Merit pay: A case study in a California school district

This paper is a report on a study which examined the possibility of instituting a merit pay plan in a small school district in California. The paper is a preliminary investigation aimed at focusing attention on the substantive issues of merit pay and their effect on instructional performance. The first part of this paper summarizes merit pay in business and industry, merit pay in education, merit pay plans in California schools, and characteristics of the district under study. In the second part, practical difficulties in the district under study are described and analyzed. The third part constitutes the enumeration and examination of conditions which are required for the development and implementation of a merit pay plan in the district. Due to the difficulties in accumulating raw data, decisions on methodologies were made during the process of data collection. These methodologies are described throughout the paper.     

Peace education in an urban school district in the United States

The Black-White achievement gap presents perhaps the most important issue in education. Legal actions play a role in the efforts to reduce and eliminate the gap. School finance adequacy litigation offers the most widely used legal strategy to seek fairer outcomes for children. However, the literature is sparse with regard to the impact such litigation has on student outcomes. This article addresses the extent to which adequacy litigation functions as a means of narrowing the achievement gap. It sets forth evidence showing that successful adequacy cases relate positively to African American achievement on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments. However, the results also show that factors normally outside the purview of adequacy litigation, such as the racial composition of the school, also contribute to student outcomes. Therefore, it is argued that adequacy litigation offers a means for reducing the achievement gap, but that it would be more effective if combined with nonmonetary remedies, such as integrating public schools.     

A case study of inclusive school development: a journey of learning

A global recognition of students' rights requires school organizations to recognize, value and provide for diversity. The move towards more inclusive schooling in Queensland, Australia, requires schools to address professional development on two levels: reculturing of the school to reflect inclusive beliefs and values; and enhancement of teacher skills and knowledge to better address the learning needs of all students. The recently developed Index for Inclusion 2000) is one resource that can facilitate the process of professional development and facilitate change in school culture, policy and teaching practice. The process used incorporates a critical friend and peer mentoring model within an action research framework, which together provide benefits for all involved in the professional development process. The journey of learning incorporating the phases of the Index for Inclusion are reported along with discussions for future directions.     

An urban school renewal program: A case analysis

Conclusion One of the most gratifying returns was a chance comment offered by a teacher as we walked across the lawn toward a local fast food restaurant. We were chatting about what he had experienced during the preceding two years. You know, he said, when we began this, I didn't see many hopeful signs, but I think that most of us (teachers) feel now that we work in the best high school in the city. The source may have been biased, and rigorous controls were obviously lacking, but that is the way one teacher perceived the changes. Many gained planning, leadership, problem solving, and other important behavioral and coping skills that contributed in interactively subtle, but nevertheless real ways.Can good things be made to happen in urban schools? The quantified data are equivocal, but we believe that the associations among interventions and perceived changes support cautious optimism.     

Using manipulatives to support an embodied approach to learning trigonometry in a South African school: A case study

ABSTRACT

Multiple Intelligence Theory suggests that individuals perceive knowledge in eight different ways. This article reports on a study that explored the role of manipulatives in the teaching and learning of trigonometric ratios in grade 10. The approach attempts in addressing three domains of the Multiple Intelligence Theory (linguistic/verbal intelligence, logical/mathematical intelligence and spatial intelligence). The foundation of this research was a case study contained in the interpretative paradigm involving five grade 10 mathematics pupils at a high school in South Africa. The data was collected from: (1) activity sheet containing written responses of pupils; (2) observations; and (3) semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed and it was found that the use of manipulatives in teaching and learning mathematics played a positive role in leaners understanding of trigonometric ratios at grade 10 level. In general the findings of this study supported other research findings that confirm that manipulatives were important mediating tools in the development of conceptual and procedural understanding of mathematical concepts. Besides these pedagogical implications the study proved that the manipulatives effectively consolidated the features of Lesh's model.     

Learning from learning logs: A case study of metacognition in the primary school classroom

Structured thinking activities (STAs) are pedagogical tools used to support metacognition in classrooms. Despite their popularity, little is known about how pupils use STAs as platforms to think about and manage their own thinking (i.e. as metacognitive tools). This case study investigated pupils’ use of STAs in relation to metacognition throughout a school year. We focus on two 8-year-old pupils, Amy and Laura, as they completed two specific STAs through weekly class meets and termly achievement logs. Data were triangulated through participant observation, qualitative interviews and analysis of written texts. We found clear differences between Laura's and Amy's written STAs, however observation and interviews revealed that engagement with STAs was similar beyond that suggested by the written evidence alone. Whereas Amy used easily spelt ‘stock’ responses, Laura used ‘bare minimum’ responses to meet teacher expectations. As such, neither Amy nor Laura used STAs as metacognitive tools, however in negotiating STAs, both exhibited strategic regulatory skills indicative of metacognition. Whilst our findings highlight that pupils may still be developing explicit metacognitive knowledge necessary to take full advantage of STAs, we highlight the clear value of persistent approaches to using STAs as tools to support developing metacognition, particularly in association with teacher–pupil interactions.     

Funding at-risk compensatory programs: An urban high school case study

A Texas urban high school with a 98 percent minority student enrollment was selected to conduct a micro-finance analysis on site-based at-risk per pupil costs. A process was developed to define site-based state compensatory education (SCE) and to account for all students receiving direct and indirect state compensatory education services. Program costs data were analyzed to develop a relationship between full-time equivalent (FTE) state categorical program costs and regular education program costs. At-risk student background characteristics were defined using a parent home survey, conducted with a sample of twenty at-risk students and twenty regular education students. The data revealed that 68 percent of the students exhibited one or more of the state-defined at-risk variables; the highest program costs produced the highest achievement: and based on student backgroud characteristics, all of the students, including regular funded students, were at risk.     

城乡中专生学习动机的比较研究

农村中专生在追求成功动机因子上得分显著高于城市中专生。一年级农村中专生在追求成功动机因子上得分显著高于同一年级城市中专生;二年级农村与城市中专生在追求成功动机和回避失败动机因子上得分差异不显著。这提示教育工作者应根据中专生学习动机特点,引导学生合理归因．适时激发其学习兴趣,发掘其学习潜能。     

A learning experience: case study of an integrated resource teacher

This article looks at a year in the life of a special education teacher. The author reflects on her debut as an inclusion specialist in 1996 and gives an in‐depth study of how her training, previous experience and approach to teaching was put to the test in a new educational environment. This piece explores the challenges that resource teachers and other special educators may face in the light of recent policies regarding inclusion. The inclusion specialist is required to be a teacher, manager, liaison, trainer and more, as she/he learns to get the maximum from students and co‐workers in what is often an already strained workplace. Personal narrative is tied to the literature and, through hindsight, the author relates the change that took place as experience was melded with study and reflection. The result is a portrayal of how a change of policy can affect an individual teacher and researcher, as well as a whole school, and provides an uncommon research approach to the field of research into inclusivity.     

Time utilization study of school psychologists in an urban setting

The staff at a medium-sized urban school district cooperated in a time sampling study to determine actual role functioning as recorded by trained observers. The results generally confirm the findings of self-report studies showing 30–40% of psychologists' time spent in assessment. While the generalizability of these data is limited, the major purpose of the study was to demonstrate efficacious methodology and to serve as a heuristic model for further research.     

The affordances of teacher professional learning communities: A case study of a Chinese secondary school

This study investigates the learning experiences and the trajectories of EFL teachers' professional development in Chinese secondary schools under a socio-cultural framework. The findings indicate that social and individual affordances are both essential to individual teachers’ professional development, and to the sustainable growth of the teacher learning community (TLC). The former is prerequisite to the latter, whereas the latter determines the route and pace of development. This paper also demonstrates the usefulness of activity theory in analysing the affordances of TLC, and advocates that all parties involved should understand, identify and create positive affordances for teacher professional development.     

Student perceptions of successful learning support for an international high school programme: a comparative case study in Turkey

Abstract

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students’ voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.     

Patterns of students' and teachers' interactions in learning centres: a case study of three teacher leaders in an elementary school

This study investigated the instructional practices of three teacher leaders employed in a diverse, elementary school in the USA. Through extended observations, it was found that learning centres occupied a central role in the organisation and learning in each of the classrooms. Bernstein's theory of classification and framing was used to analyse the patterns of classroom interactions and identify the skills and values from learning centres. This research critically examined the role centres play in developing academic and social skills in learners, including those learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds and English language learners (ELL). Learning centres were constructed on an expectation that learners made self-initiated decisions, collaborated with peers, and contributed to the development of students' academic, linguistic, and social skills in students of colour, students from lower socio-economic class backgrounds, and ELL.     

Using the PCaRD digital game-based learning model of instruction in the middle school mathematics classroom: A case study

Currently there are few pedagogical models available for mathematics teachers who are interested in digital game-based learning. The Play Curricular-activity Reflection and Discussion (PCaRD) model attempts to address this, but lacks the needed exploratory research on its implementation within formal mathematics classrooms. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, this study examined three middle school teachers’ initial experience using PCaRD, the influence of this experience on their digital game-based learning knowledge, and their perceptions on how teaching with digital games impacts student achievement. The findings showed teachers feel PCaRD is a sound Pedagogical model, but needed more practice using it to fully realize its usefulness. Also teachers felt the need to make adaptions to PCaRD based on the composition of their class, and had difficulty implementing the reflection and discussion phases. Finally, teachers felt their low achieving students benefitted most from the use of digital games. Future directions for research are also discussed.     

Mainstreaming in an urban middle school: Effects of school organization and climate

Mainstreaming in an urban middle school was examined for three years by a participant observer. It was hypothesized that the school's organization and culture would affect mainstreaming. Findings confirmed this hypothesis. Homogeneity of academic classes and the requirement that students fit into academic groups limited access for special education students to classes where they could function academically as the students did in general education. Criteria for selecting students were not delineated; special and general education teachers communicated informally and irregularly about their students' functioning in mainstream classes; and students received little help with their academic mainstream responsibilities. Students from special education were added to regular classes that were already very large and teacher permission was necessary to include a mainstream student in a general education class. Some school factors facilitated mainstreaming. The principal advocated it and supported its implementation. Special education teachers initiated mainstreaming through their social networks in the school. Heterogeneous groups in minor subjects offered classes with a wider range of ability within which special education students could function, and low track homogeneous classes provided environments that were more like special education classes.