Promoting Student Engagement Through Evidence-Based Action Research With Teachers

We present findings from a group-randomized teacher action research intervention to promote academic engagement and achievement among elementary school students. Eighteen teachers from 3 elementary schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Intervention teachers studied evidence-based instructional practices that cultivate academic engagement and conducted an action research project to implement selected practices in their classrooms. Control teachers participated in a self-study group and read about evidence-based practices to promote student engagement. Teachers in the action research group reported using more group-based instruction than self-study teachers. Students with initial low engagement and low reading grades demonstrated greater gains in these outcomes in action research classrooms than self-study classrooms. Implications for teacher development and the promotion of student academic outcomes are discussed.     

Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text in High School Social Studies Classes

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text intervention implemented with 11th-grade students enrolled in U.S. History classes. Using a within-teacher randomized design, the study was conducted in 41 classes (23 treatment classes) with 14 teachers providing the treatment. Students in the treatment condition performed significantly better than students in the typical instruction comparison condition on a measure of content acquisition at posttest (ES = 0.36), as well as 4 (ES =.22) and 12 (ES =.24) weeks following treatment. There were no differences between treatment and comparison groups on measures of social studies reading comprehension or more general reading comprehension.     

教师专业化视野中的小学教师培养

通过教师的专业化提升教师的素质是保证新课程实施成功的关键之一。教师专业化是教师职业能力动态发展的过程,教师教育是教师专业化的起点。教师专业化要突破狭窄的学科专业性,超越教育技术理性主义,从动态性、全面性和人文性来把握。小学教师的专业化应当与中学教师的专业化有别,适合九年义务教育阶段的教师培养可依生源的不同采取多种模式。     

小学数学教师的素质与培养

自身修养、语言表达、课堂组织、实践创新、专业知识以及现代信息技术应用能力,是小学数学教师应有的基本素质;重视现代教育理念的培养、形成正确的数学观、培养数学思想和数学方法、增强运用数学的能力、全面提升管理能力、有效提高信息素养,是数学教师素质培养的良好途径和有效措施.     

小学全科教师及其培养探讨

小学全科教师是能全面理解小学阶段国家所开设的课程目标、价值和内容,并能担任语文、数学、科学等多门学科教学的教师。小学全科教师具有内容上的跨学科特点、能力上的综合性特征和层次上的基础性特性。培养小学全科教师有利于学生全面发展、有利于减轻学生过重的学业负担、有利于跟上世界教育潮流。小学全科教师的培养要注意明确培养目标、设计课程计划和标准、注重培养方法以及重视培养评价。     

阻碍小学教师专业发展的因素研究

阻碍小学教师专业发展的因素更多是来自内在的,包括教师个体没有形成学习的习惯,教师群体没有形成学习型文化;教师凭着经验和惯例教学,缺乏对经验和惯例的深层反思;教师凭着直觉做教学科研,缺乏理论和研究方法的指导;“年轻的老教师”发展动力不足.阻碍小学教师专业发展的外在因素包括教师工作负担重、工作琐碎,校长的科层制领导风格等.建议学校和政府从激励教师内在因素的角度出发来制定政策,鼓励教师发展.     

Developing Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge Through Mentoring Elementary Teachers

Elementary teachers are typically hesitant to teach science. While a limited knowledge of science content is a reason for this, limited science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has emerged as another reason in recent research. This study constitutes two case studies of a professional development program for elementary teachers involving mentoring by a university professor. The mentor took the role of a critical friend in joint planning and teaching of science. The study examines the nature of the mentoring relationship and reports the type of teacher learning that occurred, with a particular focus on the teachers’ development of science PCK.

Beginning Elementary School Teachers and the Effective Teaching of Science

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Factors Affecting Retirement Attitude among Elementary School Teachers

This study investigated the relationships of teacher efficacy, perceived organizational control, and the teacher-student age gap with teachers’ retirement attitudes. Stratified random sampling was adopted to collect survey responses. A total of 498 valid surveys from 33 elementary schools were collected. Correlational analyses revealed significant positive correlations of efficacy for classroom management (teacher efficacy subdomain), efficacy for student engagement (teacher efficacy subdomain), efficacy for instructional strategies (teacher efficacy subdomain), and the teacher-student age gap with three subdomains of teacher retirement attitude. In addition, there were significant positive correlations of efficacy for instructional strategies and perceived organizational control with the cognitive and behavior subdomains of retirement attitude. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that efficacy for classroom management can positively predict the affective and cognitive subdomains of retirement attitude. Perceived organizational control can positively predict retirement attitude and its cognitive and behavior subdomains. Finally, the teacher-student age gap can predict retirement attitude and all its subdomains. Discussion of the results and recommendations for future research are provided.     

Preparing Teachers to Design Instruction for Deep Understanding in Middle School Earth Science

This study compared the efficacy of 3 approaches to professional development in middle school Earth science organized around the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998 Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. 1998. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development..  [Google Scholar]) in a sample of 53 teachers from a large urban district. Teachers were randomly assigned to a control group or to 1 of 3 conditions that varied with respect to the conceptions of ideal curriculum use embedded within. Teachers either designed units of instruction, adopted units developed by expert Earth scientists and Earth science educators, or learned principled ways to adapt expert-designed curricula. Relying on data from surveys and independent ratings of naturally occurring teacher assignments, we used hierarchical linear modeling techniques to analyze the impacts of the professional development on how teachers planned and coordinated instruction. Our results suggest that to realize positive effects on both their planning and coordination of instruction, teachers need access to high-quality curriculum materials and professional development that helps them plan for principled adaptation of those materials.     

论农村小学全科教师职前师德的培育

师德培育是教师队伍建设的灵魂与核心。对农村小学全科教师进行职前师德培育不仅有助于提高他们的诚信履约意识,而且有助于增强其职业胜任力,从而获得职业的尊重。当前,地方高师院校的师德培育有待完善,小学全科师范生的师德素养有待提升。构建多元协同的师德培育体系,开设配套的师德培育课程,凸显培养特色的德育内容,强化实践体验的德育方法,是培育职前农村小学全科教师师德的有效路径。     

Real-World Applications and Instructional Representations Among Prospective Elementary Science Teachers

This paper explores new elementary teachers' instructional representations and how these are related to their science subject matter knowledge. One pair of prospective elementary teachers studied here exhibited a well-integrated, principled, and scientifically accurate understanding of the science they were teaching. The other pair exhibited less scientifically accurate and integrated knowledge. The pair with stronger subject matter knowledge developed instructional representations that were more scientifically and pedagogically appropriate. A perspective on one aspect of pedagogical content knowledge—knowledge of instructional representations—is presented. Real-world applications are hypothesized to play a crucial mediating role for elementary teachers. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for elementary science teacher educators and researchers, including the importance of attending to how prospective teachers apply science knowledge to real-world situations. Parts of this work were presented at the 2000 AERA and NARST meetings.     

论小学教师职前培养中体验的价值

我国小学教师培养过程中存在目标学历化、课程结构理想化和课程内容理性化的问题,其根源在于追求理性的价值倾向分离了理论与实践的关系,忽略了主体在问题中的价值和遗忘了对教育现实的生动体验。针对于此,文章提出体验性课程的设想,从体验实现了教育类课程的融合,实现了师范生知识与技能的整合,实现了教师职业情感的养成等方面论述了体验的价值。     

浅谈中小学教师信息技术培训

中小学教师信息技术培训已成为教师教育的重要内容,也是加快教育信息化步伐的重要举措。但当前培训中存在的理论与实践脱节、操作过于单一、功利色彩严重和培训目标不明确等问题不利于提高中小学教师的信息素质。只有科学把握信息技术培训的若干原则,才能提高培训的绩效。