Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / The South African government, through the Department of Education is continually seeking means and strategies to improve the quality of education in the country. Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) is one of the systems adopted and implemented in all public schools to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools. IQMS, as outlined in Collective Agreement No 8 of 2003, was informed by the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. IQMS consists of three programmes which need to be in place in order to enhance and monitor performance of the education system. Developmental Appraisal’s purpose is to appraise individual educators in a transparent manner with a view to determining areas of strengths and weaknesses and to draw up programmes for individual development; Performance Measurement’s purpose is to evaluate individual educators for salary and grade progression, affirmation of appointments and rewards and incentives, and Whole School Evaluation’s purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of a school. The research focused on how IQMS is implemented in Mopani District secondary schools, in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Qualitative research methodology was used. Results indicated that some structures and individuals know their roles and responsibilities in IQMS implementation; however, they admit to encountering challenges in implementing it. Educators and structures generally perceive IQMS positively and believe that educator performance may improve if the challenges encountered are addressed by the Department of Education. Recommendations were also advanced on how to make IQMS serve the purpose for which it was intended.

Optimal investment in human capital through effective K-12 schooling is critical for building a productive work force. This investment is particularly important for minority and low income students. My dissertation uses econometric techniques to analyze the effects of different educational programs on the academic achievement of elementary and middle school students in Arizona. The first essay evaluates the effect of Arizona's new English program, the 4-hour ELD block, on the achievement of students. In the 2008-2009 academic year, Arizona law required that English Language Learner (ELL) students to be separated from their native English-speaking peers and interact in the same classroom for 4-hour per day with other ELL students. In this study dynamic panel data methods and regression discontinuity design are employed to analyze the effect of the 4-hour ELD block program on the academic achievement of students. Using data from one school district during the school years 2006 to 2010, this study shows that this new program did not have a notable effect on the state-wide test scores of ELL students. The second essay assesses the long-run and short-run effects of Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program in Arizona. The TIF program is a nationwide performance-based compensation plan that provides incentives to teachers based on the student performance. The TIF program started in Arizona in the 2007-2008 school year and targets high need schools. Using a panel data set from 2006-2007 to 2010-11 school year, the effect of the TIF program on the achievement of students is estimated using the difference-in-difference method. Comparing the short-run and long run effect of this program indicates that the long-run effect is greater than that of the short-run. Finally, by utilizing a rich set of panel data from 2006-2007 to 2010-2011 school years, the third essay studies the raw and value-added achievement gap between first and second-generation students with native students. This study shows that native students outperform both groups of immigrant students in reading and math tests. Within immigrant students, second-generation students outperform first-generation students in reading but not in math, while the achievement growth of the second-generation students has a slower pace.

The purposes of this research study were to determine (a) in-service elementary teachers' familiarity, interest, conceptual knowledge of , and performance on science process skills and (b) how in-service elementary teachers' familiarity with, interest in conceptual knowledge of and performance on science process skills relate to each other. The science process skills include the basic skills [observation, classification, measuring, predicting, inferring, and communication,] and the integrated skills [hypothesizing, experimenting, identifying and controlling variables, formulating models, interpreting data, and graphing]. Twenty-four in-service elementary teachers enrolled in a master of math and science education degree program participated in this study. Participants completed questionnaires on their familiarity and interest in the science process skills, a science processes conceptual knowledge test, and a performance test on science process skills. Results indicate that these teachers were highly familiar with the science process skills, but moderately interested in these skills. Results also indicate that teachers were more interested in learning more about integrated process skills than basic process skills. Teachers possessed very low conceptual knowledge of the science process skills. However, teachers performed well on science process skills performance test. Significant correlations among the four constructs (familiarity, interest, conceptual knowledge and performance) were only significant between familiarity and interest. The implications, discussion and recommendations for future research and instruction on science process skills in teacher education programs have been presented.

This study focused on the relationship between student achievement and teacher evaluation during the first year of implementation of the Marzano Causal Teacher Evaluation model in a large suburban school district in Central Florida. The population included high school level teachers and students. Teacher evaluation and performance data were collected and analyzed for relationships using Spearman Rho and Chi-Square Analysis. Variables reviewed included: (a) Marzano‟s Causal Teacher Evaluation Model iObservation© protocol, (b) categorized teacher years of experience, (c) student growth scores based on a teacher‟s student success on statewide assessments as calculated using VAM or an administered pre- and posttest, (d) school reported teacher demographics on school improvement plans and (e) historical 9th - and 10th -grade student achievement data on FCAT 2.0 Reading and 9 th - grade student achievement data on the Algebra 1 End-ofCourse (EOC) Examinations.

In the last two decades, ignoring the bulk of educational research findings, policymakers shaped educational policy into a standardized testing movement that now dominates education. Now, to comply with No Child Left Behind, teachers and administrators shape curriculum in a way that maximizes student achievement measured by these tests. Recently, business and educational leaders initiated a reform movement to broaden curriculum, narrowed by this inadequate standardized testing movement, so that necessary 21st century learning skills can be practiced through project-based learning. The Federal Government’s enforcement of power over education created the climate that defined the current educational policy that gave birth to the standardized testing movement. In this climate, this reform to boost 21st century learning skills does not gain practical traction that results in changed policy, because it is impossible for standardized testing to assess most of these skills and this type of learning due to the limitations of bubbled-multiple choice questions. Instead of shaping policy to foster these 21st century learning skills, policymakers push another reform, through TAP (The System for Teacher and Student Advancement) and Value-Added Assessment. This reform attempts to improve instruction through teacher merit pay--a device that has failed many times in educational reform history. Unfortunately, most TAP systems use standardized tests as the only student achievement measurement, so almost all student achievement gains involving 21st century learning skills and project-based learning are not officially measured. Efforts to use portfolios and authentic assessment, the measurement tools that should be used to measure these higherlevel skills, are not supported by policymakers, because the lack of standardization requires more trust in the assessment ability of local school districts and communities. Consequently, a massive disconnect exists where standardized testing is being reinvigorated instead of de-emphasized, and this comes with the potential price of many teachers and administrators not embracing 21st century learning skills and project-based learning as much as they could if they were not bound by standardized test results. Ultimately, these two reforms that contradict each other involve larger issues of jurisdictional power over education at federal, state, and local levels, and ideological challenges to teacher job security and teacher representation.

Though attention to academic language is a key component of the Teacher Performance Assessment and the new Common Core Standards, little has been researched regarding how pre-service teachers build academic language knowledge and integrate it into their practice teaching experience. This study focuses on the construction and delivery of academic language knowledge to pre-service teachers in a one year immersion teacher preparation program. It studies the pre-service teachers' use of academic language knowledge in their planning, teaching, and assessment throughout a practicum and clinical experience, as well as their use of academic language knowledge as part of reflective practice. Through analysis of classroom observation notes, interviews, and artifacts, the data show that after receiving instruction on academic language concepts in the areas of content-area terminology and language use, reading, and writing, pre-service teachers consciously integrated an attention to the terminology and language use of their content area into their practicum experience. However, faced with understanding themselves as teachers while navigating their mentor teacher's expectations, learning the curriculum they are teaching, and developing classroom management skills, etc., attention to academic language instruction in reading and writing was limited. Recognition that content-area terminology and language use is key to accessing content, though, influenced reflection on how content knowledge is accessed. This conscious understanding of the role terminology and language use plays in accessing content knowledge opened the door for a deeper reflection on the role academic language plays in the classroom. And, during their post-practicum clinical experience, these pre-service teachers were able to more knowledgeably reflect on how to integrate specific content-area reading and writing instruction into curriculum. These conclusions suggest that an introduction to academic language concepts and practices can reveal "blind spots" that enable pre-service teachers to better address content-area literacy in their future practice. They also suggest that more focus in academic language instruction in teacher education programs could help pre-service teachers more efficiently learn the complexities of their new role.

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Schools maintain a steady rate of violent crimes nationally with more than 1.6 million violent acts occurring towards teachers over a four year period (NCES, 2007). Nearly 35 percent of teachers report that school violence affects their teaching (NCES, 2009). Concurrently, teacher attrition rates are steady across school districts nationwide at nearly twenty percent and cost taxpayers billions of dollars per year. This study explored teacher's perceptions of school violence and its influence on their teaching performance and attitudes towards others. In addition, it investigated whether teacher's perceptions of school violence had an effect on teacher's intentions on attrition. A representative sample of teachers from Southeastern Pennsylvania was selected at random to participate in an on-line self reported survey. Five teachers were then randomly selected for unstructured individual interviews. Results indicated that there is a relationship between perceptions of school violence with teacher's performance, attitudes and thoughts on moving or leaving the profession. Both interpersonal non-physical violence (INPV) and group crime violence (GCV) were positively associated with negative teacher performance as well as negative teacher attitudes. Additionally, interpersonal non-physical violence (INPV) was positively associated with intended teacher attrition as more than half the teachers reported that they might transfer schools due to school violence. / Educational Psychology

This mixed-methods sequential explanatory study explored the causes of teachers' resistance to evaluation reform. Teachers in this study demonstrated both resistant and compliant behaviors in response to a particular evaluation policy, which also started a process for teachers to express concerns over the implementation of a new law governing teachers' careers. This research study utilized quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis, including surveys, interviews, and program documents. The responses, insights, and perspectives of 433 public school teachers provided the primary data in this study. The results indicated that the process by which the government of Peru implemented evaluation procedures negatively affected teachers' motivation toward compliance and thus impaired the success of the reform. This study also revealed that although teachers opposed evaluation, they agreed with the idea of an evaluation policy. Further, when given the opportunity to voice their opinions about evaluation procedures and the inclusion of merit pay plans into the career ladder, teachers cited overriding problems with the organizational structures in which they worked. The nullification of teachers' tenure and rights was the most important cause of teachers' resistance to evaluation-based pay plans; responses did not differ greatly between less and more experienced teachers. Finally, throughout this study it was clear that simply mandating change was not enough to successfully and effectively implement it or to achieve advances in teacher quality and student achievement. / text

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-09-03Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:12:34Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 caramori_pm_me_arafcl.pdf: 594556 bytes, checksum: 9764a7f850023b32f4da2c9f36454227 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A presente pesquisa aborda a temática da educação de indivíduos com deficiência mental severa a partir das estratégias pedagógicas utilizadas por professoras de Educação Especial. Sua realização justifica-se por abordar o processo educacional de uma população, até então, pouco investigada e, também, por unir dois eixos de discussão de maneira inovadora: a Teoria da Modificabilidade Cognitiva Estrutural (MCE) desenvolvida por Reuven Feuerstein – tendo como aspecto principal a Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada (EAM) – e a educação de alunos severamente prejudicados. Sob o enfoque da Teoria de Feuerstein, o professor desenvolve sua função não apenas como transmissor de conhecimento, mas como mediador, interpondo-se entre os estímulos do ambiente e o aluno. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever e analisar de que maneira está sendo implementado o processo educacional de alunos com deficiência mental severa, enfocando as estratégias pedagógicas utilizadas pelas professoras de Educação Especial na cidade de Araraquara. Os procedimentos para sua execução iniciaram-se com a definição dos perfis das professoras, seu mapeamento e a posterior localização das mesmas. Definidos os participantes, a coleta dos dados se deu por meio de três instrumentos: entrevista semiestruturada realizada com as professoras, protocolo de observação e registro em diário de campo. Usou-se a análise qualitativa dos dados, a fim de permitir a extração de maior riqueza de detalhes do cotidiano observado. Dessa forma, os resultados apresentam uma descrição do trabalho das professoras participantes, evidenciando suas opiniões acerca de suas práticas, assim como a identificação das estratégias pedagógicas utilizadas. A partir da vasta gama de informações expostas sobre a atuação dessas educadoras, a conclusão deste estudo identifica algumas... / This research deals the issue of education for individuals with severe mental disabilities from the pedagogical strategies used by teachers of Special Education. Its implementation justified in fact that the educational process deal with a few investigated population, besides combine two strands of thread in an innovative way, as the Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM) developed by Reuven Feuerstein, with its main aspect, the Mediate Learning Experience (MLE), and education of severely impaired students. By the approach of Feuerstein´s theory, the teacher develops his function not only as a transmitter of knowledge, but as facilitators between the stimuli of the environment and the student. The main objective of this research is based on the intention to describe and analyze how it’s being implemented the educational process of students with severe mental disabilities, focusing on the pedagogical strategies used by teachers of Special Education in Araraquara city. The procedures for its implementation began with the establishment of profiles of teachers, their mapping and location. Defined the participants, the data collection was by means of three instruments: semi structured interviews with teachers, protocolo of observation and recorded in a field diary. Data analysis was treated in a qualitative way, as this approach allows the extraction of an immense wealth of detail of the daily observed, requiring the researcher a thorough treatment. The results provide a description of the work of the four participating teachers, demonstrating some of their views about their own practices and to identify the pedagogical strategies user by them. From the wide range of information exposed on the performance of educators, is offered as a conclusion to identify among their actions, some which may be related to the criteria governing the application of mediation... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)