The primary purpose of this study was to assess the viability of selected subscales of an educational beliefs survey for use in educational planning and decision making. A secondary purpose was to determine if classroom practices of teachers in selected secondary schools were related to their instructional beliefs as measured through self-report instruments. Data collection involved two phases. The Teacher Beliefs Inventory was utilized for gathering data related to instructional beliefs. Demographic data was also gathered in the first phase of data collection. Teachers' instructional practices were assessed in phase two through use of the Instructional Practices Survey. These surveys were administered to secondary school teachers in one public school district in Pima County, Arizona. For each questionnaire, items were separately tabulated. The Teacher Control and Discipline and the Student Participation subscales of the Teacher Beliefs Inventory and the two Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered subscales of the Instructional Practices Survey were further analyzed. The subscales of each instrument were also combined as typologies in order to allow examination of the dimensions as interrelated rather than dichotomous factors. The surveys were analyzed independently and then in relationship to one another. Analysis of variance results indicated significant relationships between belief types and both student-centered (p = .0001) and teacher-centered (p < .0001) practices. Chi-square analysis established a relationship between belief and practice typologies (p = .0003) but did not establish the nature of the relationship. Latent class analysis indicated the data could be explained with a three-class model consisting of two cells which specify high-low relationships between the subscales and one quasi-independence class into which remaining cases would fall. This finding was consistent with positions found in the literature that conditional hierarchies may exist among belief dimensions. The findings support the use of the two subscales of the Teacher Beliefs Inventory which were investigated in this study. Those subscales have been organized and labeled the Instructional Beliefs Survey. The survey has several potential applications for educational planning and decision making. Obtained results can be used in staff development, teacher preservice education, curriculum development and program selection, and instructional supervision.

This descriptive study was undertaken for the purpose of identifying the problems, benefits, and recommendations for improving secondary substitute teaching as perceived by administrators, regular teachers, substitute teachers, and students. Participants in the study included the total populations of administrators, regular teachers, substitute teachers, and students of the four secondary schools in a southwestern school district. The objectives of the study were to identify the perceptions of these groups regarding their views of the problems and benefits associated with substitute teaching and their recommendations for the improvement of substitute teaching in their school district. A two-questionnaire modified Delphi Technique was developed and used to gather the data. The Delphi I questionnaire was open-ended and asked the participants to list five problem areas; five benefits; and five recommendations for improving substitute teaching. Items for the Delphi II questionnaire were developed from the responses gathered on the first questionnaire. The population surveyed consisted of 15 administrators, 293 regular teachers, 93 substitute teachers, and 6,401 students. The participants were asked to respond on a five point Likert-type scale as to the degree of agreement or disagreement with the 27 items identified as problems; the 23 items identified as benefits; and the 25 items identified as recommendations for improvement. The data from the Delphi II questionnaire was analyzed and the means, standard deviations, and modes were determined. An analysis of variance was computed to determine differences among groups. This study is unique in that it is the first study to determine that there are perceived benefits associated with substitute teaching. It is also unique in that it surveys all four groups that are directly involved in the substitute process. The findings of this study validate the previous research in terms of the identified problems and the recommendations suggested. The fact that all groups agreed that there were numerous benefits associated with substitute teaching gives rise to the suggestion that maybe substitute teaching is more than just a babysitting service. It is recommended that, to improve substitute teaching, all four groups must realize that they are both responsible for the existing problems, and the potential solutions as well.

This qualitative case study explored elementary teachers' perceptions of the role of the school librarian and the implementation of flexible scheduling and collaborative planning. Data collected consisted of field notes, audiotaping of formal interviews and planning sessions, weekly plan books, monthly calendars, questionnaires and the collection of student work. During formal data analysis, new questions began to emerge. These three questions then guided the process of data analysis. These questions were: (1) What are teachers' perceptions of the role of the school librarian as indicated through responses and actions? (2) What changes occurred in teachers' perceptions during the school year? and (3) What are teachers' issues and concerns about the implementation of flexible scheduling and collaborative planning? Four roles of the school librarian emerged from data analysis. These were: the resource role of the school librarian; the cooperative role of the school librarian; the transition from a cooperative to a collaborative role; and the collaborative role of the school librarian. In addition, seven categories were developed through the analysis of interviews and questionnaires. One category developed as several teachers expressed their concern in not having a regularly scheduled library time for students to check-out books. A few teachers also indicated the need for students to learn library skills. Within each of the seven categories, several issues also emerged. The findings of the study indicate there were numerous changes during the school year in teachers' perceptions related to the role of the school librarian. There were also ten implications which resulted from the study. One of these implications focused on professional development within schools and school districts. Professional development assists in the role of ownership and as Fullan (1991) states, ownership of something new is tantamount to real change. Through professional development, teachers and librarians can learn about the process of cooperative and collaborative planning together.

The problem of the present study was to determine the relationship between role-preferences of experienced elementary school teachers and their attitudes toward certain behavior problems of children.

The purpose of this study was to explore the variables of content knowledge, individual attitude, and span of time from initial training with regard to implementation of selected teaching practices in the elementary classroom. The sample consisted of thirty-two elementary classroom teachers who teach reading or mathematics in a large suburban school district in the Dallas Metropolitan Area. After completion of the second day's training in an inservice program on teaching strategies, the teachers were given a test to measure content knowledge of and attitude toward the teaching strategies. The test results were used in determining four groups for follow-up classroom observations four weeks and eight weeks after the in-service sessions. Using three-way analysis of variance, the data were analyzed. Results indicated that teachers with high content knowledge of the teaching strategies implemented these strategies to a greater degree than did teachers with low content knowledge. No significant relationship with regard to implementation was found for the variables of attitude or span of time. It can be concluded that teachers who know the content of inservice training are able to and do implement the training in their classrooms. Of equal significance is the conclusion that teachers who do not know the content do not demonstrate teaching skills which duplicate the training concepts. It can also be concluded that training of this type is beneficial to teachers regardless of their attitude, and that teachers who implement training will do so with knowledge of the content not affected by the factor of time. It is suggested that additional studies be conducted using these and other variables and combinations of variables which may have a relationship to the teachers' use of inservice training in the classroom.

Research has demonstrated that academic engagement is an important resource for students, promoting their learning and achievement. Less well documented is the possibility that students' classroom engagement may also be a valuable resource for their teachers, capable of influencing how teachers treat their students over time. The current study sought to examine the relationship between student motivation and teacher behavior to better understand how teachers perceive and respond to their students' classroom motivation and whether these motivational states contain diagnostic information about the types of supports students may need in order to be engaged, enthusiastic learners. The observable manifestations of motivation, engagement and disaffection, may contain valuable information about students' inner experiences that educators can use to optimize their teaching. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the reciprocal effects of student motivation on teachers' provision of support by using a longitudinal design, a more comprehensive assessment of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection, and a person-centered approach to investigate whether potential factors influencing the quality of students' classroom engagement can help inform more targeted intervention efforts. Data from 1018 3rd through 6th grade students and their teachers were used to create two sets of teacher-reported student motivation profiles, namely, a theory-driven and an empirically-derived set of profiles. Using both sets of profiles, the current study failed to provide evidence that student engagement and disaffection profiles influenced changes in the quality of support students' received from their teachers over the school year. The current study also examined whether knowledge of the motivation profile into which a student falls can tell us something meaningful about their unobservable, inner experiences or self-system processes (SSP's) such that we can use their profile to "diagnose" motivational issues stemming from these student inner experiences. Results indicated that, with one exception, students in different profiles did not report differential levels of the three SSP's; rather, if students in a given profile had low levels of one self-system process, they had low levels of all three. Finally, for two of the ten student motivation profiles, (At Risk and Checked-out) students in the high teacher support subgroup and the low teacher support subgroup experienced differential changes in their self-reported engagement from fall to spring such that the students who received the "treatment" (high levels of teacher support) started and ended higher than those who received low levels of teacher support, but also showed steeper declines over the year, because students with low teacher support started low and remained low (but did not lose any more ground) across the year. Discussion focuses on the utility and potential drawbacks of using person-centered approaches to examining student motivation and potential causes for the lack of supported hypotheses. Implications discuss the need for further research and how we can help teachers gain a more nuanced and differential view of their students' motivated actions and emotions in the classroom.

A teacher may say, "I have twenty years of experience," but just what does it mean? This study suggests explanations for the meaning of "Experience," not by looking at the number of years in a classroom, but at what teachers did in those years that could make the teaching experience equivalent to years of personal growth and development. Three Middle Level Science teachers' experiences were observed over two separate units of instruction. Teachers were engaged in conversations before, during and after every observation, such that their talk gave meaning to teaching. The teachers, early in their units, experienced tensions (stresses and anxieties) that affected their planning and implementation of teaching. The study determined that the teachers' learning experiences and personal growth were directly related to how they met the challenge of tensions. One teacher with very little science knowledge met the challenge of tensions in teaching by integrating her new science knowledge with her English and History knowledge and repertoire. She developed new practices that increased her energy and confidence in such a way that became self-sustaining experiences and growth. Two other teachers, despite science backgrounds, were less successful in meeting the challenge of tensions in teaching. Each found that the contents of the selected units required study and preparation, yet the teachers acquired information rather than truly learning the new subject matter. These teachers, in meeting the tensions of teaching, felt their energies wane, which reduced their dedication and effectiveness. As a result, neither teacher experienced personal growth. The negative experiences resulted in each teacher becoming more entrenched in a lecture mode of teaching to escape the tensions that existed. Learning new subject matter can produce tensions leading to experiences which affect teaching and potential for teacher growth. Incremental amounts of growth are possible, but only if a teacher responds positively to and meets the challenge of tensions in teaching, minute by minute, class by class. / Graduation date: 2003

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

This study investigated the attitudes of Grade One teachers in Pietermaritzburg to the training they have received on Outcomes Based Education (OBE). A questionaire was developed by the researcher from documentation used in the training that took the form of various workshop sessions. The study comprised 47 Grade One teachers drawn from 18 primary schools in Pietermaritzburg. This study attempted to determine the following issues: • The attitudes of Grade One teachers to the training they have received • Whether there were any significant differences in the attitudes of Grade One teachers from the various ex-Departments of Education to the training they have received on OBE A five point rating scale namely the Likert Scale was used to determine the attitudes of teachers. A descriptive analysis was initially employed to determine the percentagew:futeachers that strongly agreed, agreed, were uncertain, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statements in the questionaire. The results revealed that the majority of teachers agreed that the training had provided them with an understanding of various aspects of OBE. However, some teachers did state that they were uncertain on certain issues like the Foundation Phase policy document as well as the policy document on assessment, assessment itself and the compilation of portfolios and progress reports to be submittted to relevant persons. The area of resources was also highlighted as being problematic. Teachers disagreed that they were informed on how to use educational resources in accordance with OBE as well as where and how to obtain these resources. A descriptive analysis was also undertaken to determine what percentage of teachers from each eX-department felt about each statement in the questionaire. Results revealed that only teachers from the ex-NED schools strongly agreed with most of the statements, whilst the highest percentage of teachers that were uncertain came from ex-DET schools. A statistical analysis was employed to determine whether significant differences existed in the attitudes ofteachers from the various ex-departments of education. The statistical report revealed that only four statements were significant namely the issue of the OBE assessment policy document, the Foundation Phase policy document, the compilation of Journals and progress records. Recommendations were made for further training in these areas as well as further research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.