The present study explored the direct influences of contextual social support, including parental involvement, perceived teacher support, and peer influence, on 11th-grade students' math achievement. The study also examined the indirect influences of these contextual social support factors on students' achievement through their math motivation in math courses. The first follow-up year data of High School Longitudinal Study of 2012 (HSLS: 09) was used for this study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) served as the main statistical technique to examine the relationships among variables. The results of this study showed three sets of important findings. The first set showed that students' perception of teacher support and peer influence were significantly and directly related to students' math achievement, with the relationship between peer influence and math achievement being positive and the relationship between perceived teacher support and math achievement being negative. Controlling for other variables in the model, parental involvement was not significantly related to student math achievement. The second set of findings demonstrated that math motivation indeed plays a significant role in mediating the relationships of social support (from teachers and peers, but not from parental involvement) and student math achievement in high school. The third set of findings indicated that both family SES and prior math achievement influenced student social support and math achievement. Furthermore, two main deviations were found between White/Asian and African-American/Hispanic student models. Perceived teacher support negatively and significantly influenced White/Asian students' math achievement, but it had no significant influence on African-American/Hispanic students. In addition, math motivation had a stronger influence on the math achievement for White/Asian students than African-American/Hispanic students. The present study makes significant theoretical and practical contributions to the body of knowledge on the role of parental involvement, perceived teacher support, and peer influence on math achievement at the high school level using nationally representative data. / PHD / The current study investigated how parental involvement, student perception of teacher support, and peer influence relate to high school students’ math achievement. In addition, this study examined whether or not math motivation acts as a mediator in the relationships between social contextual factors and math achievement. last, this study examined whether all constructs and relationships used in the study vary across White/Asian students (higher-achieving group) and African-American/Hispanic students (lower achieving group). The current study found that peer influence had a positive influence on students’ math achievement directly and indirectly through motivation. This relationship suggests that students who have peers with higher grades and higher educational aspirations are more likely to be high-achieving themselves. In addition, this study found that students’ perception of teacher support was significantly related to students’ math achievement, but surprisingly, this effect was negative and small, after controlling for other variables in the model. After a closer examination, this study found that for those students who had a lower motivation level in learning math, perceived teacher support was positively related to math achievement. By contrast, for those students at the medium and higher motivation levels, the relationship between perceived teacher support and math achievement was negative. Although perceived teacher support did not influence student math achievement directly, it supported the mediation hypothesis that motivation plays an essential role in the relationship between perceived teacher support and students’ math achievement. This pattern suggests that receiving high quality support from teachers does not automatically translate into better math achievement for high school students, but perceived teacher support encourages them to demonstrate higher levels of math motivation, which in turn contributes to their improved math achievement. Overall, this study highlighted the important effects of teachers and peers during adolescence. Therefore, it contributes important knowledge for educators and policy makers to develop early interventions, create strategies and policies, and allocate recourses to improve the success in math and narrow the achievement gap.

The aim of this study was to investigate the demands, pressures and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools (referred to as schools with learners with barriers to learning), with the aim of providing guidelines for teacher support to promote wellness. To attain this aim, the study had the following specific objectives or aims: 1. To determine the demands made on and pressures experienced by teachers as stressors. 2. To determine the needs which teachers experience to alleviate these stressors that arise as a result of the demands and pressures experienced by teachers in a special needs school. 3. The provision of guidelines for teacher support in order to promote wellness. 4. To make recommendations for the promotion of the wellness of teachers in a special needs school. A qualitative research design was considered to be the most appropriate for gaining in-depth insight into the demands, pressures and needs of these teachers. Data was collected through phenomenological interviews and direct observations. This data was then organised into categories and subcategories and direct quotations were presented verbatim. Research findings were compared with the relevant literature to identify existing information and possible differences, and the findings were then recorded in the form of two articles. As explained above, the primary goal of this study was to identify and describe the demands and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools and to formulate guidelines for support to promote wellness. The study also showed that students need mentally and physically fit adults who can guide them as they find their way in the world. It is thus necessary to develop and promote the use of programmes and instruments to identify specific needs and stressors, so as to more accurately predict, prevent and alleviate demands that can be detrimental to health, and to provide and support guidelines to promote wellness in teachers.. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The South African government spends huge sums of funds on schools with an aim to redress past inequalities. Schools receive resource budget allocations to exclusively procure learning materials to ensure that the government’s aim is realised. This study examines availability and enactment of learning materials to enhance effective curriculum delivery. Four township public ordinary primary schools participated in this study. Focus was mainly on Grade 3 home language lessons. I used the case study methods to interview one teacher from each school and scrutinized their documents to establish what learning materials they have in their possession. Additionally I observed and analysed three lessons per educator. Analysis across the cases reveals different collections and variations in usage of learning materials. The former covers the standard, mix and match, and limited collections. Whereas the latter refers to the textbook bound, productive blend and the haphazard approaches. Significantly, the study also explored principles in line with the “ideal teacher”- under which desired results can be achieved.

The aim of this thesis was to examine the association between family structures and adolescents' externalising and internalising problems. This study also explored if adolescents' perceived parental support and teacher support might differ across different type of family structures. It further assessed whether the association between family structures, externalising and internalising problems among adolescents might be attributed to the individual level of parental and teacher support. The data was derived from the Stockholm School Survey carried out by the Stockholm City Administration in 2014. A total of 5,569 students age 15-17 from both public and private schools in the municipalities of Stockholm was included in this study. This study showed that lower perceived parental and teacher support was found among those living in stepparents and single parent families. Results from linear regression also indicated that adolescents from non-nuclear families were at higher risk of developing externalising and internalising problems. As this study found that those associations were attributed to individual level of parental and teacher support, the findings of this thesis bring together the evidence on the need for spesific programs given by the school for prevention and intervention of externalising and internalising problems among adolescents. Moreover, this study also highlights the importance of family policy as an instrument to attain a healthy work-life balance that may enable parents to increase their support towards their children.

The aim of this study was to investigate the demands, pressures and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools (referred to as schools with learners with barriers to learning), with the aim of providing guidelines for teacher support to promote wellness. To attain this aim, the study had the following specific objectives or aims: 1. To determine the demands made on and pressures experienced by teachers as stressors. 2. To determine the needs which teachers experience to alleviate these stressors that arise as a result of the demands and pressures experienced by teachers in a special needs school. 3. The provision of guidelines for teacher support in order to promote wellness. 4. To make recommendations for the promotion of the wellness of teachers in a special needs school. A qualitative research design was considered to be the most appropriate for gaining in-depth insight into the demands, pressures and needs of these teachers. Data was collected through phenomenological interviews and direct observations. This data was then organised into categories and subcategories and direct quotations were presented verbatim. Research findings were compared with the relevant literature to identify existing information and possible differences, and the findings were then recorded in the form of two articles. As explained above, the primary goal of this study was to identify and describe the demands and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools and to formulate guidelines for support to promote wellness. The study also showed that students need mentally and physically fit adults who can guide them as they find their way in the world. It is thus necessary to develop and promote the use of programmes and instruments to identify specific needs and stressors, so as to more accurately predict, prevent and alleviate demands that can be detrimental to health, and to provide and support guidelines to promote wellness in teachers.. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The main purpose of this study was to explore the influence of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme on the classroom practices and professional development of Technology Education teachers. Clarity was sought on how those Technology Education teachers who had participated in the CPD programme were influenced by the outcomes of the CPD programme in terms of their classroom practices and professional development. Although the school set-up and its management structure was not part of the outcomes of the CPD programme, the researcher felt that it was also important to highlight and describe from teachers’ point of view the nature of support (if any) that the teachers received from their respective schools to enhance their professional development and growth. A qualitative approach to research, in the form of multiple case studies was used in this study. Purposeful sampling was applied to select the three teachers who participated in this study. Data was collected using multiple qualitative data collection strategies and instruments that included the use of once-off semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and documents analysis. Findings from this study revealed that those Technology Education teachers who participated in the CPD programme under review in this study had their classroom practices and professional development, to some extent influenced by the outcomes of the CPD programme. Teachers confirmed that most of the teaching strategies they apply in their classes were adopted from the CPD programme under review. Teachers acknowledged that they had acquired new teacher Technology Education-specific teacher knowledge which in turn helped their learners to learn effectively in class. There is also evidence from the results of this study that suggest that teachers had been greatly motivated by the CPD programme to improve their Technology Education-specific teacher knowledge. However, teachers still lacked the ‘drawing skills’ that are critical to procedural knowledge. Further, the study revealed the need for the development of structured classroom activities that will assist novice Technology Education teachers to deal with the dynamics of the subject with much ease. Lack of effective curriculum management and support in schools were highlighted as inhibitors to the professional development and growth of Technology Education teachers. / Dissertation MEd--University of Pretoria, 2014 / gm2014 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / Unrestricted

This study explores the leadership role of the Head of Department (HoD) in the teaching of Mathematics.It focuses on the perspectives that the educators hold about the leadership role of HoDs in the teaching of Mathematics in two Gauteng primary schools.The study was framed by the following research question: What perspectives do educators hold about the leadership role of the HoD in the teaching of Mathematics in primary schools? A qualitative case study was employed whereby data were collected in two primary schools in Gauteng Province. To examine the relevance and clarityinterview questions used, a pilot study wasat first conducted in which one HoD and one teacher were interviewed.For the actual study, ten individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with four HoDs, two principals and four teachers in two township schools in a Gauteng district. Documents such as monitoring instruments of HoDs were also collected and analysed for purposes of triangulation. Key findings were that HoDsnever received any formal preparation to lead the teaching of Mathematics. They learned about the role by participating in professional development activities offered by outside actors, upgrading themselves, assisting the Education district department in facilitating workshops for teachers as well as serving as acting HoDs.They provided leadership by monitoring teaching and teachers’ work,checking lesson plans, doing class visits, checking learners’ books and assessment tasks and doing follow ups.Challenges that were identified in relation to the leadership role of the HoD leadership in the teaching of Mathematics includedHoDs’ lack of Mathematics knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), lack of teaching resources, teachers’ lack of knowledge of the new curriculum, a heavy workload, overcrowded classrooms, demotivated teachers, teacher absenteeism and too much paperwork.The perceived strategies that were used by HoDsto address challenges includedthe following:engaging in discussions with teachers in an attempt to collectively find solutions, substituting absent teachers, taking work home, using the expertise of other teachers through delegation, leading by example by presenting lessons for teachers, making learners their first priority followed by paperwork as well as engaging with some stakeholders for support. The following were the recommendations: there should be more clarity about what is expected of HoDs.Sufficient time should be allocated in order for HoDs to be able to balance their leadership duties and teaching effectively;current as well as prospective HoDs should be trained in both the subject in which they are expected to provide leadership as well as the generic leadership part of their job.HoDs should involve Mathematics teachers in the development of the monitoring tools since Mathematics teachers are familiar with a sensible blend of tools, methodologies and approaches that can meet the needs of their learners.HoDs should also be developed on what they should look for as they monitor teachers’ work.In that way they may be able to effectively use the results of their monitoring to support teachers.A final recommendation is that the workload of HoDs be reduced through the allocation of administrative tasks to school administrators and appointing paid HoD assistants such as subject heads. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Sedan Lgr11 infördes i skolan har förmågan att kommunicera och resonera i matematik genom samtal och diskussioner fått en ny plats i undervisningen. I kunskapskraven står det att ska elevernas förmåga att muntligt resonera och kommunicera i matematik ska bedömas i årskurs 6 vilket innebär att lärarna behöver ge eleverna möjlighet att träna dessa förmågor. Syftet med denna studie är att analysera vilket stöd lärarna erbjuds genom lärarhandledningar för att kunna utveckla elevernas förmåga att samtala med och om matematik samt att föra matematiska resonemang. En innehållsanalys av lärarhandledningar visar att det finns stöd för lärarna att utveckla elevernas förmåga att samtala med och om matematik samt att föra matematiska resonemang, men att stödet varierar i stor utsträckning mellan de olika lärarhandledningarna. Innehållsanalysen är baserad på Shulmans ramverk om vilka kunskaper en lärare behöver ha för att undervisa, MKT-ramverket från Ball et al. som kopplar Shulmans ramverk till matematik samt Niss och Højgaard-Jensens ramverk om vilka kunskaper en matematiklärare behöver ha. Analysen visar att samtliga lärarhandledningar erbjuder stöd till lärare i sina ämnesdidaktiska kunskaper i form av aktiviteter som kan användas för att utveckla elevernas muntliga förmåga. Däremot varierar antalet förekomster av stöd för lärarna till sina ämnesdidaktiska- samt ämneskunskaper. / When the new curriculum was introduced in Sweden, 2011, the ability to communicate and reason in mathematics through discussions was put forward. The students’ ability to orally reason and communicate in mathematics is to be assessed in grade 6, which means that teachers need to give students opportunities to practice these skills. The purpose of the study is to analyze what kind of support teacher guides offer the teacher to help them develop the students’ ability to discuss with and about mathematics as well as to apply mathematical reasoning. A content analysis of teacher guides showed that there is support for teachers to develop the students’ ability to discuss with and about mathematics and to apply mathematical reasoning, but that the support varies to a great extend amongst teacher guides. The content analysis is based on Shulman’s knowledge base framework describing what a teacher needs to know in order to teach, the MKT-framework from Ball and colleagues that connects Shulman’s framework to mathematics and Niss och Højgaard-Jensen’s framework about which knowledge a mathematics teacher needs for teaching. The analysis shows that all analyzed teacher guides offer support in pedagogical content knowledge consisting of activities that can be used to develop the students’ orally ability. However, the amount of support varies concerning both pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge.

In 2003, California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program had 145 programs throughout the state, organized into five clusters. The purpose of this study was to investigate how selected BTSA programs addressed BTSA Standard #3 (collaboration) for teacher induction. Five research questions were addressed. Twenty-six representative programs comprised the study sample. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher based on review of prior research in collaboration. Nineteen factors related to successful collaboration were identified. They were sorted in to six components of similar factors. A minimum of three questions were designed and field-tested for each component for a questionnaire. The questionnaire was returned by thirty respondents: twenty-one district-based BTSA directors and fifteen representatives of higher education institutions. Findings were conclusive. All programs were described by both sub-samples as successful. All six components and nineteen factors identified through the research literature were present in all programs. No additional components were identified in any program. While a prior successful working history with the collaborating partners and ongoing regular communication emerged as the most frequently named reason for success, all six components were identified as important for success. The most frequently identified problem was with the turnover of representatives of the higher education institutions and with the related difficulty of maintaining effective communications through the life of the program. Reward structures within higher education that do not support collaborative work with schools was named as the primary perceived reason for the pervasive pattern. The inability of higher education institutions to respond quickly to conditions of rapid change was also named as a related issue. Federal and state programs that fund targeted projects but allow flexibility in implementation were found to be successful. Future research should be done on the interrelationships of the components of collaboration, on modification of the reward systems of institutions of higher education; and on the development of federal and state policies that continue to support funding of local, flexible solutions to issues of school change.

The purpose of this research is to understand the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program through the eyes of school principals. This study described how principals perceive: (a) the use of Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs , (b) the barriers to supporting the program, and (c) the effects of the induction program on students, experienced teachers, and school culture. A survey was developed from elements in Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs . Survey data were collected and organized to accurately reflect principals' experiences. Narrative comments to four open-ended questions were analyzed, and common themes were identified. The findings of this study indicate that principals hold the Beginning Teachers Support and Assessment Program in high regard. This study provides details about how principals perceive the communication and confidentiality within the program, the role of the principal, and the role of the support and assessment activities for new teachers. Principals also reported that the program has a positive impact on students, school culture, and experienced teachers. This study provides insights into the operation of a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. These insights provide a beginning for informed discussions that will lead to a greater understanding of the role of principals in the induction programs for new teachers.