No description available.

The study investigates teachers’ perceptions of their professionalism and how this professionalism is observed by both teachers and school community. The investigation takes place at three Junior Secondary Schools. In composing the research, the researcher adopted a qualitative and quantitative approach based on an interpretive paradigm. The study is concerned with how teachers view themselves as professional people. Since the extent of teachers’ professionalism is always questioned by the school community, teachers’ professionalism is not guaranteed to be easily accepted and recognised. The findings reveal that teachers in general accept the fact that they face an enormous challenge in performing their duties as they are required to act professionally and ethically at all times. SACE, the education “watchdog” has further strengthened the issue by proclaiming legally enforced ethical standards for teachers in South Africa. The study describes how teachers who joined the teaching profession for different reasons conceptualise teacher professionalism differently from each other but also agreeing on other issues. The findings of this study also show how educational policies, teachers’ conditions of service, personal beliefs and relationships between parents, learners and teachers can influence teacher professionalism.

Despite a rising interest in studying the effects and the antecedents of teacher efficacy, a review of literature indicated that an important individual variable has been left out of these studies. This is the cognitive component which Bandura (1977) suggests is central to the process of efficacy formulation. Specifically Bandura (1977) argues that for performance to be instructive for efficacy formulation, a type of cognitive appraisal needs to be present. To date, this cognitive appraisal has not been identified in teacher efficacy studies. The purpose of this thesis is to search for a way to represent this cognitive component and to examine its role in teaching performance and efficacy formulation. Two variables are selected as possible representations of this cognitive component. They are wisdom and wisdom in teaching. The two research questions developed for this study are: (1) What is the relative contribution of wisdom, wisdom in teaching, personal teaching efficacy, and general teaching efficacy to teaching performance? And (2) What is the relative contribution of wisdom, wisdom in teaching, and teaching performance to the formulation of personal teaching efficacy and general teaching efficacy? Eighty-nine final year student teachers were asked to respond to three instruments that measured their level of wisdom, wisdom in teaching, and teacher efficacy. These instruments were: (1) Life planning dilemma "Jack" (Smith & Baltes, 1987), (2) Teaching dilemma "Perimeter" (Arlin, 1987), and (3) The teacher efficacy scale (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). The participants were also asked to submit their teaching practicum marks. This mark represents their teaching performance. Teaching performance was best explained by the combined effects of wisdom in teaching and personal teaching efficacy than by either of them alone. Jointly these two variables accounted for 54% of variance in teaching performance. Wisdom in teaching and teaching performance provided a better explanation for the formulation of personal teaching efficacy than each taken in turn. The joint effects of wisdom, wisdom in teaching, and teaching performance accounted for 7% of variance in the formulation of both personal teaching efficacy and general teaching efficacy. An important finding from this study is that wisdom in teaching has the greatest impact on teaching performance. An implication of this finding is that teacher educators should develop and provide programmes which can help facilitate the growth of wisdom in teaching. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study examined the relationship between teacher efficacy as measured by teachers' responses to the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES) and their students' achievement gains on curriculum-based measures (CBM). The study also examined the relationship between teacher efficacy and years of teach ing experience. A total of sixty-eight second through sixth grade teachers, from a medium-sized elementary school district in central California, completed the OSTES and reported their years of teaching experience. Reading and mathematics scores were obtained for fall and spring CBM administrations for each of the participating teachers' classrooms. The difference between spring and fall CBM reading and mathematics scores constituted the gain scores for each of the 970 students in these teachers · classrooms. These scores were averaged to produce a mean gain score for each classroom. Linear regression analysis using total OSTES scores as well as OSTES subscale scores as predictor variables and CBM reading and mathematics mean gain scores as criterion variables produced non-significant results. Linear regression using 24 individual OSTES scores as predictor variables and CBM reading and mathematics mean gain scores as criterion variables produced one significant finding. Two OSTES items were significantly correlated with participant teachers' years of teaching experience. Findings were discussed in terms of design characteristics of the study and item wording of the OSTES. Recommendations were made for educational administration as well as for future research.

There are a number of factors which contribute to the economic conditions described in the preceding paragraphs. Among these are: much waste land, soil erosion, large numbers of tenant farmers with inadequate diet, lack of scientific method, no modern equipment, low income, lack of pure-bred stock, low purchasing power, uncooperative spirit, fear of venturing out into new areas of activities, unwillingness to give up old ideas and methods. Such a situation as the one described in the preceding pages created a crying need for professional help which has been sought from every available source. A truly effective small school must be standardized around such educational essentials as: (1) a teacher with specialized preparation and willingness to make rural community teaching her permanent occupation, (2) a school plant equipped to provide an education related to rural life and its needs, (3) a course of instruction and methods of teaching in accordance with the needs and nature of agricultural people. / Typescript. / "May, 1949." / "Submitted to the graduate council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts plan II." / Advisor: R. L. Eyman, Directing professor. / Includes bibliographical references.

Public schools are in crisis, as educators and legislators seek to provide high quality education to diverse students in a measurement-driven environment. The public educator's moral imperative is to assure that all children are literate when they leave school so they can thrive in our democracy (Dewey, 1944; Freire, 1998a; Giroux & Giroux, 2004). Yet, the achievement gap persists, as poor African-American and Latino students under-perform as compared to white middle-class students (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). Additionally, public school teachers are predominately middle-class and White, while they teach increasingly diverse children of poverty. In legislation, student assessment, teacher licensure, and research-based curricula have taken center stage. Teacher evaluation is noticeably absent (Danielson, 2002; Iwanicki, 1990; No Child Left Behind Act, 2002). Teacher evaluation is static and mired in politics; it has not historically helped improve school (Peterson, 2000). Investigating teacher evaluation's potential as an overlooked tool to improve teaching for all teachers and students in public school is urgent in this climate. As Stronge and Tucker (2003) asserted, "Without capable, highly qualified teachers in America's classrooms, no educational reform process can possibly succeed" (p. 3). This problem-based learning dissertation addresses a real problem in practice: how to make teacher evaluation meaningful for high-performing teachers. This study explores Wood's (1998) call for a move from traditional to transformative evaluation. Ten high performing teachers field-tested a self-evaluation handbook. They explored study options designed to help them critically reflect on their own teaching, connect with students, reflect, and set new goals. This work shows promise to help teachers and students engage in a more democratic, caring and loving public place we call school. This work is timely. After all, "When all is said and done, what matters most for students' learning are the commitments and capacities of their teachers" (Darling-Hammond, 1997, p. 293).

Federal, state, and local government agencies are promoting merit pay systems that are tied to student achievement. The main problem facing governments, school districts, and educators is that money is hard to come by in the current market and choosing where to spend merit pay monies to receive a maximum rate of return on the investment realized in increased student achievement is difficult to determine. This study did explore the student achievement results of third, fourth, and fifth grade state certified, graduate degreed, and National Board Certified teachers in Brevard and Seminole County Public Schools as compared to those of other teachers within and across these schools. The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness of state certified, graduate degreed, and National Board Certified teachers. For this study teacher effectiveness was defined by their students' Lexile Framework for Reading scores from the 2008-2009 school year. The hypothesis is that the Lexile Framework for Reading data demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference between the learning gains of the students between groups. Overall, the findings indicate that there was a statistically significant difference between the learning gains of the students between groups; however, that change could not be attributed to the factor of teacher category. Specific teacher education levels or certifications did not make any difference in the learning gains as measured by the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), among 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students in Brevard or Seminole County Public Schools.

The Massachusetts Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) has implemented an Educator Evaluation Framework that requires MCAS scores be used as a significant indicator of teacher effectiveness when available. This decision has implications for thousands of Massachusetts public school teachers. To date, DESE has not provided evidence to support the validity of using MCAS scores to make interpretations about teacher effectiveness. A review of the literature reveals much variation in the degree to which teachers use state-adopted content standards to plan instruction. The findings in the literature warrant investigation into teacher practice among Massachusetts public school teachers. The research questions for this study will be: 1.) Are there variations in the degree to which Massachusetts public school teachers use the Curriculum Frameworks to plan Math instruction?; and 2.) Is MCAS as an instrument sensitive enough to reflect variations in teacher practice in the student’s scores? A survey of Massachusetts public school principals and Math teachers, grades three through eight, investigated the research questions. Survey results revealed that Massachusetts teachers use the Curriculum Frameworks to plan instruction to varying degrees. Survey results also suggest a lack of relationship between teacher practice related to the use of the Curriculum Frameworks and student MCAS scores. These findings suggest MCAS scores may not be an appropriate indicator of teacher effectiveness; however, there are limitations to the study that require further investigation into these questions.

Teacher evaluation systems were developed and implemented to increase accountability but also to increase teacher effectiveness. A review of the research and findings of previous teacher evaluation studies demonstrated the need to further examine the feedback in evaluation systems and their role in teacher professional growth. The purpose of the study was to identify the perceptions of teachers and administrators regarding the feedback teachers receive from the teacher evaluation process, how they perceive the impact of feedback on teacher growth, and what professional development has been offered because of the feedback. This descriptive study used qualitative data and quantitative data derived from a modified version of the Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP) survey. The findings from this study indicated that teachers perceive the quality of feedback they received to be lower than administrators perceived the quality of the feedback they gave, specifically in regards to the frequency of the feedback and quality of the information contained in the feedback. In addition, there was a significant difference in the perceptions of the quality of feedback between elementary teachers and administrators and secondary teachers and administrators. Though teachers and administrators both perceived the working relationships as positive, few teachers reported making adjustments to their teaching practices in response to the feedback received. Teachers did not perceive teacher professional growth from adjustments made in their teaching practice in response to the feedback. Teachers also noted few opportunities for professional development suggested in feedback. As suggested by the findings, professional development needs to be specific in regards to providing effective feedback. Finally, teachers, with the help of administrators, need to focus on creating goals and growth plans with specific professional opportunities to help teachers grow professionally and positively impact student outcomes. / Ed. D.

叶菊艳. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 293-309) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Ye Juyan.