The purpose of this study was to compare middle level teachers' perception of their working environment under two different organizational structures: departmental (DEP) and Interdisciplinary Teaming Organization (ITO). In addition within the ITO schools, this study compared the working environment perception of teachers between different schools and between team members and non-team members. ITO is characterized by organizing teams of teachers around a core of subjects and providing them with a block of time, a common planning period, and shared students. Studies suggested that ITO provided circumstances for increased cooperation among teachers and enhanced decision making participation comparing to DEP schools. As a consequence teachers reported more job satisfaction and higher level of efficacy. However, very few studies were found to study these differences at the school level. The sample of this investigation consisted of 78 middle level teachers--Forty-seven teachers from two middle schools with ITO and thirty-one teachers from two DEP junior high schools. Subjects were administered a slightly modified questionnaire, previously used with elementary teachers, consisting of 16 different scales depicting the various aspects of the teachers' working environment. In addition, in order to enhance the analysis of the results other data was collected through open-ended interviews, as well as 2-way Analysis of Variance of teacher background components was conducted. The findings revealed: (1) ITO teachers felt more positive than DEP teachers with regard to the factors: faculty cohesiveness; socialization and recruitment of new teachers; goal-setting; teacher evaluation; instructional coordination; homogeneity and shared values; and instructional rewards. No significant differences were obtained with regard to job satisfaction, efficacy and decision making participation. (2) No significant differences in attitudes were obtained between ITO members and non-members within each ITO school. (3) Teachers in ITO 2 school felt more positive than ITO 1 teachers on only three scales: decision making participation, managing student behavior, and instructional rewards. Results suggest that ITO has a positive impact on the teachers' working environment, however, decision making participation, job satisfaction and efficacy level may be affected more by other factors. Future research should focus on improving the effectiveness of ITO.

The secondary teaching profession in Brazil is compared with the secondary teaching profession in the United States. The role of the secondary teaching profession is influenced by cultural values and beliefs, as well as by social and economic conditions. Similarities and differences in the role and preparation of secondary teachers in Brazil and the United States are identified and related to the historical and cultural contexts in which they have developed. The role of the secondary teaching professions in these two cultures is examined through the analysis of two types of data. Historical trends and cultural processes which have influenced the development of the secondary teaching professions are identified through a comparison of information obtained from the education literature. A second body of data consisted of information about professional status and job satisfaction collected through questionnaires distributed to secondary teachers in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro and Tucson, Arizona. Qualitative as well as quantitative techniques were used to analyze these data, so that cultural values and beliefs could be identified along with statistically significant differences in the teachers' responses. When historical and cultural factors affecting secondary education were examined, five major patterns were identified. These patterns were related to the role of the Catholic church in education, the social function of education, centralization of the educational system, the social and political organizations shaping secondary education, and funding for education. Questionnaire responses indicated that low pay was the most important factor affecting job satisfaction for both Brazilian and American secondary teachers. There were significant differences, however, in the social rankings of education related professions in the two countries. Brazilian teachers ranked the professions of University professor and elementary teachers significantly lower than did the American teachers. American teachers ranked the profession of school principal significantly lower than did the Brazilian teachers. The two groups of teachers shared similar feelings about the effects of factors such as national politics and parental cooperation on their professions.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the effectiveness of two graduate teacher education programs in reading assessment, one group using the Reading Miscue Inventory and the other using one of its simplified forms, the Reading Appraisal Guide. The main question that is answered in this study is whether it is more effective for teachers to be given training in the Reading Miscue Inventory, or is training in the Reading Appraisal Guide sufficient to enable teachers to carry out competent assessments of children's reading ability? In the six months of the study's duration, different types of data were collected. These consisted of assessments of children's taped readings of a story by two groups of teachers before (the pretest) and after (the posttest) their respective training programs; anecdotal records of the teachers' views of the programs and the assessment instruments they were using, and observations of the teachers' reading assessments of children selected by them for their practicum. Quantitative analyses of the pretest and posttest were made; these were based on criteria drawn from the Reading Miscue Inventory manual and the investigator's own miscue analysis of the children's taped readings. They showed that the teachers trained in miscue analysis, as reflected in the Reading Miscue Inventory, were able to make significantly better assessments of children's reading ability than the teachers trained in the Reading Appraisal Guide. In addition to the quantitative analysis, written and oral statements made by the teachers during the pretest, posttest and training programs were subjected to qualitative analysis and comparisons. These indicated that both groups' programs had strengthened the teachers' adherence to the Goodman model of reading, but those trained in the use of the Reading Miscue Inventory developed more effective assessment abilities and were more approving of the instruments they used, than were those trained in the use of the Reading Appraisal Guide. It was concluded that the Reading Miscue Inventory is an appropriate assessment instrument for use in college graduate reading programs. It proved complex and time-consuming to use, but at the same time it enabled teachers to make more accurate, in-depth assessments of children's reading than did the Reading Appraisal Guide. The latter was found to have some serious drawbacks, mostly arising from attempts to make it quicker and easier to use.

Time is the educational resource educators most desire, but which is in shortest supply. Educators cannot add more days to the 12-month calendar year, or minutes to the day. Whatever control is to be had over the calendar and clock rests in the way time is managed by those in the position of decision-maker. This study examined the change in one middle school's schedule, from a traditional seven period to a four period extended block, as it related to teacher perceptions about time for staff development, instructional preparation, and staff collaboration. Additionally, the study examined teacher perceptions regarding student achievement, student contact overload, and school climate as a result of the change in the school schedule. Subjects for the study were drawn from practicing classroom teachers and other licensed personnel employed at the site school. Two research instruments, the School Schedule Questionnaire Survey and School Schedule Interview Survey, were used to gather data. The School Schedule Questionnaire Survey used a Likert Scale, which asked each subject to respond to a series of statements by indicating whether they strongly agreed, agreed, were undecided, disagreed, or strongly disagreed. This study concludes that teacher perceptions about time available for staff development, instructional preparation, and staff collaboration are greatly influenced by their perceptions about the degree to which they control that time, and can make decisions about its use. It also concludes that teacher perceptions about student achievement is difficult to assess without quantitative measures, and that although teachers felt the schedule had a positive impact on student achievement, most were concerned about the lack of objective measures when making such an assessment. And finally, it concluded that class size may not be the determining measure to assess teacher perceptions about student contact overload, that the total number of students a teacher comes into contact with each day has a greater impact on their perception in this area. / Graduation date: 1999

This study investigated factors that influence career choice and development for gay male school teachers. Ten gay educators participated in the investigation. Data collection methods involved two semi-structured personal interviews and one structured telephone interview for a total of 30 sampling units. Data analysis procedures included reviewing audiotapes, reading transcriptions, browsing documents, coding text units, consulting with mentors and peers, comparing coding categories with previous literature and research, and reflecting on emerging relationships among the data. Major findings relate to identity development, social and family attitudes, secrecy and disclosure, and career motivation. All of the participants described experiences of (a) forming a vocational identity as a school teacher and a sexual identity as a gay man, and (b) blending or merging these primary self-concepts through occupational expressions of advocacy and activism, gender role flexibility, or both. The data further indicate that (a) social bias against public education has a negative influence on career maintenance and performance, (b) family respect for school teachers has a positive influence on career choice, and (c) special case strategies help gay men circumvent the negative influence of social bias against them to enter the teaching profession. Most of the participating teachers revealed their primary reliance on "implicitly out" identity management strategies (Griffin, 1992) to alleviate fears of discrimination, public accusation, job loss, and impaired credibility. Additional qualitative evidence suggests that the need for gay self-disclosure varies with the potential for vocational self-expression in the teaching profession. In the course of their teaching careers, all of the participants reported either (a) compensating for some developmental lag or deficit experienced during childhood or adolescence, or (b) partially satisfying their developmental need to father children. Hypothetical associations among these major findings form the trilateral foundation of an emerging theory that more specifically explains factors that influence the career choice and development of gay male school teachers. This three-part framework reflects the interacting influences of identity integration, self-expression, and self-actualization and reciprocal effects of and on the teaching profession. The theory emerging from this investigation has practical applications for counselor and teacher education, as well as for career counseling. / Graduation date: 1999

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge base and instructional practices of two highly qualified experienced secondary mathematics teachers within the context of their classrooms during a unit in a geometry class. Data collected from interviews, classroom observations, pre and post-observation questionnaires, and detailed analyses of several lesson segments were used to create case studies for each teacher, which were compared to reveal any patterns in their instructional practices. The theoretical framework used for this study was Schoenfeld's (1998) model of teaching-in-context that included three factors that affected teachers' decisions during instruction: beliefs, goals, and their knowledge bases. The supporting questions that were investigated in this study dealt with teachers' conceptions of mathematics and teaching and learning mathematics, instructional goals, instructional strategies and curricular materials used during the unit, and any modifications made to instruction. Both teachers in this study used a more traditional lecture and discussion style of instruction that closely followed an explicit model of teaching instead of a more reform-based style of teaching. The teachers incorporated the processes of mathematics such as proof and reasoning and representation into their instruction through modeling instead of incorporating activities into instruction designed to engage students in the processes. Although both teachers were aware of and had used reform-based methods, they perceived that the traditional instructional methods were more efficient and effective. Contextual factors played a dominant role in the decisions the teachers made about their instruction. The contextual factor that had the greatest effect on instruction for these two teachers was the pressure to teach all of the topics in the required curriculum to prepare their students for the state standardized high stakes test. Other contextual factors were large class sizes, limited physical space, and limited access to technology. The results of this study indicated that although the teachers had strong content knowledge and knowledge of both traditional and reform-based pedagogy, they chose a more traditional instructional style and this decision was affected by contextual factors such as high stakes testing, a required curriculum, and the demands of their jobs. / Graduation date: 2006

Not available / text

Not available / text

Not available / text

Not available / text