The Prestige of the High School as Viewed by Parents

Rather than being an inherent attribute of the school, prestige is conceived as attribute conferred upon the school by the public. The present research sought to explore the factors that contribute to the prestige of high schools, in the view of parents. Data were obtained from 465 parents of 9th and 11th graders attending 18 state‐secular junior and senior high schools. Educational attainment was found to be the prime correlate of school prestige, followed by—in descending order—the quality of teachers, students, parents, school policies, climate, management, and physical facilities. Although factors intrinsic to education proper were found to be the prime source of attribution of prestige to schools, certain parents subgroups were identified for whom prestige was related primarily to extrinsic features. A ‘halo effect’ was indicated demonstrating the reliance of prestige attribution on stereotyped perception. The findings of this pilot study are discussed and suggestions for further research are outlined.     

Use of the Digital Camera to Increase Student Interest and Learning in High School Biology

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Technology can be thought of in two ways: as a set of tools that amplify or extend what we currently do (make it better, faster, stronger), or as...     

Scaling Up Innovative Technology-Based Mathematics

We report on the initial attempts at evaluating at scale a particular technological/curricular innovation that enables more students to develop deeper knowledge. The methods, issues, and findings of the current pilot experiment speak not only to the success of SimCalc MathWorlds, the focus of our research program, but also to the evaluation at scale of a broad class of representationally innovative technologies and to the merit of long-term investment in design-based research. In particular, we present conditions and findings from a completed pilot experiment involving 21 seventh-grade mathematics teachers from Texas. Pilot outcomes suggest that (a) innovative representational technologies can have an important impact on student learning, (b) considerable impact can be found across a wide range of teachers and conditions, and (c) these gains can be detected even in the absence of other desirable conditions. In particular, detection of student gains does not, in our case, depend on having a long-term context of learning, long-term teacher professional development, or a shift to learner-centered constructivist pedagogy. The full experiment will replicate and extend our experimental design with a wider range of teachers and schools, model the factors that contribute to classroom success with such technology, and explore what happens as research support fades away.     

Teacher’s perceptions of their significance towards their students: the effects of cultural background, gender, and school role

The present study investigates in what ways teachers themselves see their significance vis-à-vis their students. Seven hundred fifty-seven teachers (64% females and 36% males) from 59 Israeli schools participated in the study. We found that in general, teachers view “significant teachers” as those that help and assist their students and those that serve as a personal example for them. Some effects of teacher’s cultural background, gender, and school roles on their perceptions are reported. Teacher burnout was negatively correlated with the positive characteristics attributed to significant teachers. Implications for teachers and for educational institutions are discussed.     

Conceptual Understanding of Definite Integral with GeoGebra

This study aimed to determine the effect of a computer-assisted instruction method using GeoGebra on achievement of prospective secondary mathematics teachers in the definite integral topic and to determine their opinions about this method. The study group consisted of 35 prospective secondary mathematics teachers studying in the mathematics education program at a state university in Turkey. The study was carried out using an embedded design, and the Definite Integral Knowledge Test and an opinion form were used for data collection. Upon analyzing the data, the computer-assisted instruction method using GeoGebra was found to positively contribute to the success of teaching the definite integral topic. Prospective teachers stated that this method should be used in math courses as it creates a fun and interesting environment with dynamic learning elements, provides visualization and opportunities to learn mathematics through practice and exercises, enables thorough understanding and explication of skills, and makes way for conceptual learning instead of memorizing. Furthermore, this study was found to facilitate conceptual learning of the relationship between the lower sum, upper sum and Riemann sum.     

Counseling Students on the Move: The Effects of Culture of Origin and Permanence of Relocation Among International College Students

This study reports on the differential effects of cultural background and permanence of relocation on the expectations of counseling, the kinds of support sought when approaching a counselor, and the acculturation attitudes among 219 international students from English‐speaking countries and the former Soviet Union attending an Israeli university. Implications for counseling international students are discussed.     

Assimilation attitudes predict lower immigration-related self-efficacy among Israeli immigrant teachers

This study focuses on self-efficacy among teachers working in culturally diverse educational contexts. We put forward the notion of immigration-related self-efficacy and provide initial support for its relationship with the acculturation attitudes held by immigrant teachers. One hundred thirty-three teachers who immigrated to Israel from the Former Soviet Union participated in this study. We found that teachers tend to report high levels of self-efficacy in all the investigated aspects. According to our predictions, immigrant teachers endorsing more assimilative approaches report lower levels of self-efficacy vis-à-vis their immigrant students. Our results can contribute to a critical discussion on the place and roles of immigrant teachers in schools.     

“Spanish as a foreign language” teachers’ profiles: inclusive beliefs, teachers’ perceptions of student outcomes in the TCLA program, burnout, and experience

The present study focuses on the Temporary Classroom of Linguistic Adaptation program (TCLA program) in which specialist teachers (Spanish as a foreign language teachers—SFL teachers) teach Spanish to immigrants who are not proficient in the language. We suggest that support for immigrant students in Spanish schools should adopt a new inclusive educational approach. The present investigation is a preliminary attempt at characterizing the profiles of SFL teachers by assessing, simultaneously, five relevant variables (through cluster analysis): inclusive beliefs, teachers’ perceptions of student outcomes in TCLA program, general burnout, diversity-related teacher burnout, and years of teaching experience. Eighty-one SFL teachers from 132 schools in Spain (EU) were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire. Cluster analysis found two clearly differentiated groups: the larger one, Innovative SFL Teachers and the smaller, Traditional SFL Teachers. The Traditional SFL Teachers are characterized by more years of experience, lower inclusive beliefs scores, lower teachers’ perception of student outcomes in the TCLA program scores, and higher burnout scores as compared with the Innovative SFL Teachers. Moreover, Traditional SFL Teachers conceptualize their teaching role as a "teacher of Spanish" whereas Innovative SFL Teachers see themselves much more as playing a supportive role.