Patterns of compensation of public and private school teachers

General impressions suggest that public school teachers are paid higher salaries than private school teachers. Indeed, the evidence is consistent with this general impression. But why the difference? Do public school teachers have better qualifications? Are private schools better places in which to work, and are they able to pay lower wages for comparable teachers? Do public and private schools even operate in the same market for teaching personnel? Are those individuals who seek employment in the private school sector from the same population as those seeking public school employment? What part does the ownership structure of the school play in the determination of teacher compensation? It is the purpose of this paper to provide some insights into these and related questions about the patterns of variation in compensation of public and private school teachers. Our findings reveal that public school teachers earn more than teachers in non-public schools. Teachers in parochial schools are the lowest paid, while teachers in non-sectarian private schools are the highest paid among non-public school teachers. There appear to be structural differences in the patterns of wage variation between the different sectors. Public school teachers possess greater quantities of those characteristics that are valued in the market than non-public school teachers. Non-public school teachers sacrifice between 10 and 40% of the public school teacher salary to work in the non-public sector (depending on the type of school within the non-public sector) and they are aware of their sacrifice. Organizational and ownership structure of the school also appears to make a difference in salaries, with profit-making schools being among the lowest paying, second only to parochial schools.     

Information Handling Skills, Cognition and New Technologies

Few would dispute the efficacy of multimedia technology and the world wide web in promoting declarative knowledge or the acquisition of facts. It is the argument of this paper however that, apart from assisting a learner in "knowing that", these technologies are underestimated in their capacity to facilitate intellectual skills—procedural knowledge or "knowing how". Via examples from children employing information handling skills with a CD-ROM, this paper attempts to illustrate the ways in which new technologies support and enhance a range of skills associated with deep level processing and meaningful learning such as metacognition, problem solving and critical thinking.     

Exploring weighted student formulas as a policy for improving equity for distributing resources to schools: A case study of two California school districts

This paper presents a case study of two California school districts, San Francisco and Oakland, each of which have implemented their own versions of what is popularly known as a weighted student formula (WSF). One primary goal of the WSF policy is to increase the equity with which resources are distributed to schools. With respect to equity, the findings suggest that for particular schooling levels per-pupil spending became more responsive to student poverty and that the increase in responsiveness appears to have coincided with implementation of the WSF in the two districts. Moreover, each district relies on a different mechanism for driving resources to the schools: San Francisco relying to a greater degree on the unrestricted funds, while Oakland relies more heavily on restricted sources which, as directed by law, drive dollars to special need populations. Interestingly, neither district exhibited any significant change in the distribution of teacher experience after implementation of their SBF models; schools serving the highest proportion of students from low-income families continued to employ teachers with the least experience after implementation of the SBF models. While an additional goal of WSF was to drive more resources down to the school level to be spent, our analysis found little substantial change in the proportion of resources expended at the school versus the district level.     

Citations of ETR&D and related journals, 1990–2004

Scientific communication in the field of educational technology was examined by analyzing references from and citations to articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) for the period 1990–2004 with particular emphasis on other journals found in the citation record. Data were collected on the 369 core articles found in the 60 issues published during that time period, their reference lists (containing over 14,805 individual items), and citations of those articles in other journals (1,896 entries). The top cited and citing journals during that time period are listed. Nine symbiotic journals (i.e. those that are most cited by ETR&D and frequently cite it) were identified: Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Instructional Science, Journal of Computer-Based Instruction (no longer published), Journal of Educational Computing Research, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and the Review of Educational Research. The results provide an in-depth, quantitative view of informal connections within the field via the citation record. Implications for further research and the potential influence of new technologies on scientific communication are also discussed.     

Keeping dissection alive for medical students

Traditional dissection teaching is being reduced in a number of medical schools, particularly in the United Kingdom. In response to this, 12 medical students from Warwick University, UK, traveled to the Island of Grenada for an intensive extracurricular dissection course at St. George's University. This course not only benefited the host university through the creation of prosections for teaching but also allowed the participants to completely immerse themselves in anatomical study, by developing their dissection skills and consolidating anatomical knowledge. We believe that similar courses could be easily implemented by other medical schools, thereby allowing future students to keep traditional dissection alive. Anat Sci Educ 2: 302–303, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Multi-informant assessment of treatment integrity in the classroom

Assessing the degree to which interventions are implemented in school settings is critical to making decisions about student outcomes. School psychologists may not be available to regularly conduct observations of intervention implementation, however, their data may be used alongside other methods for multi-informant assessment. Teacher self-report is a commonly used and feasible assessment method. Students have been trained to implement interventions with their peers in instances where traditional adult interventionists were unavailable. This exploratory study investigated the accuracy with which classroom teachers and middle and high school students assessed implementation of the Good Behavior Game and the impact of performance feedback on their accuracy. Results indicated that most students and teachers were able to provide accurate assessments of treatment integrity compared to researcher direct observation; however, some required performance feedback to do so. These findings suggest that multi-informant assessment may be a feasible and accurate way for school psychologists to collect formative treatment-integrity data in the classroom. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Modern foreign language education for learners with additional support needs in Scotland

The face of Modern Foreign Language education (MFL) in Scotland is changing. A major policy shift in Scottish education in 2012 set out the aspiration that all students up to the end of third level education in Scottish schools would have the opportunity to learn not one but two languages, in addition to their mother tongue. Over the last 20 years, there has been, concurrently, an undertaking by the Scottish government, in a series of policy documents, committing to provision that will ensure that students with additional support needs (ASN) receive equality of access to a broad and balanced education. This paper draws upon policy documents and published research in the area to review the extent to which the vision of language learning of all has been made available to students with ASN and the documented benefits associated with MFL education for those with ASN. Drawing upon case studies of inclusive MFL pedagogies, it identifies successful strategies that can be deployed by teachers. It then considers some of the mechanisms by which the current gaps in provision have arisen and proposes possible remedial steps, drawing on both an analysis of policy and case studies of effective practice.