidence‐based classroom management techniques.     

Professional development to support principals' vision of science instruction: Building from their prior experiences to support the science practices

The implementation of science reform must be viewed as a systems-level problem and not just focus on resources for teachers and students. High-capacity instructional leadership is essential for supporting classroom science instruction. Recent reform efforts include a shift from learning about science facts to figuring out scientific phenomena in which students use science practices as they build and apply disciplinary core ideas. We report findings from a research study on professional development (PD) to support instructional leaders' learning about the science practices. After participating in the PD, the instructional leaders' familiarity with and leadership content knowledge of the science practices significantly improved. Initially, principals used their understandings from other disciplines and content neutral visions of classrooms to make sense of science instruction. For example, they initially used their understandings of models and argument from ELA and math to make sense of science classroom instruction. Furthermore, some principals focused on content neutral strategies, like a clear objective. Over the course of the PD workshops, principals took up the language of the science practices in more nuanced and sophisticated ways. Principals' use of the language of the science practices became more frequent and shifted from identifying or defining them to considering quality and implementation in science classrooms. As we design tools to support science, we need to consider instructional leaders as important stakeholders and develop resources to specifically meet their needs. If the science feels too unfamiliar or intimidating, principals may avoid or reframe science reform efforts. Consequently, it is important to leverage instructional leaders' resources from other disciplines and content neutral strategies as bridges for building understanding in science. We argue that the science practices are one potential lever to engage in this work and shift instructional leaders' understandings of science instruction.     

Elementary mathematics teachers’ judgment accuracy and calibration accuracy: Do they predict students’ mathematics achievement outcomes?

In this study we investigated whether elementary mathematics teachers’ knowledge of their students, as reflected in both the accuracy and confidence with which they are able to estimate their students’ task-specific performance on sets of mathematics problems, predicted students’ overall mathematics achievement. Thirty-nine teachers made predictions about the performance of a random sample of target students (n = 150) in their classrooms on sets of “easy” and “difficult” multiplication and division problems. Teachers also provided confidence ratings for those judgments. From these data, indicators of teachers’ judgment accuracy, judgment confidence and calibration accuracy (a measure of metacognitive monitoring) were then related to all of their students’ (n = 834) performance on year-end standardized mathematics achievement tests. Multilevel analyses indicate that teachers’ calibration accuracy, but not their task-specific judgment accuracy, significantly predicted students’ mathematics achievement. Implications for future research on teacher knowledge as well as professional development programs are discussed.     

School Management Teams’ Instructional Leadership Role in Closing the Achievement Gap in Impoverished Schools

Abstract

Although the South African government has made numerous strides in addressing equity and social justice in education, significant inequalities still exist in learner performance, especially in many impoverished schools. One of the reasons cited for poor learner achievement is the ineffective leadership role of school management teams (SMTs). This article reports on a study that explored the instructional leadership role of SMTs of public schools with the view to closing the achievement gap in poor performing schools. To gain better insights into the SMTs’ realities and experiences of their work as curriculum leaders, qualitative research located within the interpretivist paradigm was undertaken. The findings revealed that SMTs of impoverished schools exhibit consistently low to moderate instructional leadership competencies which ultimately affect student learning. In order to close the achievement gap in poor performing schools, SMTs should play a more pronounced instructional leadership role by leading and managing core curriculum matters and educational resources effectively and efficiently.     

THE CONCURRENT VALIDITY OF STANDARDIZED ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BY CONTENT AREA USING TEACHERS' RATINGS AS CRITERIA

To assess the concurrent validity of standardized achievement tests using teachers' ratings (and rankings) of pupils' academic achievement as criteria, 42 teachers evaluated each of their students (n = 1,032) in each of five major curricular areas prior to the administration of a battery of standardized achievement tests. The teachers were directed to rate each student's proficiency disregarding attendance, attitude, deportment, and so on. Within-class correlation coefficients were computed to eliminate rater leniency bias. The standardized achievement tests were found to have substantial concurrent validity in reading, math, language arts, science, and social studies. The normalized teacher ranks yielded significantly higher validity coefficients than did the ratings, although the magnitude of the difference was small. The concurrent validity coefficients for language arts, reading, and math were significantly higher than those in science and social studies.     

Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching math: Relations with teacher and student outcomes

Social cognitive theory posits that teacher self-efficacy beliefs should be related to not only their own well-being outcomes but also classroom processes and student outcomes in the general ecology of the classroom environment. However, little research has directly examined the associations of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs with these teacher and student-level outcomes simultaneously. The present study proposes and tests an integrative model of the relations of teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching math with their job satisfaction and student math achievement both directly and indirectly via interaction quality as a critical dimension of the quality of classroom processes. Additionally, student level relational and motivational predictors of math achievement, including individual perceptions of student-teacher interaction quality and math self-concept, are included per the ecology of the classroom environment. Based on data from over 6000 4th grade students and 450 teachers, results of multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching math were positively associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and class levles of math achievement and interaction quality. At the individual student level, individual levels of math self-concept were positively associated with math achievement, and individual perceptions of interaction quality were positively associated with math self-concept. However, a negative association between residualized interindividual perceptions of interaction quality and math achievement was observed.     

Year-long teacher professional development on fifth grade student science outcomes

ABSTRACT

We first examined the effects of a year-long professional development (PD) programme for elementary science teachers on fifth grade student performance on state-mandated science achievement tests of students from a treatment and a comparison group of teachers in the 2009–2010 academic year. Then, we investigated the longer-term impacts by comparing the 2010–2011 student test results of the teachers one year after receiving treatment in 2009–2010 with the students of teachers who received treatment during 2010–2011. Test scores were analysed using a propensity score matching method to examine the relationship between the PD and student achievement. Results showed that even though the treatment teachers were out of the classroom 20% of the school year to attend the PD, there was no difference between their students’ science achievement scores and those of the comparison teachers who were in the classroom every day. This is an important finding because many principals and parents are reluctant to provide teachers with release time for PD. We also determined that students of teachers one year after participating in the PD significantly (p?<?0.001) with a medium effect size (η²?=?.088) outperformed students of teachers who had just completed the programme. This suggests that it takes time for teachers to implement new teaching strategies and that to observe the impact of an intervention programme, it may be important to expand the timeframe of the programme evaluation.     

Examining interactive whiteboard-based instruction on the academic self-efficacy,academic press and achievement of college students*

Abstract

The study reported here examined college students’ academic self-efficacy, ‘academic press’ and learning achievement, as well as the association between these three variables within learning contexts using interactive whiteboard-based instruction. A quasi-experimental study was conducted using a sample (n = 103) of first-year college students in China. Participants were taught English by either an interactive whiteboard-based or traditional lecture-based instructional approach for three months. The results showed that the interactive whiteboard-based instructional intervention cultivated higher levels of academic press and academic self-efficacy among students and a significant, positive correlation was identified between these two variables. Students’ learning achievement was not affected by the instructional intervention. These results indicate that interactive whiteboard-based instruction offers some distinct benefits. In future work, additional research is needed to clarify how the instructional model relates to understanding learning achievement.     

An Examination of English Teachers' Opinions About the Ontario Grade 9 Reading and Writing Test

Interest in the use of large-scale achievement testing for accountability purposes and to drive instructional reform has been increasing in Canada. In the 1995 publications in Interchange, several researchers debated the merits and demerits of standardized achievement testing, including among the latter a tendency to reduce the curriculum and overemphasize routine learning (i.e., "teaching to the test"). Almost no studies have found empirical evidence for such testing's purported benefits. We set out to investigate these issues in Ontario: We present findings from a mail survey designed to find out, from Grade 9 and Grade 10 English teachers in Ontario, their perception of the quality of the Ontario Grade 9 literacy testing program and the effects it has had on the teaching and learning processes. Based on the responses of 107 teachers, our results paint a negative picture of teachers' opinions of the Grade 9 test in terms of its quality and its impact on teaching and learning. Three years after the Grade 9 test was first introduced, Grade 9 and 10 English teachers are still not convinced of its value. Our findings (and those from two other similar surveys) appear to suggest, at least based on teachers' self-reporting, that the purposes of the test — improving the quality of education and learning — as envisioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training have not been met. These findings support those of other assessment impact studies in Canada, namely British Columbia and Alberta, regarding the adverse consequences of large-scale standardized testing (either multiple-choice test or performance-based assessment), and the lack of evidence for its purported positive educational influences. We recommend future research to investigate further the validity and the educational impact of the provincial tests and the reasons responsible for the observed impact or lack of it, and to determine resources, such as teacher training and materials, that are necessary to supplement the provincial testing program's effort to improve teaching and learning.     

The influence of race–ethnicity and physical activity levels on elementary school achievement

The authors used structural equation modeling to map the relationships between student race–ethnicity via the mediating variable physical activity on English language arts (ELA) and mathematics achievement among 964 fourth- and fifth-grade students. The students attended a New York City Metropolitan area school district and completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children, which measured weekly average activity levels. Confirmatory factor analysis validated the use of this instrument. Physical activity had a significant, substantive effect on both ELA and mathematics achievement for students, but was most pronounced among White students on ELA and among Black students on mathematics. Hispanic ethnicity had significant direct and indirect negative associations with ELA and mathematics achievement via their decreased physical activity levels relative to White and Black students. These findings help confirm the important link between physical activity and academic achievement and the need to foster more healthy physical activities for students of all races and ethnicities.