With increasing emphasis being placed on the selection of highly qualified teachers as mandated by the No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB) of 2001, growing numbers of student populations, and the decreasing numbers of teachers entering the profession, it is evident that the teacher selection process must assume a more scientific path. In order to improve the selection process it is necessary to look at many aspects of this procedure. Specifically, what characteristics do teacher candidates possess that would qualify them for a particular position and, to what degree do the school identifiers play in this process? This is a study of the affects various school characteristics have on the selection process of elementary school teachers in one Virginia school district. Through a literature review conducted on the teacher selection process, a common group of thirty teacher characteristics grouped into four domains have been identified that if associated with teachers, have positive effects on instruction. The four domains that have been identified are Instruction, Personality, Orientation to Students, and Qualifications. A survey was utilized to determine the degree to which school administrators and teachers involved in the interview process place on the identified teacher characteristics and domains. Descriptive factors that reflect the differences in the schools for this study have been identified and an impact challenge index has been developed for each school. Descriptive factors utilized to determine the impact challenge index included minority and special population percentages of students, mobility indexes, and free and reduced price lunch percentages. In addition, data distinctive to each school's accreditation status and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) have been determined. ANOVAs were performed to determine if there were significance between variables presented in this study of challenge impact levels, AYP performance, and position. Results of this study are mixed and revealed only a few significant differences and/or substantive meaningful results between variables. / Ed. D.

This paper is an analysis of the interview questions and practices of seven middle school principals from a large suburban city in southeastern Virginia. Data were collected from actual audio taped teacher interviews conducted by the principals and from a postteacher interview questionnaire sent via E-mail from the researcher to each principal. This qualitative research was undertaken to serve as a benchmark for present practices used in the city and to determine if training in personnel selection is necessary for principals. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics devised by the researcher and her dissertation committee members. Frequencies were used to present quantitative data. While all interview questions were labeled according to both content and category, the mean for interrater reliability was computed for category only and was found to be 0.94 overall, which was deemed acceptable by the researcher. Major study findings indicated that principals do use some components of a structured interview but lack the training to fully utilize this as a selection method. Most principals indicated that they had never received any formal training on conducting either a structured or unstructured interview. Demographic characteristics (i.e., experience as principal, age, race, and gender) showed no differences in types of questions asked or practices used. Interview questions were coded and grouped according to the following six categories: factual knowledge, cognitive ability, role play, problem-solving, synthesis, and professional opinion. Of the 844 questions asked by all principals, 365 (43%) were coded as factual knowledge and almost none required role play or synthesis. There was great variation in the time spent in each interview, ranging from 8 to 40 minutes. Analysis did not show significant differences in the questions asked of those hired compared to those not hired. Results of this study suggest that the school system needs to provide training to principals and evaluate their skills on an on-going basis to be sure that the best employees are being selected by principals. / Ed. D.

Title: The importance of nature as a learning environment by mapping forest clubs and forest kindergartens in the Liberec region from from the point of view of educators. Objective: The aim of my thesis is to map forest kindergartens and forest clubs in the Liberec region. Further, by using semi-structured interviews to obtain specific information about the operation and educational activities of the forest kindergartens and clubs in the district. Results: Literature about pre-school pedagogy, alternative ways of education, forest kindergartens gave us insights into the topic. From semi-structured interviews that I conducted with various teachers of forest kindergartens or clubs in the Liberec region, I received necessary information. The functioning of forest kindergartens and forest clubs is different in many ways. Opening hours of kindergartens are about 7:00 to 17:00. Their approach to children is inspired by Waldorf and Montessori pedagogy. The timetable of the day differs, but the materials they use are similar and come from nature. All respondents mentioned that parents cooperate with them. It was evident that all of them have good relationship to nature and see its positive influence on children. Crucial final information is that the way of education changes from authoritarian to liberal,...

This study examines how four teachers of Swedish perceive the knowledge requirement that says that a student should mainly be able to follow the rules concerning standard written language, how often they teach standard language and to what extent students’ written language affect assessment. The results show that the teachers of Swedish agree that the most important aspect of a text is how it is perceived in its entirety, as well as its flow and how well a reader can understand the text. Some nonstandard expressions are allowed by the teachers, while others are not. The study also shows that the teaching of standard language depends on which school the teachers belong to. In a public school the standard language is taught in isolated situations, while the teachers in a private school do it continuously. However, all informants agree that they do it continuously to some extent when it comes to feedback on student essays. Student perception was also examined and the result shows that there is an inconsistency in how students perceive that standard language is taught. / Den här studien undersöker hur fyra svensklärare uppfattar kunskapskravet som säger att en elev i huvudsak ska kunna följa skriftspråkets normer för språkriktighet, hur ofta de arbetar med språkriktighet och i vilken mån elevers skriftspråk påverkar bedömning. Sammanfattningsvis är informanterna eniga om att det handlar om helhetsbilden, flytet och förståelsen. Vissa normbrott godkänns i elevtexter medan andra är oacceptabla. Resultatet visar att informanternas skoltillhörighet påverkar arbetet med språkriktighet. Medan de kommunalt anställda lärarna undervisar om språkriktighet vid isolerade tillfällen, sker det mer kontinuerligt av de privat anställda lärarna. Däremot finns det viss kontinuitet i språkriktighetsarbetet vad beträffar återkoppling på elevtexter. Även elevåsikter har undersökts och resultatet visar att informanterna är oeniga om hur ofta de undervisas om språkriktighet.

本研究主要在瞭解數位典藏運用於國中生物教學的現況，以國中生物教師與國一學生為研究對象，探討生物教師使用數位典藏網站尋找教學資源的相關經驗，以及應用於生物教學的教學成果，並從這些經驗中分析出目前數位典藏運用於生物教學的現況，提出相關建議以提供生物教師教學上之參考。研究目的包括：瞭解國中自然與生活科技領域生物教師尋找教學資源的方式，使用數位典藏網站蒐集教學資源的經驗以及應用於生物教學的效果與看法，瞭解數位典藏網站應用於國中生物教學時學生的學習效果，綜合生物教學現況，提出改善方法與建議。 本研究採用訪談法與問卷調查法，以數位典藏生物相關網站為主要研究範圍，研究對象以國中生物教師與國一學生為主，針對數位典藏運用於教學的成果，訪談5位國中生物教師，瞭解教師運用網站教學的過程與教學效果，以及選取國一5個班每班30位學生為問卷施測對象。將5位教師的訪談資料綜合分析與歸納，以及學生問卷統計與分析，提出研究結果。 研究結果，本研究分別從「教師訪談」與「學生問卷」兩個面向提出研究結論。於教師訪談面向得出結論為：（一）收集生物教學資源的管道與使用網路蒐集教學資源的動機方面：收集生物教學資源的管道以網路資源、多媒體教學光碟以及報章雜誌為主，使用網路蒐集教學資源的動機在於網路資源豐富與多元、不受時間與空間的限制、使用網路尋找教學資源方便與快速、數位化資料方便教師整理教學資源與製作補充教材。（二）使用數位典藏網站蒐集生物教學資源的優點與困難方面：優點包括網站資料豐富且適合生物教學使用、資料逐年更新與增加以及具權威性且值得參考。其困難點包括適合教學使用的資料不夠豐富、資料不易查找、特殊檔案類型無法下載或下載後無法開啟。（三）數位典藏網站資源運用於生物教學的成果方面：提供學生互動、多媒體的學習方式，使教學活潑有趣；圖片素材豐富，能使學生的注意力集中，配合學習單與作業練習，引導學生做課後延伸學習。（四）數位典藏網站運用於生物教學的現況與困境方面：生物課程時間有限，使用數位典藏網站教學的機率不高；學校上網速度、電腦設備以及教師本身資訊的應用能力，是教師決定是否使用數位典藏網站的原因之一；相關的教學補充資源豐富，容易取得與播放，使用數位典藏網站機率降低。 於學生問卷面向則分別從「數位典藏網站應用於生物教學的看法與學習成果」及「數位典藏網站應用於生物教學的優缺點」兩方面做成結論。（一）數位典藏網站應用於生物教學的看法與學習成果方面：學生對於網站教學方式感到新奇有趣，網站上的圖片與影片能幫助課程內容的理解，網站上的資訊比課本豐富，與老師互動的機會變多，以及課後延伸學習資料豐富。（二）數位典藏網站應用於生物教學的優缺點方面：在優點方面，學生認為上課活潑有趣、圖片生動容易懂以及比課本資料更豐富多元；在缺點方面，包括內容太多、複雜難懂、用網路學習覺得麻煩以及無電腦與網路就無法上課。 根據研究結果，本研究提出之建議包括：（一）建置國中教學專區於數位典藏網站；（二）建議針對數位典藏內容再予加值運用；（三）開放下載使用數位典藏網站資源；（四）建構完善的學校網路環境；（五）增加網路授課時間；（六）提升教師資訊應用能力。 / The study is mainly to understand the situation of digital archives applied to biology teaching at junior high schools; targeting biology teachers at junior high schools and the first year junior high school students to explore related experiences of biology teachers using digital archives website to seek for teaching resources and the teaching outcomes applied to biology teaching, to analyze the situation of digital archives applied to biology teaching from these experiences for the time being, and to propose suggestions to biology teachers in terms of a reference to teaching. The research purposes include : understand the way the biology teachers at junior high schools search for teaching resources in nature and life science fields, their experiences in collecting teaching resources over digital archives website and the effects and viewpoints of applying digital archives to biology teaching, so as to understand the learning effect of digital archives websites on students while applying to biology teaching at junior high schools. The study introduces interview and questionnaire survey and follows a scope of digital archives related websites; targeting biology teachers at junior high schools and the first year junior high school students, with 5 biology teachers at junior high schools interviewed upon the outcomes of digital archives applied to teaching in order to understand the process of website teaching used by teachers and the teaching effect, and with 30 students of the 5 classes of first year student selected as questionnaire respondents, in which the research outcome will be proposed after comprehensive analysis and summary of interview data with 5 teachers, as well as a statistic analysis of student questionnaires. The study is concluded in terms of two perspectives – “teacher interview” and “student questionnaire”, respectively, in which the conclusions made from the perspective of teacher interview are : (1) channels to collect resources for biology teaching and the motives to use the internet to collect teaching resources : channels to collect resources for biology teaching are web, multimedia tutorial CD and newspapers/magazines-based, the motives for using internet to collect teaching resources - abundant and diverse resources online, no time and space limit, convenient and rapid search of teaching resources online, e-data helps teachers consolidate and make supplementary course materials. (2) Advantages and difficulties in using digital archives websites to collect resources for biology teaching : the advantages include rich website data that fit for biology teaching, update and addition of information from year to year make the data authoritative and is worth referencing. The difficulties include insufficient data for teaching, inaccessibility to data, unavailability of special file type download and opening after download. (3) Outcomes of website resources of digital archives applied to biology teaching : provide students an interactive and multimedia learning manner and enable a vivid and interesting teaching; rich picture materials to get students’ attention along with learning sheet and assignment practice to guide students to conduct learning after school. (4) Situation and dilemma of digital archive website applied to biology teaching : a limited biology curriculum has enabled low probability of teaching over digital archive website; the internet speed, PC equipment at schools and teachers’ capability in applying the information, are one of the reasons for teachers to decide whether to use the digital archives website; rich supplementary resources for related teaching, accessibility and playing have reduced a chance of using the digital archives website. The conclusions of student questionnaire were made from the “viewpoints and learning effect of digital archives websites applied to biology teaching” and “advantages/disadvantages of digital archives websites applied to biology teaching” respectively. (1) “viewpoints and learning effect of digital archives websites applied to biology teaching”: a manner of teaching online is new and interesting to students, the images and videos on the web help understand the course contents, the information online is more abundant than that of books, there will be more chance to interact with teachers and rich data for extended learning after school. (2)“advantages/disadvantages of digital archives websites applied to biology teaching”: the class is interesting and cheery to students in terms of advantage aspect, the vivid pictures are easy to understand and are more diverse and abundant than the textbooks; while too much contents, complicated and hard to comprehend, it is bothering to learn over internet and you can’t have class without a PC and internet connection are the disadvantages. The suggestions proposed by the study upon the research outcome include :(1) establish special zone for junior high school teaching on the digital archives websites; (2)add value to the contents of digital archives and make use of it accordingly; (3) availability of download of digital archives website resources ;(4)construct a complete e-environment at schools; (5)extend hours of e-class; (6) foster teachers’ capability in applying the information.

This Diploma Thesis is work dealing with the cooperation between a primary teacher and a school special education teacher within the inclusive education. The Thesis is divided in two parts: the theoretical part and the practical part - the research. The theoretical part is concerned with the current advisory system in the education field in the Czech Republic from the perspective of inclusive education. It is also focused on the relationships and cooperation of the school special education teacher within the school. The practical part is conceived as the qualitative research dealing with the cooperation between the primary teacher and the school special education teacher works. Moreover, there are the advantages and disadvantages of this cooperation mentioned. The research shows that the cooperation between the primary school teacher and the school special education teacher is beneficial as it helps to integrate pupils with the special educational needs into the standard classroom. Key words School special education teacher, inclusive education, elementary school, primary teacher, school counselling centre, cooperation, qualitative research, interview, pupil with special educational needs

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