Teachers’ use of class time and student achievement

We study teachers’ choices about how to allocate class time across different instructional activities, for example, lecturing, open discussion, or individual practice. Our data come from secondary schools in England, specifically classes preceding GCSE exams. Students score higher in math when their teacher devotes more class time to individual practice and assessment. In contrast, students score higher in English if there is more discussion and work with classmates. Class time allocation predicts test scores separate from the quality of the teacher's instruction during the activities. These results suggest opportunities to improve student achievement without changes in teachers’ skills.     

Teacher specialization and student perceived instructional quality: what are the relationships to student reading achievement?

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - At an international level, teachers’ work is increasingly circumscribed and regulated. Notions of accountability have shifted from...     

Teachers’ journeys towards critical use of ICT

Teachers have a central role in developing new learning models in schools. This paper describes a study that explored teachers’ confidence and competence in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as they participated in an ICT development project conducted by an Australian education system in 12 primary schools. The project aimed to develop ICT integrated teaching practices by providing in‐class equipment and teacher professional development in ICT use, curriculum development and teaching strategies. The study used qualitative data from teacher records of Professional Development and Action Learning to identify three of four stages proposed to describe teachers’ ICT learning. Teachers moved from gaining basic ICT skills, to conducting ICT‐focused lessons and eventually appropriate ICT integration. Teachers who progressed to the third stage were able to exploit additional learning opportunities and begin to make fundamental changes to their pedagogy, but needed more time to reach the final stage of challenging existing pedagogical structures.     

What is an affordance and can it help us understand the use of ICT in education?

This paper revisits the concept of affordance and explores its contribution to an understanding of the use of ICT for teaching and learning. It looks at Gibson’s original idea of affordance and at some of the difficulties long associated with the use of the word. It goes on to describe the translation of the concept of affordance into the field of design through the work, in particular, of Norman. The concept has since been translated into research concerning ICT and further opportunities and difficulties emerge. The paper locates key points of divergence within the usage of ‘affordance’, as involving direct perception, invariant properties and complementarity. It concludes by arguing that affordance offers a distinctive perspective on the use of ICT in education because of its focus on possibilities for action.     

Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? The effect of online testing on measured student achievement

Nearly two dozen states now administer online exams to deliver testing to K-12 students. These tests have real consequences: their results feed into accountability systems, which have been used for more than a decade to hold schools and districts accountable for their students’ learning. We examine the rollout of computer-based testing in Massachusetts over 2 years to investigate test mode effects. Crucial to the study design is the state administering the same exam (PARCC) in online and offline formats each year during the transitional period. We find an online test penalty of about 0.10 standard deviations in math and 0.25 standard deviations in English language arts (ELA), which partially but not fully fades out in the second year of online testing.     

Teachers Avoiding Learners' Avoidance: Is it Possible?

Dealing with learners who prefer to take the back seat and avoid classroom participation can be every teacher's nightmare. This lack of participation may cause teacher frustration, and possibly the only way to reduce this lack of participation is to access the concept of avoidance strategy. Avoidance strategy is the abandonment of a classroom task by learners due to causes such as the task difficulty, topical knowledge, shyness, anxiety, face-saving, fear of negative evaluation, and peer pressure. This article provides an enhanced understanding of the notion of avoidance strategy, presents factors resulting in avoidance behavior, and offers strategies teachers can employ to reduce student use of avoidance behaviors. Reducing student anxiety, motivating learners, teacher support, group work, and pushing toward production are among the possible paths that may help reduce avoidance strategy use in the classrooms.     

Is experience the best teacher? A multilevel analysis of teacher characteristics and student achievement in low performing schools

The study investigated several teacher characteristics, with a focus on two measures of teaching experience, and their association with second grade student achievement gains in low performing, high poverty schools in a Mid-Atlantic state. Value-added models using three-level hierarchical linear modeling were used to analyze the data from 1,544 students, 154 teachers, and 53 schools. Results indicated that traditional teacher qualification characteristics such as licensing status and educational attainment were not statistically significant in producing student achievement gains. Total years of teaching experience was also not a significant predictor but a more specific measure, years of teaching experience at a particular grade level, was significantly associated with increased student reading achievement. We caution researchers and policymakers when interpreting results from studies that have used only a general measure of teacher experience as effects are possibly underestimated. Policy implications are discussed.

What is behind the decline in student achievement in Australia?

Australian school student achievement in reading and mathematical literacy has fallen in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) collection since 2000. This study finds that these declines were widespread in the student population, affecting both males and females. However, the decline in reading literacy occurred throughout much of the achievement distribution, while the decline in mathematical literacy was more pronounced at the top of the distribution (there were fewer high performing students in 2009 compared with 2003). Declines in both literacy domains were apparent across the entire distribution of schools, however, the falls in school performance were more apparent in private schools than in the government-run school systems in Australia. The declines were not associated with many other characteristics of schools, including many factors that might have been thought to be associated with school performance.     

Examining the Relationship between Teachers’ Self-Efficacy,their Digital Competence,Strategies to Evaluate Information,and use of ICT at School

Research indicates that self-efficacy in teaching is a key issue for carrying out good teaching practice. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy in information and communication technologies (ICT), their strategies to evaluate information, their digital competence, and use of ICT at school. A sample of 332 teachers participated in a survey. The teachers answered self-report questions and responded to a multiple-choice test on digital competence. Structural equation modelling was used to test a hypothesized model of the relationship between self-efficacy in basic ICT, self-efficacy in online collaboration, strategies to evaluate information, digital competence, and the use of ICT. The analysis confirmed that the empirical data supported the hypothesized model. Significant factor loadings and positive relationships between the factors were found. Overall, the factors in the model explained 41% of teachers’ digital competence, 49% of their self-efficacy in online collaborative, and 36% of their use of ICT at school.     

Does attending a deeper learning school promote student motivation,engagement, perseverance,and achievement?

The evolving economic landscape of the 21st century demands graduates who possess deeper learning (DL) competencies such as critical thinking and collaboration skills. Despite their importance, little work has examined the motivational mechanisms through which DL predicts essential academic outcomes. The current study (N = 1,288) used an ethnically diverse sample of students (53% Hispanic) to explore self-efficacy and mastery goal orientation as potential mediators of the relationship between (a) enrollment in a DL school and (b) academic engagement, perseverance, and mathematics achievement. Results showed that students who attended DL schools, compared with students in non-DL schools, reported higher self-efficacy, mastery goal orientation, and academic engagement. Path analyses revealed that attending a DL school was associated with higher academic engagement and self-efficacy. However, enrollment in a DL school was not directly related to mathematics achievement. Overall, results provide evidence that attending a DL school can lead to valuable motivation- and engagement-related benefits.     

Bourdieu, 'Habitus', and Educational Research: Is it all worth the candle?

A recent critique of educational research published by the Office of Standards in Education has declared, largely on the basis of research reported in this journal, that Bourdieu- and particularly the concept of habitus- appears to have little to offer educational research. This proposition is considered in a critical evaluation of the origin of habitus in Bourdieu's work and its ability to fulfil its theoretical functions. It is concluded that there is no serious alternative but for those whose task it is to provide scientific accounts of social processes to engage with the concepts of disciplined thought - including that of Bourdieu.     

The student,the private and the professional role: Students’ social media use

Research has shown that students perceive a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media. The present study explores this divide by focusing on master students’ perception of roles when using social media in a higher education context. A qualitative method has been used, mainly comprising of analyses of home exams and interviews, which were conducted with students enrolled in the master’s course “Social media technologies”. Results support previous research stating that students perceived a distinct divide between educational and private use of social media, and furthermore provide a more detailed understanding of this divide. The results from the study also indicate that there is yet another type of use: social media as a tool for career-building purposes, or what is labeled as professional use. Implications of social media for use in higher education are described through the analysis of three roles as performed by the individual: the student role in educational settings, the professional role for career-building, and the private role.     

Does study abroad affect student academic achievement?

The numbers of UK students choosing to study abroad for a period has increased steadily over the years, with many students citing academic, professional, linguistic and cultural reasons as their key motivations. However, while there is an abundance of literature on the advantage of study abroad (SA) for linguistic learning, there is less known about the academic impact of studying abroad. In addition, because SA is largely a process of self-selection, this makes it difficult to derive unbiased estimates of its impact on academic achievement. Using data on students from a London-based Russell Group university, and categorising SA students as those who participated in credit-seeking SA programmes through Erasmus or bilateral/multilateral agreements with partner universities, this paper uses individual fixed effects to compare the post-SA grades for students who sojourned with their expected grades had they not sojourned, as well as with their non-SA counterparts. The results are quite robust across subgroups and indicate that grades in year 3 are less than expected for the SA group, given their pre-sojourn grades. To tackle the problem of self-selection, outcomes for SA students were compared to the group who applied but did not eventually study abroad, and to the outcomes for students who did not apply.     

If you build it will they come?; Exploring the student perspective of weekly student evaluations of teaching

This exploratory study investigated the students’ use of formative, weekly, online evaluations of teaching through a virtual learning environment. Results were based on in‐depth interviews of seven students at a rural university college in the UK. Students from different genders, education levels and backgrounds volunteered for the study. The students thought it was a good tool and useful for providing anonymous feedback. However, their motivation to fill in the evaluations every week varied throughout the period of study, and the weekly feedback soon became routine and too onerous a task, and thus had a tendency towards being superficially conducted. Students were more inclined to comment on negative issues, rather than critically analyse positive ones. They also tended to be more positive towards conducting the evaluation if the lecturer discussed them and/or made changes to their future lectures.     

‘Should I use it?’ Assessing the value of online supplemental course materials and their influence on student performance

As a result of the ever-growing list of course technologies and software programs, higher education faculty and administration often debate which new tools are most valuable to students. This article investigates whether the use of an online textbook supplemental program (MindTap®) has a positive influence on student performance. The impact of goal achievement orientations is also discussed and factored into the analysis, as it provides insight into the motivations that drive the usage of online supplemental course materials. Results found that usage of MindTap® is positively predicted by a mastery approach goal orientation. More importantly, it was shown that usage of MindTap® positively predicts student performance, above and beyond the impact of age, gender, SAT score and goal achievement orientation.     

Primary mathematics teachers’ goal orientations and student achievement

Primary mathematics teachers’ (N = 521) personal goal orientation and instructional practices were examined based on questionnaire responses. The teachers (grades 2 and 3) were oriented towards mastery goals and mastery approaches to instruction, and reported high teaching efficacy. Strong positive relation between performance orientation and performance instructional practices was established, and correspondingly between mastery orientation and mastery instructional practices. Positive relations between students’ (N = 9,980) basic mathematics performance (measured by paper and pencil tests) and both teacher mastery orientation and teaching efficacy were also found. Results indicate that mastery oriented teaching strategies are crucial for fostering basic mathematical competencies in primary students.     

Are they thinking what we're thinking? College staff and student perceptions of the impact of ethnicity and gender on completion and achievement at a college of further education

This study was carried out with students and staff from a college of further education in south London. The college has a mix of male and female students from a range of ethnic groups, the largest of which is white British. A study undertaken by the college in 2003 indicated that there may be significant differences in achievement and completion rates between genders and between ethnic groups. The college commissioned Kingston University to research into the relationship between gender and ethnicity on student achievement and completion. In this article the qualitative findings from data on the experiences and perceptions of the staff and full‐time students are discussed in the context of the variable completion and achievement rates of the students and results from other studies. The main themes linked to ethnicity, gender, completion and achievement emerging from the analysis indicate broad agreement between students and staff over issues around learning and teaching and written and spoken English; however, their particular perspectives led to their having differing views on the most important factors external to the college and those affecting student motivation.     

What's in a teacher test? Assessing the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student STEM achievement and course-taking

We investigate the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student test achievement and high school course-taking. We focus on three subject/grade combinations—middle school math, ninth-grade algebra and geometry, and ninth-grade biology—and find evidence that a teacher's basic skills test scores are modestly predictive of student achievement in middle school math and highly predictive of student achievement in high school biology. A teacher's subject-specific licensure test scores are a consistent and statistically significant predictor of student achievement only in high school biology. Finally, we find little evidence that students assigned to middle school teachers with higher basic-skills test scores are more likely to take advanced math and science courses in high school.     

ICT use in mathematics lessons and the mathematics achievement of secondary school students by international comparison: Which role do school level factors play?

By means of an international comparison, the research presented in the article aims to identify supporting and hindering school level factors for the use of ICT in secondary school mathematics lessons. The relationship between ICT use and the performance of Grade 9 students in mathematics is examined and further integrated into a multi-level model including school level factors. Against the background of a theoretical allocation (1) the IT equipment of schools, (2) school leadership, (3) aspects of school goals and educational strategies as well as (4) teachers’ attitudes will be analyzed by means of a multi-level regression model as well as a multi-level path model including the mathematics achievement of students as measured in the context of PISA 2012. Representative school and student data from five countries, namely Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Singapore are taken into consideration, as the integration of ICT in teaching and learning is firmly emphasized in these countries (overall 24,579 students in 1263 schools). By modeling the complex structure, school characteristics are examined with respect to their effect on the use of ICT for mathematics teaching. Moreover, the relation between different factors and students’ mathematics achievement will be synchronously assessed in the different educational systems. The results show that characteristics at school level do play a major role in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning and turn out to be relevant across the educational systems. In addition to further in-depth country-specific findings, the results point to cross-national future challenges in the field of using technologies to enhance teaching and learning.