Effects of continuing professional development on urban elementary students' knowledge

This study supports the important role teacher training programs can play in increasing physical education knowledge. In this project, teachers were able to increase students' understanding of critical physical activity/fitness knowledge through physical education instruction, without changing the physical education contact time. This link to student needs as well as the school's overall mission is a promising one for students and schools alike.     

Chinese teachers’ approaches to classroom assessment

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - This study employed a quantitative research design to investigate Chinese teachers’ conceptions of classroom assessment and perceived skills. A...     

Managing the Electronic Resources Lifecycle: Creating a Comprehensive Checklist Using Techniques for Electronic Resource Management (TERMS)

One of the core functions of the electronic resources librarian (ERL) consists of managing various stages of the electronic resource lifecycle. In order to do this effectively, it is extremely helpful to have a detailed guide on hand. An e-resources acquisition checklist can assist the librarian in covering all aspects of evaluation, acquisition, renewal, and cancellation of e-resources such as databases, e-books, e-journals, and more. Such a tool can be indispensable, especially for new ERLs attempting to get a grasp on the logistics of electronic resources management. Using the newly created Techniques for Electronic Resource Management, the author details the process by which librarians navigate the e-resources lifecycle.     

A causal analysis relating previous achievement,attitudes, discourse,and intervention to achievement in biology and chemistry

This study described the relationship of 38 variates to achievement in high school biology and chemistry classes. Forty-four teachers prepared audio tape recordings of discussions throughout a nine-month period. Equal-sized groups received treatment consisting of wait time feedback and/or supportive intervention, a form of peer coaching. Other variables were initial measures, which included the variates of class size and previous science grade, pre- and posttest scores on student attitudes and perceptions, and prediscourse and discourse analyses, which included the variates of wait times, actions, and response durations. While previous research has shown that wait time feedback and supportive intervention are effective means of changing teacher behavior, the results of the present study revealed that previous student achievement and the attitudes of students accounted for 70% of the variation in the final examination scores (New York State Regents) on the basis of only the first three weeks of data collection on the variables assessed. Generally, little emphasis on higher-level thinking, wait time, or problem solving was found at the beginning of the school year, and only minimal changes resulted from the application of the treatment variables. Pressures for content coverage and preparation for externally imposed statewide examinations that emphasize memory-level learning augured against the changes that the independent variables were designed to produce.     

Critical moments in negotiating authority: grading,accountability, and teacher education

Understanding teacher educators’ reasoning about critical moments in negotiating authority can inform efforts to foster democratic teacher education practices and prepare future teachers to teach democratically. We know very little, however, about critical moments in negotiating authority, particularly in teacher educators’ practices. The purpose of this study was to examine, using self-study methodology, a teacher educator’s assumptions and perspectives about purposefully and explicitly negotiating authority through grading and accountability processes in an undergraduate teacher education course. From a critical pedagogical lens – concerning the intersection of classroom power relations, democratic citizenship, and student growth – the findings suggest that seeking legitimacy through consensual acceptance, responding to students’ expressed interests, and constructing knowledge through continual questioning present potential frameworks for constructing purposeful pedagogical partnerships consistent with democratic aims in teacher education.     

Negotiating authority through jointly constructing the course curriculum

Understanding how authority is negotiated in teacher education classrooms can inform efforts to foster democratic teacher education practices and prepare future teachers to teach democratically. We know very little, however, about how authority is negotiated in different classroom contexts, particularly in teacher education settings. This qualitative study examined how authority was negotiated in an undergraduate teacher education course in which I – as the teacher of the course – involved students in actively determining the content, method, and assessment of the course through jointly constructing the course curriculum. Using self-study methodology to understand more deeply the problems embedded in my practice as a beginning teacher-educator, I generated themes from the data using the constant comparative method. The findings suggest that deriving legitimacy from mutually recognized sources, working from shared purposes, and confronting students’ deeply rooted familiarity with authoritarian teaching practices present potential frameworks for negotiating authority in teacher education – while illuminating the challenges of teaching democratically in authoritarian contexts. Such insights are important for helping future teachers experience alternatives to conventional teaching while accounting for the complexity of learning to bring democratic values to life in classrooms at all levels.