Construct Validation of the Self-Efficacy Teaching and Knowledge Instrument for Science Teachers-Revised (SETAKIST-R): Lessons Learned

Described herein is the academic lineage and independent validation of the Self-Efficacy Teaching and Knowledge Instrument for Science Teachers-Revised (SETAKIST-R). Data from 334 K-12 science teachers were analyzed using Partial Credit Rasch models. Principal components analysis on the person-item residuals suggest two latent dimensions: Knowledge and Teaching Self-Efficacies. Item-fit statistics were used to select items for each subscale. Person and item separation (reliability) indices were quite low, and we noted disordered response patterns on the person-item maps that revealed problems with item content and/or scaling for both subscales. These issues include the presence of: verbal negatives, ambiguous modifiers, counter-intuitive scaling, and an “undecided/uncertain” option. The SETAKIST-R, in its current form, cannot be recommended as a measure of science teacher self-efficacy.     

Teaching assistants and class teachers: differing perceptions,role confusion and the benefits of skills-based training

Research has shown that teaching assistants (TAs) working in mainstream classrooms with special needs students in Australia are being required to perform quite complex tasks such as curriculum modification and differentiation yet they are not required to have any formal qualifications nor training in these tasks. In the United Kingdom, TAs are not required to have any formal qualifications, while TAs employed in the USA are required to hold a two-year post-secondary degree or have obtained an associate’s or higher degree. Initial research was undertaken in Stage 1 to identify the roles and responsibilities, skills and training needs of TAs working with special needs students in one school in Canberra, Australia. Information was obtained through separate focus group interviews conducted with class teachers and TAs. Stage 2 involved the design and implementation of five skills-based training modules developed to respond to needs identified in Stage 1. In Stage 3, interviews were conducted with the TAs to determine the effect the training had on their skills and their ability to assist both the class teachers and the students whom they support. Results from the study indicate that there exists role confusion as well as a different emphasis and perception by class teachers and TAs of the skills required to perform in the role of a TA. Results also indicated that specifically targeted skills-based training benefited the TAs and the TAs perceived that this benefit flowed through to the class teachers and the students they support.     

Performance Management for Teachers: Headteachers' perspectives

For the first time, the performance of teachers in England and Wales is being directly linked to their pay. This article traces the introduction and implementation of one strand of the UK government's performance-related pay strategy, Performance Management, from the perspective of 12 primary and secondary headteachers of schools located in three different regions of England. The empirical data gathered by the Teachers' Incentive Pay Project team, based at the University of Exeter, suggested while heads may not be against performance-related pay in principle, its practical application is seen as fraught with difficulties. The lack of guidance and clarification regarding funding arrangements, the absence of nationally agreed criteria for judging whether post-Threshold teachers should progress up the upper pay scale, and the potential divisiveness, if it is not effectively implemented, of the scheme in a culture that depends on co-operation and collaboration, meant that heads were anticipating the implementation of the link between pay and performance with some trepidation.     

Levels of use of Interactive Whiteboard technology in the primary mathematics classroom

Despite the availability of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) technology in a large number of Australian primary schools, many teachers focus only on technical issues as opposed to pedagogical engagement in an attempt to incorporate the technology. Previous research suggests that the technology is being used for sophisticated transmission-style teaching as opposed to constructivist approaches. This article presents findings of a project that considered the implementation of IWB technology in three Victorian primary mathematics classrooms (5 to 12 years of age). The study analysed the teaching strategies adopted by three teachers as they embarked on the use of IWB technology as an integral component of mathematical activities with the support of professional development. Teacher use of IWB technology in the primary mathematics classroom was aligned against Beauchamp’s generic transitional framework for viewing the development of teacher use of IWB technology. Through this alignment, a transitional framework emerged which is specific to the introduction of IWB technology in the mathematics classroom.     

RECENTLY PUBLISHED DISSERTATIONS ON COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES

The imminent teacher shortage in the United States has caused educators, policy makers, parents and concerned citizens to focus on teacher preparation not only at the university level, but also at the community college level. As a result, many community colleges are developing teacher education programs and focusing on real life classroom situations for early field experiences. Mentoring, one of the most popular ways of benefiting from the positive influence of a more experienced person, is an approach to preparing teachers for educational occupations.

The main objective of this study was to see if a preservice mentoring program can affect changes in the emotions, attitudes, and anxieties of students about the teaching profession. The participants were 60 education majors (30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group) from a community college. The experimental group had first-hand experiences with 30 master teachers from a local school district. The 30 students in the control group were education majors from the community college who completed a pre- and posttest instrument. Data was collected from results of a pre- and posttest of a teaching attitudinal survey for preservice teachers. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to test for significant differences between the means of the posttests for the control and experimental groups while controlling for the pretests. Results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the two groups with respect to changes in emotions and anxiety. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in attitudinal changes.     

Children's Attitudes toward Females in Sports: Their Relationship with Sex,Grade, and Sports Participation

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to measure grade school children's attitudes toward female involvement in sports and their relationship with participation, sex, and grade level. A Likert-type questionnaire (CATFIS) was administered to 106 girls and 264 boys in grades 3–6 at the beginning of their participation (P) in a YMCA-sponsored sports program. Similarly, 344 girls and 287 boys in grades 3–9 who did not participate (NP) in this sports program were administered the questionnaire in their school classrooms. Five months later the P group and the NP group (only grades 3–6) were retested to investigate whether attitude change occurred. The results of the study indicated that females at all grade and participation levels had significantly more favorable attitudes than the males. At grades 3 and 4 male P and NP were quite similar in their attitudes, as were female P and NP, but at grades 5 and 6 the attitudes of each sex group diverged. Male NP were more positive than male P, while female NP were less positive than female P. The significant three-way interaction between participation, sex, and grade was explained in terms of a psychological contrast effect and sex roles. Overall, the groups became more positive toward female involvement in sports from the time of the pretest to the posttest.     

Trekking back to mainstream for inclusive education,is it there?

This paper explores the ecosystemic management strategies for inclusive schools due to challenges faced by the schools in the mainstream school where learners from the specialised institutions are referred back to mainstream for inclusive education. Ecosystemic perspective on inclusive education, ecological theories and systems theories underpin this paper. The study was done through interviews, field notes and observations of 120 participants comprising the SMTs, educators and parents. The findings indicate that schools face great challenges in managing inclusive schools. A lot has been published on inclusive education, but none of them offers ecosystemic management strategies for the school management to follow. The article concludes by offering ecosystemic management strategies for successful implementation of inclusive education.     

Written expression performance in adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

We examined written expression performance in a sample of adolescents with ADHD and subthreshold ADHD using two different strategies: examining performance on standardized measures of written expression and using other indicators of written expression developed in this study. We examined associations between standardized measures of written expression, cognitive processing measures (working memory, processing speed, language, fine motor ability, and reading efficiency) and behavioral ratings of ADHD by parents and teachers. We also developed a coding scheme for a writing sample to measure productivity and the ratio of self-corrections to errors. The results indicated that written expression performance was most consistently associated with cognitive processing measures and not behavioral ratings of ADHD, based on correlational and simultaneous regression analyses. These results were consistent in the analyses with both the standardized measures and the coding scheme measures of written expression. Findings generally remained robust, regardless of whether participants who met criteria for a learning disability were included or excluded in the analyses. The current results suggest that written expression difficulties in adolescents with ADHD are attributable to processing difficulties that may be associated with ADHD, not to ADHD reported symptoms. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.     

Examining activity-based learning (ABL) practices in public basic schools in the northern region of Ghana

Background: Ghana has been the testing ground for many teaching and learning initiatives over the past 15–20 years. These initiatives, largely funded by donors, have sought to improve learning by introducing and reinforcing valuable teaching skills, materials and approaches, most of them child-friendly, learner-centred and involving activity-based learning (ABL). However, a problem in Ghana, also true of other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is that whereas efforts over the past few decades have improved access to basic education in both pupil enrolment rates and teacher numbers, educational quality as measured by standardised test scores in key subject areas remains rather low.

Purpose: This article reports on an aspect of a DfID (Ghana) – sponsored research project which examined how the quality of teaching and learning in Ghanaian basic schools could be improved through the utilisation of ABL pedagogy. The current article examines three overarching themes relative to ABL pedagogy, namely how participants conceptualise ABL; ways in which ABL practices reveal themselves in classrooms; and challenges of ABL practices in Ghanaian schools.

Sample: Participants (comprising representatives of Colleges of Education, District Directors and frontline Deputy Directors of Education, headteachers and teachers) were drawn using purposive sampling technique from eight schools from within four districts of the northern region of Ghana.

Design and Methods: A case study approach was adopted for the study. Data collection took the form of semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions and observation of ABL practices and lessons in selected schools. Data analysis was undertaken using a ‘processual analytical approach’ with the view to catching realities of ABL practices in the Ghanaian educational setting.

Results: Our analysis reveals that whereas the literature on ABL emphasises multi-tasking and group work as essential ingredients of ABL pedagogy, the respondents conceptualised this as meaning pupils working on the same activity-related tasks at the same time in groups. Similarly, we found that, ideally, ABL practices reveal themselves through classroom practices such as display of pupils’ work in classrooms, organisation of the seating arrangements of pupils in groups, use of teaching and learning materials, formative assessment and activity-oriented lessons among others. However, in almost all the schools and classrooms we visited, these essential ingredients were missing owing to congestion and lack of furniture and logistics.

Conclusions: We conclude against the backdrop of our findings that ABL techniques can be utilised more effectively in Ghanaian schools if its practices are initially promoted in model schools, for lessons to be learned, and then scaled-up as expertise is established in these model schools.     

Inferring teacher epistemological framing from local patterns in teacher noticing

In this work we use research from science education on teacher framing and work from mathematics education on teacher noticing to develop new approaches to modeling teacher cognition. The framing literature proposes a dynamic cognitive model of teaching in which teacher epistemological framing, or moment‐to‐moment understanding of what is going on with respect to knowledge and learning in the classroom, drives much of teacher practice. The teacher noticing literature documents patterns and trends in teachers' attention during instruction. We suggest first that noticing patterns, particularly local noticing patterns, can be leveraged to make inferences about teacher framing that maintain sensitivity to its dynamics but are also more reliable than existing analytic approaches. Second, we suggest that understanding noticing as driven by framing requires researchers to anticipate, allow for, and capitalize on the fact that teachers are capable of multiple, internally consistent variations in noticing at any given time. To illustrate these claims we present an analysis of one high school biology teacher who implemented a new digital recording technology in her classroom. Using the data from that implementation we identify two distinct local patterns in the teacher's noticing and from those patterns infer two different epistemological frames, one that she adopts during lab work and another during class discussions. We also discuss implications of these multiple framings for the study and training of teacher noticing more broadly. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:284–314, 2013