While No Child Left Behind ushered in the age of the "highly qualified" teacher, accountability focus has been shifted to the "highly effective" teacher, defined as teacher impact on student achievement. The Science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is used to judge the adequate yearly progress of students in Texas public schools. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of teacher factors (i.e., ethnicity, gender, teaching experience, university selectivity, certification route, National Center for Education Statistics Locale/Code, number of science content and pedagogical course semester credit hours, grade point average for science content and pedagogical coursework) on student achievement using the eighth grade Science TAKS. The primary dependent variables were students' five objective scores and their overall scores on the eighth grade Science TAKS examination. The sample was 44 eighth grade science teachers and 4,119 students in Texas public schools. Multiple linear regression models enabled examinations of the relationships between teacher quality variables and student achievement. No significant relationships between the variables were found. Small effect sizes for the beta weights and structure coefficients occurred between teachers' science credit hours and TAKS objectives to explain 20% of the variance for TAKS Living Systems and the Environment, 39% of the variance for TAKS Structures and Properties of Matter, and 21% of the variance for TAKS Earth and Space Systems. Teacher experience accounted for 24% of the variance with TAKS Structures and Properties of Matter, and pedagogical credit hours explained 30% of the variance with TAKS Motion, Forces, and Energy. Science GPA explained 31% of the variance for the TAKS Earth and Space Systems objective. Policy makers should examine NCLB assumptions about teacher content knowledge as a significant indicator of teacher effectiveness via student achievement on standardized tests. While measuring content knowledge provides a simple, efficient, and cost effective form of accountability, the small effect size indicated other factors, including teaching practice, need investigation.

Low-income students and blacks make up nearly half of public school students, and on nearly every indicator of educational access, particularly technology, these students have less access than white affluent students (Darling-Hammond, Zielezinski, and Goldman, 2014). The National Center for Education Statistics (2005) reported that teacher quality and missed opportunities to learn accounted for 93% of African Americans, and 87% of Hispanics performing below proficiency in mathematics. Students that do not master mathematics standards by the end of compulsory education are less likely to complete general mathematics courses in upper secondary school and beyond successfully (Levpušček, Zupančič, & Sočan, 2013). Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) can support student engagement, interest and possibly increased achievement in mathematics if used effectively. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the perspectives of secondary mathematics teachers with regard to the use of IWBs for teaching, (b) determine how secondary mathematics teachers in one school district use the IWB to guide students toward mathematical proficiency, and (c) consider how secondary mathematics teachers’ perspectives in one school district were influenced by 1st order and 2nd order barriers to technology integration. The following factors were considered when examining the context needed to better understand the complexities using IWBs effectively in mathematics: (a) Niess et al. (2009) Mathematics Teachers’ TPACK Development Model, (b) Miller and Glover (2005) stages of IWB use, and (c) Ertmer (1999) first-order and second-order barriers to technology integration. The data revealed that at each stage of IWB use (a) supported didactic, (b)interactive, and (c) enhanced interactivity, teachers faced a unique combination of first-order and second-order barriers to IWB integration that affected how IWBs were used for teaching mathematics. The results of the data suggest that as barriers are resolved at each stage of IWB use, the likelihood mathematics teachers will effectively use IWBs to teach mathematics will increase. Suggestions including administrator support and modifying professional development practices are included to provide educators and policy makers the practical knowledge needed to inform sustainable plans for integrating IWBs effectively.

Malawi, as a country with very limited resources, needs to have educational policies in place to maximize effectiveness of the public education system. Policymakers depend on accurate data, but variations in data between sources leaves policymakers uncertain as they attempt to craft policies to address the growing educational crisis in Malawi. A desk study was performed to evaluate the policy implications of employing data from multiple sources using primary school teacher supply and demand in Malawi as an illustration. This study examined one national organization, Malawi's Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST); three international aid and assistance organizations (IAAOs), including The Department for International Development (DIFD) from the UK, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and one global organization, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSECO). The study documented differences and similarities between the data sources. Among the factors considered were the nature of each institution and the effect it could have on data collection, aggregation, analysis and reporting; the definitions used by each organization, and their implications for data use; and each organization's methods of collection, aggregation, analysis and reporting. The study found significant variations in the teacher supply and demand data presented by the five organizations, with variations of up to 333% between sources. To address this problem, it is recommended that the Government of Malawi (GoM) establish a central agency to standardize education data. Three policy scenarios are detailed, presenting the probable outcome of various actions the GoM could take regarding this recommendation.

The study's purpose was to examine large and small high schools in Virginia to try to understand if the high school student population size influenced the student achievement of eleventh grade students based on identified predictor variables. Several studies were identified and included in the literature review. From the literature review, the predictor variables of socioeconomic status, student attendance, minority status, and teacher quality were identified to aid in the development of the main research question and five guiding questions. The main research question investigated if there was a relationship between a high school student population size and student achievement when statistically controlling for selected predictor variables. From the literature review, the main research question, five guiding questions, and a methodology were developed that would best aid in the analysis of the data. Data were collected from the Virginia Department of Education for the 2012-2013 school year that consisted of eleventh grade Virginia Standards of Learning assessments, socioeconomic status, student attendance, minority population, and teacher quality. Hierarchical multiple regression was the statistical method used to analyze the data for the research questions. The results of the study indicate there is a relationship between socioeconomic status and student achievement. However, when student population size was introduced, the result was not significant. The overall conclusion regarding socioeconomic status and student achievement is that the issue is not rooted in the size of a high school population. When student attendance was accounted for, a relationship existed between high school student population size and student achievement. When student attendance was accounted for, an indication existed that the high schools in the study with both large and small student populations had a higher percentage of student achievement when students attended on a regular basis. When the size of a high school student population, whether it was large or small, was taken into account, student achievement declined if a high school had a large percentage of minority students. Teacher quality was found to have a relationship with student achievement when high school student population size was taken into account. Overall, results of the study indicate that there was a relationship between a high school student population size and student achievement when statistically controlling for isolated variables. / Ed. D.

Public K-12 education is a large enterprise in the United States. Through local, state and federal sources, the U.S. allocated over $610 billion to K-12 public education in 2009 (NCES). Not only is the commitment of public funds for education substantial, the provision of K-12 education is primarily administered by the government in non-market settings through local school districts. It is this institutional environment that generates the impetus for evaluating how those in education make choices in the absence of markets. Like traditional markets, non-market solutions often fail because the incentives facing individuals and agencies elicit choices which produce outcomes that are divergent from those which could be considered Pareto optimal. Examining these incentives and the resulting choices allows researchers to identify unintended consequences of policy and better inform policy design and reform. This dissertation endeavors to identify some of these incentives and to empirically examine their effects on the choices made by teachers and administrators. Chapter two recognizes that teaching effectiveness may motivate teacher choice into relatively more rigorous professional development. The empirical results suggest that teachers with a past history of relative ineffectiveness are selecting into the professional development program examined. The subsequent effectiveness of the in-service training is mixed. High stakes testing and school accountability are an increasing part of our K-12 education system. Chapter three acknowledges it is plausible that administrators may choose to place more students into class rooms of more effective teachers to maximize school performance. However, because of tenure and salary constraints they may choose to place fewer students into the class rooms of more effective teachers to reward their performance. Results overall indicate that more effective teachers have larger classes. Chapter four examines school district budget uncertainty and its relation to contingency funds. The institutional ambiguity of the definition of contingency funds allows a significant amount of choice for administrators to determine fund size and use. This chapter finds that administrators may be less sensitive to budget uncertainty and more responsive to the desire for budget fungibility. This dissertation concludes by addressing implications and future research.

This study investigated the effects of teacher background variables on fourth grade reading achievement data collected from the 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) using a causal-comparative research design. Teacher quality variables related to teacher credentials, instructional methods, training, and support were selected from the NAEP background questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used to examine teacher background information and fourth grade reading NAEP scaled scores using measures of central tendency, independent t-tests, analysis of variance, and Tukey’s HSD post hoc analysis. Findings suggest that certain teacher quality variables positively impact fourth grade reading achievement. Significant differences existed among fourth grade reading scaled scores for the following variables: teaching credentials [region (p < .05), traditional preparation route (p < .001), highest degree earned(p < .05), years of experience (p < .001)]; instructional methods [reading aloud by students (p < .01), questioning character motives (p < .01), student selection of reading materials (p < .001), explaining/supporting text (p < .05), identifying main theme (p < .001), time spent on reading (p < .001), primary language arts integration (p < .05)]; teacher support [instructional grade level support/technical assistance by reading specialist (p < .05) and mentoring (p < .05)]. This study expands the current literature on teacher quality by exploring the effects of teacher variables on reading achievement.

This diploma thesis deals with the possibilities of professional development of primary school teachers. The focus is on different forms of peer support for teachers, with an emphasis on inter-school observation as a natural way of practical development. There is also a collegial support project presented through the innovative program Step by step, which has been already implemented in many schools. The peer support project is presented in the empirical section, involving teachers from different types of schools who participated in inter-school observation visits. The pre-research was conducted through semi-structured interviews gathering information about the course expectations, followed by an experiment that was evaluated and analyzed during the recorded interviews. A dedicated website was also created providing a supporting environment for its users. KEYWORDS collegial support, professional development, teacher cooperation, teacher quality standard, supervision, mentoring, learning community, observation

This study used the capability approach as a lens to understand teacher quality from both the perspective of educational leaders and practicing teachers in a rural community in central Malawi. The overarching question of this research study was “How can the capability approach inform our understanding of teacher quality from both the perspective of educational leaders and practicing teachers?” The focus questions to guide this research were: What do national educational leaders value in a quality teacher? What do rural, Malawian, female teachers value in teaching? How do these teachers pursue and achieve what they value in teaching? This study included qualitative data collection and analysis of two specific contexts: the official context of educational leadership and educational policy in Malawi and the teacher context of daily life working in a rural school in Malawi. The official context was concerned with the larger field of educational policy that impacts education in rural Malawian communities. These data were collected through document review and semi-structured interviews with educational leaders at primary schools, secondary schools, school zone leaders, and teacher training college staff. Additional data about the official context were collected via review of documents regarding the official definition of quality teaching. The research site for investigating the teacher context was a rural community in the central region of Malawi. Data were collected through interviews and observation of female, primary school teachers from four school sites within a single school zone. The discussion and analysis of the data collected in both research contexts include the values of teacher participants, the ability of the teachers to achieve their valued functionings, common constraints experienced by teachers, as well as comparison of the valued functions of teachers to the valued teacher functions defined by official documents and educational leaders. The discussion and conclusions from this research include policy recommendations regarding teacher quality and thoughts on the further application of the capability approach to understanding teacher quality.

This article focuses on lessons learned from district implementation of Utah Senate Bill 64 passed in 2012, which requires large-scale reform in evaluating teacher quality. This statemandated reformation effort requires all principals to evaluate teacher performance using new state teacher standards adopted in 2011. District implementation efforts used effective professional development that included peer collaboration and practicum experiences as evidenced by successfully certifying all principals in the evaluation of teacher performance. Twenty-seven principals representing nine districts were selected for this qualitative study. Data was collected during a one-on-one interview with each principal to gather insights about district efforts to prepare them individually to effectively evaluate teacher performance. In addition, data were coded and analyzed for evidence of change knowledge principles. The central lesson learned is that sustainable and continuing teacher quality improvements require a continual collective capacity vision and approach at all levels of the educational system. Certifying principals in the use of an improved teacher evaluation tool through effective professional development efforts is one step in achieving improvements in teacher quality. Consideration of the following four components of change knowledge principles foster and strengthen district efforts when implementing strategic targets for the continuation of teacher quality improvements: (a) expand teacher quality improvements to include both individual and collective capacity building opportunities; (b) create a plan of action that builds on efforts to comply with state law and expands implementation efforts to use the evaluation tool for improved student learning through continual teacher quality improvements; (c) provide professional development that includes strategic opportunities for principals to build their capacity in their critical role and responsibilities to continue teacher quality growth; (d) provide supports in the context of a principal's school through practicum experiences that foster the acquisition and sustainability of skills that support teacher quality improvements.

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