Leadership Perception

Multirater feedback, often called 360‐degree feedback, is a popular development and assessment tool, especially for organizational leaders. Raters from different organizational levels, including subordinates, boss, peers, and self, rate the leader's performance. However, there seldom is strong agreement across rater groups. This study used the data from a commercially available 360‐degree leader development feedback instrument and a second‐order confirmatory factor analysis model to try to explain the differences in ratings between the groups. Rather than an explanation of the differences, what was found were two second‐order factors that may be the underlying elements that all raters consider when observing leader performance.     

Grass roots: Using satellite technology for educational program delivery: The Iowa experience

Abstract

Flexibility in location, scheduling, and delivery of courses and programs through distance education can provide disabled students with what may be their first real access to higher education. Distance educators must stay abreast of developments (particularly technological developments) that will improve future services; in this way, they can take a proactive stance in providing and delivering courses, instruction, and testing in accessible formats. This article states a philosophy for serving disabled learners and describes practical applications of that philosophy for distance education programs based on the experiences of the Independent Study program at the University of Wisconsin‐Extension. Issues addressed include information dissemination, planning, instruction, testing, and faculty training and support.     

The effectiveness and retention of teachers with prior career experience

As schools and districts seek to recruit teachers, individuals in non-teaching professions are an appealing possible pool. These potential teachers come with work experience and may have expertise that would serve them well in the classroom. While there has been substantial rhetoric assailing the virtues of teachers with prior professional experience, no research that we know of has assessed the effectiveness of these teachers in terms of student learning. This study uses data from New York City to assess the relative effectiveness and retention of career-switchers. It provides some evidence that these teachers are no more effective than other new teachers, and, in fact, they appear to be less effective at raising math scores of elementary and middle school students. There is little difference in overall transfer or leave rates between teachers with prior experience and other teachers, although career-switchers from college recommended programs do appear more likely to transfer schools.     

Validity Evidence Supporting Use of Anchoring Vignettes to Measure Teaching Practice

High-quality measures of instructional practice are essential for research and evaluation of innovative instructional policies and programs. However, existing measures have generally proven inadequate because of cost and validity issues. This paper addresses two potential drawbacks of survey self-report measures: variation in teachers’ interpretation of response scales and their interpretation of survey questions. To address these drawbacks, researchers tested out use of “anchoring vignettes“ in teacher surveys to capture information about teaching practice, and they gathered validity evidence in regard to their use as a tool for adjusting teachers’ survey self-reports about their instructional practices for research purposes, or potentially to inform professional development. Data from 65 teachers in grades 4-9 responding to our survey suggested that vignette adjustments were reliable and valid for some instructional practices more than others. For some instructional practices, researchers found significant and high correlations between teachers’ adjusted survey self-rating, through use of anchoring vignettes, and previous observation ratings of teachers’ instruction, including ratings from several widely-used observation rubrics. These results suggest that anchoring vignettes may provide an efficient, cost-effective method for gathering data on teachers’ instruction.     

Teachers and the Very Able: case studies of four Scottish schools

High ability in children is a contentious issue in the Scottish educational system, which promotes equity through equality of opportunity in a non‐selective system. The aim of this research was to establish an understanding of the extent of available provision for very able children in a limited number of schools, and to chart teachers’ perceptions of high ability. Four Scottish schools were studied: one comprehensive high school and three primary schools, involving 17 teachers (primary principal and head teachers), one learning support teacher and three educational psychologists. Semi‐structured interviews, supported by open‐ended questionnaires, were the means of data collection. The data were submitted to a straightforward and qualitative content analysis. Results show tentatively that recognition of high ability is generally scarce in Scotland, that highly able pupils are often subjected to several decategorisations and that there is no consensus amongst teachers of how to understand high ability. A subgroup of able pupils was identified also, termed fast finishers’ by the participants.