Different teacher-level effectiveness estimates,different results: inter-model concordance across six generalized value-added models (VAMs)

In this study, researchers compared the concordance of teacher-level effectiveness ratings derived via six common generalized value-added model (VAM) approaches including a (1) student growth percentile (SGP) model, (2) value-added linear regression model (VALRM), (3) value-added hierarchical linear model (VAHLM), (4) simple difference (gain) score model, (5) rubric-based performance level (growth) model, and (6) simple criterion (percent passing) model. The study sample included fourth to sixth grade teachers employed in a large, suburban school district who taught the same sets of students, at the same time, and for whom a consistent set of achievement measures and background variables were available. Findings indicate that ratings significantly and substantively differed depending upon the methodological approach used. Findings, accordingly, bring into question the validity of the inferences based on such estimates, especially when high-stakes decisions are made about teachers as based on estimates measured via different, albeit popular methods across different school districts and states.     

An integrative and holistic engineering education

The several reports and papers of the past decade suggesting paradigm shifts in engineering education are shown to reveal a common theme, to wit: engineering is an integrative process, and thus engineering education, particularly at the baccalaureate level, should be designed toward that end. Suggesting a change in intellectual culture, the roots of contemporary collegiate education in the United States are traced to their origin and attention is given to discussing the current emphasis on reductionism vis-à-vis integration or, said another way, a course-focused education compared to a more holistic approach in which process and knowledge are woven throughout the curriculum. A new construct for systemic change in baccalaureate engineering education is suggested in terms of a taxonomy of intellectual components connected holistically with a core focus on developing human potential, as opposed to the present system in which students are passed serially through course filters.An early version of this work appeared as Engineering education: Innovation through integration,Journal of Engineering Education 82(1): 3–8, 1993.     

Comparing practical knowledge storage of deaf and hearing teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Especially in the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing, teachers' practical knowledge storage is almost never measured. The Survey of Practical Knowledge was used to compare the practical knowledge storage of deaf and hearing teachers of these students. Surveyed were 48 deaf and 115 hearing individuals at the preservice and in-service experience levels. Practical knowledge storage was defined as images, rules of practice, and practical principles. Results indicate that deaf teachers tend to view students as equals but are more likely to emphasize control over classroom behavior than hearing teachers. Hearing teachers tend to stress efforts to engage students in subject matter by providing variety and relating it to life experiences. Given the trend toward high-stakes testing of teachers, further research is encouraged on role differences between deaf and hearing teachers working with students who are deaf or hard of hearing.     

Risk factors for infant maltreatment: a population-based study

CONTEXT: Of the approximately 900,000 children who were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect by US child protective services in 2002, the birth-to-3 age group had the highest rate of victimization (1.6%) and children younger than 1 accounted for the largest percentage of victims (9.6%). OBJECTIVE: To identify perinatal and sociodemographic risk factors associated with maltreatment of infants up to 1 year of age. DESIGN AND SETTING: Observational cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: 189,055 children born in 1996 in Florida. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Infant maltreatment, defined as a verified report of abuse, neglect, or threatened harm that occurred between day 3 of life and 1 year. RESULTS: 1,602 children (.85%) of the 1996 birth cohort had verified instances of maltreatment by age 1. Of 15 perinatal and sociodemographic variables studied, 11 were found to be significantly related to infant maltreatment. Five factors had adjusted relative risks (RR) of two or greater: Mother smoked during pregnancy (RR 2.8); more than two siblings (RR 2.7); Medicaid beneficiary (RR 2.1); unmarried marital status (RR 2.0); low birth weight infant (RR 2.0). Infants who had four of these five risk factors had a maltreatment rate seven times higher than the population average. CONCLUSIONS: Data on nearly all risk factors found to be significantly associated with infant maltreatment are available on the birth certificate. Such information can be incorporated into a population-based risk-assessment tool that could identify subpopulations at highest risk for infant maltreatment. Because resources are limited, these groups should be given priority for enrollment in child abuse prevention programs.     

CONSOLIDATING LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

The article describes an experiential learning programme at the University School of Education, Newcastle upon Tyne, in which teams of postgraduate trainee teachers undertook problem solving placements in local businesses and public services. The evaluation revealed a contrast between high general satisfaction levels and low perceived relevance to teaching. This is analysed and discussed in relation to the perceptions student teachers develop during their training. The vital importance of briefing and debriefing in experiential programmes is emphasised, as an aid to learning when much of value is easily lost.     

The effects on teaching of changes in relative rewards for research and teaching

To the degree that faculty members take into account the relative financial rewards for teaching and research in deciding on the allocation of available time between these two areas, a modification of the reward structure may be expected to produce changes in the amount of time devoted to each. The purpose of this article is to examine with the help of some basic graphic tools of economics the possible results on the quantity of teaching and the quantity of research that may follow from a modification of the reward structure. The possible results are analyzed in terms of displacement, salary, and work effects of the modification.     

Commentary on student interviews

Student interviews provide valuable input into peer evaluation of teaching. Both the University of Georgia and Stanford University have explored ways of using student interviews to tap into student perspectives. The approaches taken by the two schools are compared in this paper. Similarities and differences are identified and discussed. In addition, the aspects of teaching that are best reflected upon by peers versus students are enumerated.Sheri D. Sheppard, an associate professor, has been at Stanford University in the Design Division of Mechanical Engineering since 1986. In addition to teaching both undergraduate and graduate design classes, she does experimental and analytical research on weld fatigue and impact failures, fracture mechanics, and applied finite element analysis. She is also a co-principal investigator with Professor Larry Leifer on a multi-university NSF funded project to critically review undergraduate engineering curricula. Before coming to Stanford, Dr. Sheppard completed her graduate studies at the University of Michigan and held several research and consultancy positions in the automotive industry. Larry Leifer received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, his M.S. in Product Design and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. He studied human information processing and biomedical engineering in laboratories in the U.S. and Europe before joining Stanford's mechanical engineering department faculty in 1976. Currently he is a professor in the design division where he teaches courses in engineering design based on industry-funded projects and distributed design teams. He studies and promotes this pedagogy through leadership in an NSF funded coalition of engineering schools which are revising undergraduate engineering curricula. Relatedly, he has developed the Smart Product Design laboratory and taught its curriculum for 10 years. As founding director of the Stanford Center for Design Research, he does design theoretic studies and objective evaluation of structured design methodology. Seeking to disseminate assistive devices for physically limited individuals, he co-founded the Tolfa Corporation (1989) and Independence Works, Inc. (1992), a product development enterprise that uses the Internet World Wide Web to bridge the technology transfer gap between research laboratories and disabled consumer markets. J. Edward Carryer is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Design Division of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. In addition to teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in mechatronics, he is active in the organization of workshops on Mechatronics Education and the development of both graduate and undergraduate Mechatronics curricula. Before coming to Stanford in 1992, Dr. Carryer held positions in the automotive industry and as a consultant on mechatronic systems, including Chief Engineer at Creative Applications Engineering Inc. There his work involved projects on medical instruments, electronic engine controls and human environmental control systems. Dr. Carryer's graduate work was done at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Stanford University.