This study is the result of testing conducted on seventh grade students to determine the influence of environment on academic achievement.

In a Colorado school district, school personnel and parents were concerned that middle school math proficiency levels were low for 2011-2014 and math teachers were not using manipulatives in their classes to increase math performance. The district's math coordinator did not foresee providing specific professional development (PD) for math manipulative use to address these concerns. Without this PD, math teachers may be ill-quipped to teach math concepts when using manipulatives, which, in turn, could lead to further poor math performance. The purpose of this qualitative bounded collective case study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of PD and perceived self-efficacy regading the implementation of manipulatives. Knowles's andragogy and Piaget's cognitive development theories framed this study. A homogeneous sample of 12 voluntary participants with more than 5 years teaching middle school math, both with and without access to manipulatives, volunteered to participate in this study. Data from observations, interviews, and archival documents were analyzed using comparative and inductive analyses and were analytically coded. Participants reported a need for PD that focused on physical and virtual manipulatives (PM and VM) and a low perceived self-efficacy regarding manipulatives use during math instruction. A blended PD using face-to-face and distance learning formats was designed to increase math teachers' knowledge of and perceived self-efficacy with PM and VM for math instruction. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change by reforming PD opportunities to support teachers' practice and self-efficacy using manipulatives during math instruction, ultimately increasing student performance.

Gaps in middle school students' outcomes such as engagement, achievement, and attendance have been linked to instruction. In addition, the effect of instructional quality might not be the same for male and female students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the relationship between instructional quality, student engagement, achievement, and attendance, with gender as a moderator in middle school. The ecological systems model and Vygotsky's social development theory formed the theoretical framework for this study, as they help understand how the environment, including instructional support, is likely to correlate with student behavior and motivation toward learning. The CLASS Observation Tool and Tripod survey were used to measure instructional quality and engagement for students (N = 160) in 11 middle school math classes from a large southern state. Achievement and attendance data were gathered from teachers and administrators. Two-way MANOVA was used for the independent grouping variable for the classroom score. Two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine 2 main effects of the independent variables of CLASS and Tripod. Multiple regression was used for gender as the moderating variable. Gender did not moderate the association between instructional quality and the 3 outcome variables. Additional research is needed to improve the understanding of instructional quality and the connection between the 3 outcome variables. Implications for positive social change include informing public policy of study results to improve instruction, engagement, achievement and attendance.

The purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of teachers regarding their most recent evaluation experience and to determine whether teachers perceive any significant relationships between attributes of teacher evaluation and its quality and impact on teacher growth. The study also considered whether there are significant differences between elementary and secondary teachers, as well as between classroom and nonclassroom teachers, in their perceptions of evaluation. The suburban school district in this study serves approximately 22,000 students. The subjects included 402 elementary and secondary teachers who were randomly selected from 1,081 permanent teachers. The Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP) instrument was used to measure teachers' perceptions of their most recent evaluation experience. The 44 items on the questionnaire were examined based on the following five categories of evaluation: (a) teacher attributes; (b) evaluator attributes; (c) evaluation procedures; (d) evaluation feedback; and (e) evaluation context. A total of 284 respondents, or 71 percent of the teachers surveyed, returned a completed questionnaire. Data were reported in terms of frequency distributions, means, and standard deviations. Data analysis consisted of correlational analyses and an analysis of variance. The results of this study suggested that teachers judge the quality of their evaluation based on the attributes of the person who evaluates them and the feedback they receive. The quality of evaluation appears to be determined by the following attributes of effective feedback: the merit of the ideas and suggestions contained in the feedback, the depth of information provided, the specificity of information provided, and the amount of information received. Teachers appreciate an evaluator who gives useful suggestions for improvement, has a persuasive rationale for suggestions, and is a credible source of feedback. None of the attributes on the TEP had a significant relationship to the overall impact of evaluation on teacher growth. The results indicated that significant differences exist between elementary and secondary teachers, as well as between classroom and nonclassroom teachers, in their perceptions of evaluation. Recommendations were made for establishing a teacher evaluation system that is supportive of professional growth.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva variationen i hur musiklärare tolkar kunskapskrav i sin bedömning. Fokus ligger på hur de bedömer kraven på tajming i enkla melodier. Mitt mål var att undersöka om bedömningarna var likvärdiga, eller om inte vad som skilde bedömningarna åt. Jag vill bidra med information som kan leda till bättre kunskap om lärares bedömning av elevers musikprestationer i högstadiets årskurs 9. Genom en enkätundersökning gjord i verktyget Survey & Report som tillhandahålls av Karlstads universitet samlade jag in det empiriska materialet. Fyrtiosex informanter besvarade detta. Genom att använda en enkät i stället för intervjuer nådde jag ut till fler musiklärare än vad som annars vore möjligt. Därmed gav resultatet möjlighet till en större variation i tolkningar av kunskapskrav och av bedömningen av en specifik elevprestation. För att urskilja och identifiera de olika sätt som musiklärare uppfattar kunskapskraven på och göra en bedömning har jag valt en fenomenografisk ansats för att analysera resultatet. De summativa bedömningarna av elevexemplet har stor spridning. Studiens resultat visar en variation i hur lärare definierar kraven och bedömde den givna prestationen. Sammanfattningsvis har lärarna subjektiva krav på svårighetsgraden av enkla melodier. Vidare skilde sig tolkningarna av det musikaliska begreppet tajming åt. Den största skillnaden var om lärarna definierar tajming endast som en korrekt rytmisk precision enligt genre, eller om de definierar tajming som en prestation som görs i samspel med andra musiker. / The purpose of this study is to describe the variation in how music teachers interpret knowledge requirements in their assessment. Focus is on how they assess the requirements of timing in simple melodies. My aim was to study if the assessments were equivalent, or if not what differ. I want to contribute with information that can lead to better knowledge about teachers´ assessment of students´ music performance for degrees in junior high school.   I used a questionnaire to collect the empirical material. Forty-six informants answered the questionnaire. By using a questionnaire instead of interviews, I reached out to more music teachers then otherwise would be possible. Thus, the result gained a broader view of the variations in interpretations of the knowledge requirements and in assessments. In order to distinguish and identify the different ways in which music teachers perceive the knowledge requirements and make an assessment, I have chosen a phenomenographic approach to analyses the result.  The summative assessments are widely disseminated. The results of the study show a variation in how the teachers defined the requirements and assessed a given performance. In conclusion, the teachers have subjective requirements about the degree of difficulty of a simple melody. Further, they differ in interpretations of the concept timing. The main difference was if they define timing only as a correct rhythmic precision according to genre, or if they define timing as how the performance fitted in to a concerted action with other musicians.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between career education and the career maturity of eighth-grade students as measured by the Attitude Scale and the Competence Test of the Career Maturity Inventory. A posttest only experimental design was used for the study. The subjects were selected from a population of eighth-grade students in a suburban school district in north central Texas and randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment group had a career education class for forty-five minutes each day for eighteen weeks. The control group selected an additional elective. Multiple t tests were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The hypotheses were grouped into the areas of maturity of career attitudes, maturity of career competencies, sex and career maturity, school and career maturity, and teacher and career maturity.

Mentoring is a common element of new teacher induction aimed at easing beginning teachers' entry into the profession and assisting beginning teacher growth and development. Previous research has shown that mentors are comfortable supporting beginning teachers but are reluctant to provide challenge-activities that will help beginning teachers improve their practice. For optimal growth to occur, mentors should balance support and challenge in their work with beginning teachers. This descriptive study employed multiple cases to examine the relationship of two junior high school mentors with their mentees. The mentors in this study work in a school district with an established and highly supportive mentoring program. Each mentor has received extensive preparation and ongoing support for their mentoring efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine how mentors balanced support and challenge in order to assist their mentees' growth. The relationships of two mentors, working with two beginning teachers each, were examined for elements of support and challenge as well as the ways in which the mentors and mentees positioned each other and were positioned. The mentors in this study strongly favored challenge over support in their interactions with their mentees. Although there were many similarities among the mentoring activities and conversations with the beginning teachers, each mentor had her own mentoring style and adapted their mentoring to meet the needs of the individual beginning teachers with whom she worked. One might expect challenge to be critical or negative, but the challenge found in this study was more nuanced and complex. The nurturing challenge found in this study was paired with support in such a way that the beginning teachers were not overwhelmed by the feedback they received. While the institutional expectations of mentors influenced how they positioned themselves in relation to the mentees, mentors also attempted to position mentees in a position of power within their own classrooms and with respect to their own development as beginning teachers. While at times both mentors and mentees resisted being in the position of dominance, for a majority of the interactions both parties accepted the institutional positions prescribed by the district program.

This study attempts to determine what use should be made of art metal work in the junior high school. It attempts to determine whether art metal work should be offered strictly as art metal, as combinations of art metal and wrought iron, or as combinations of art metal and wood, from the standpoint both of the child and of the ultimate aim of Industrial Arts. The ultimate aim or objective of Industrial Arts is to provide such training as that of general education, which will best equip for efficient membership society. Broadly speaking, all the offerings of the Industrial Arts field contribute in some measure to the attainment of the ultimate objective. It is the purpose of this study (1) to present an analysis of the field of art metal work from the standpoint of the Industrial Arts; (2) to determine the use which should be made of art metal work in the junior high school, as indicated by a group of Demonstration School students; and, (3) to present problems and related information pertaining to art metal work, as indicated by a group of Demonstration School students. After having summarized the problem, conclusions gathered from the investigation will be given in concise form as to the findings thereof.

The purpose of this research study was to predict and explain elementary and secondary preservice teachers' continuance behavioral intentions and pedagogical usage of Twitter, a web based social networking, microblogging platform, to build professional growth and capital. The objective of the research study was to examine preservice teachers' beliefs associated with the specified constructs that formed the latent variables of the hypothesized research model; these latent variables were then measured with their associated indicators or manifest variables, and the relationship between the manifest variables was examined through the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) process. A non-experimental empirical research study was conducted using the survey methodology; purposive, criterion referenced, sampling of elementary and secondary preservice teachers, N=379, was employed using social media platforms and intern listserv at a large Southeastern university. The final sample of N= 250 participants was determined through the process of regression imputation of elementary and secondary preservice teachers' survey responses. The results demonstrated that constructs of the extended Technology Acceptance Model showed significant goodness-of-fit indices and coefficients of determination after analyzing the data from the survey. Implications of this research contribute significantly toward teacher education and training by providing insights into the factors that impact the pedagogical use of Twitter, a web-based social networking and microblogging platform, for building professional capital in preservice teachers.