published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Higher education depends heavily on government funding, yet the tendency in both industrial and developing countries is one towards a decrease in budget allocation for the maintenance or improvement of higher education. At the same time institutions of higher learning are increasingly required to give account of that performance. Higher Education institutions will have to explore avenues of raising revenue other than government funding. Decisions with regard to promotion and salary increases, which form a substantial part of the expenditure on the institutional budget, must therefore be based on justifiable grounds if these institutions are to remain viable. It is for this reason that performance appraisal of academic staff assumes increasing significance. This study addresses the aspect of introducing an individualised performance appraisal system for academic staff. The research is in the format of a literature review of performance appraisal in higher education followed by a questionnaire survey and interviews among academic staff at an institution of higher learning. The questionnaire survey and interviews prove that performance appraisal for academic staff is necessary. According to the interviews there is, however, not substantive support for an individualised performance appraisal system for academic staff. In view of the support for performance appraisal elicited by the questionnaire survey, however, the research recommends that an individualised performance appraisal system be introduced for academic staff on an experimental basis, and that the research goal be subjected to further research in a more extensive manner by taking a bigger sample and employing different research methods. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hedendaagse tendens in hoër onderwys dui op 'n vermindering van finansiële ondersteuning deur die owerheid aan instellings vir hoër onderwys, ten spyte daarvan dat sodanige instellings hoofsaaklik aangewese is op die owerheid vir befondsing vir die handhawing, of selfs verbetering, van hoër onderwys. Terselfdertyd word daar groter verantwoording van instellings vir hoër onderwys vereis. Instellings van hoër onderwys sal ernstige oorweging daaraan moet skenk om ander inkomstebronne as staatsbefondsing te bekom, ten einde die befondsing deur die owerheid aan te vul. Bevordering en salarisverhogings vorm 'n groot deel van die uitgawes op die begroting van die instelling. Besluite in hierdie verband behoort derhalwe geneem te word op gesonde grondslae. Dit is om hierdie rede dat prestasieboordeling van doserende personeel toenemende belangrikheid aanneem. Hierdie navorsmg fokus _ op die instelling van 'n geïndividualiseerde prestasiebeoordelingstelsel vir doserende personeel. Die navorsing is in die formaat van 'n literatuurstudie van prestasiebeoordeling in hoër onderwys, gevolg deur 'n vraelysondersoek en onderhoude met doserende personeel by 'n instelling vir hoër onderwys. Die vraelysondersoek en onderhoude bewys dat prestasiebeoordeling van doserende personeel wel nodig is. Daar is egter, volgens die onderhoude, onvoldoende steun vir 'n geïndividualiseerde stelsel van prestasiebeoordeling vir doserende personeel. In die lig van die ondersteuning vir prestasiebeoordeling soos blyk uit die vraelysondersoek, beveel die navorsing aan die instelling van 'n geïndividualiseerde prestasiebeoordelingstelsel vir doserende personeel op 'n proefbasis, en dat meer intensiewe navorsing ten opsigte van die navorsingsdoelwit gedoen word deur 'n groter steekproef te neem en verskillende navorsingsmetodes te gebruik.

The purpose of this study was to describe the intentions of the designers of the Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) in Texas and the perceptions of teachers regarding its implementation. Information for the study was gathered in two phases using two methodologies. The first was a semi-structured interview with four expert informants instrumental in the design and implementation of the PDAS at the state level. The second component of the study was conducted with teachers using a 37-item Likert survey. The population for this phase of the study was 150 elementary and 150 secondary teachers chosen randomly from three school districts in North Central Texas. The districts were selected to represent a variety of sizes in regard to student population and represent diverse student population characteristics and socioeconomic levels. Data from the semi-structured interviews and the returned surveys were analyzed to determine the designers' intentions and areas of emphasis and to describe the alignment the teachers' perceptions and the designers' intentions. Quantitative data gathered from the surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as a correlation and function analysis and analysis based on a Cronbach alpha coefficient. The analysis of data revealed the following: 1. Teachers perceived that the implementation of the PDAS has a high level of effect in the areas of learner-centered instruction; classroom management; support for all students; the professional growth of teachers; communication; learning application; and, TAAS improvement. 2. Teachers' perceptions were not affected by years of experience. 3. Teachers' perceptions were not affected by their field of instruction. One implication of this study is that the final design represents the intentions of designers, although the area of student achievement is not weighted as heavily in teachers' evaluations as was originally intended. Furthermore, education leaders in Texas may conclude that teachers perceive a high level of impact upon their classroom practices as a result of implementation of the PDAS instrument. If future research reveals that the perceived impact is accurate and that classroom practices of teachers did change as a result of the instrument's implementation to the degree perceived, then this is a model for policy implementation at the state level that is extremely effective. Furthermore, additional researchers may investigate the link between classroom practices and student achievement. This research study is a first step toward describing effective, replicable practices.

How to identify effective teachers who improve student achievement despite diverse student populations and school contexts is an ongoing discussion in public education. The need to show communities and parents how well teachers and schools improve student learning has led districts and states to seek a fair, equitable and valid measure of student growth using student achievement. This study investigated a two stage hierarchical model for estimating teacher effect on student achievement. This measure was entitled a Classroom Effectiveness Index (CEI). Consistency of this model over time, outlier influences in individual CEIs, variance among CEIs across four years, and correlations of second stage student residuals with first stage student residuals were analyzed. The statistical analysis used four years of student residual data from a state-mandated mathematics assessment (n=7086) and a state-mandated reading assessment (n=7572) aggregated by teacher. The study identified the following results. Four years of district grand slopes and grand intercepts were analyzed to show consistent results over time. Repeated measures analyses of grand slopes and intercepts in mathematics were statistically significant at the .01 level. Repeated measures analyses of grand slopes and intercepts in reading were not statistically significant. The analyses indicated consistent results over time for reading but not for mathematics. Data were analyzed to assess outlier effects. Nineteen statistically significant outliers in 15,378 student residuals were identified. However, the impact on individual teachers was extreme in eight of the 19 cases. Further study is indicated. Subsets of teachers in the same assignment at the same school for four consecutive years and for three consecutive years indicated CEIs were stable over time. There were no statistically significant differences in either mathematics or reading. Correlations between Level One student residuals and HLM residuals were statistically significant in reading and in mathematics. This implied that the second stage of the model was consistent for all students. Much is still unknown concerning teacher effect on student achievement, especially when confined to teacher activity within one school year. However, results indicate the utility of using statistical modeling of student achievement within the context of teacher accountability.

A dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education, Technikon Natal, 2000. / A random sample of learners and educators, at a Technikon, was surveyed with regard to the teaching behaviours that most contributed to effective learning. Variables included in the survey were identified by a focus group of educators and learners who negotiated the content of the survey questionnaire over a six-week period. This methodology ensured that learners were able to voice their interests in what should be assessed in a summative learner evaluation of teaching. Educator opinion on what feedback they would be prepared to receive from learners was a necessary touchstone to ensure compliance with legislative and administrative requirements for good practice in performance appraisal. Educators and learners agreed on thirteen of fourteen significant educator behaviours which learners felt contributed to effective learning. These findings suggest that a) learners and educators may not be as dissimilar in their teaching and learning agendas as previously thought and b) that participant meanings regarding teaching and learning practice may playa large role in defining teaching competence. Supervisor: MRS J. PROSSER Department of Education / M

The problem of this study was to develop an analytical and descriptive technique for rating the performances of student teachers. In order to arrive at a solution to this problem, the following sub-problems were to be solved; namely, 1. To develop and validate a set of criteria for describing and rating the performances of student teachers; 2. To develop and validate a descriptive rating scale utilizing those criteria; 3. To develop a technique for using this descriptive rating scale; 4. To establish reliability of the instrument and to demonstrate the ability of the instrument to perform its intended functions.

I examined the relationship between teacher effectiveness as measured by the number of learn units students required to meet an objective and the number of competencies mastered within the categories of teacher repertoires composing the CABAS® rank. Twenty preschool teachers participated in the study. A statistical analysis was used to investigate the degree to which these variables negatively correlated with each other. The results showed that the more competencies teachers mastered, the fewer learn units students required to meet an objective. A second experiment was conducted as an experimental analysis of the correlations found in the descriptive analysis. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to analyze the relationship between the number of competencies teachers mastered and the number of learn units their student required to meet an objective. Four teachers and four teacher assistants participated in the study. The teachers and teacher assistants each taught two sight word objectives for a student with bidirectional naming and a student without bidirectional naming. The results did not show a functional relationship between the number of competencies mastered and a lower LUC (learn unit to criterion). Teachers with more competencies mastered did not present fewer learn units for their students to meet an objective when compared to teacher assistants who had fewer competencies mastered. Possible explanations for a lack of a functional relationship found in Experiment 2 are discussed.

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by Cheung Kwok Lun. / Thesis (M.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Bibliography: leaves 136-141.