Interest in teacher effectiveness and merit pay has continued to be a high priority for major stakeholders in the field of education as well as the public. The focus of this research was to test the hypothesis that the implementation of a classroom bonus plan would improve the observable attributes and behaviors of teaching that have been determined to be effective in improving student learning. Specifically, the study was conducted to measure intentional teacher-student interactions, classroom quality, environment and organization as well as emotional and instructional support in Pre-K classrooms as measured by Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). During a summer Voluntary PreK program, six eligible classroom teams (teacher and teacher assistant) were randomly divided into either a bonus or non-bonus group. A pre- and post-CLASS was completed on each classroom team of participants to evaluate the quality of their instruction. The CLASS score assesses team versus individual participation, resulting in a compiled score based on the performance of all classroom staff members, i.e., teacher and teacher assistant. There was no statistical significance of the CLASS post-assessment score between the bonus and non-bonus group. However, two of the four bonus group participant teams achieved the targeted scores needed to receive a bonus. None of the non-bonus group achieved the targeted score. Additionally, pre- and post-assessment data for the entire student population of the Agency Summer VPK program was examined. There was no significance in student post-assessment scores between the three groups (bonus, non-bonus, and nonparticipants)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-2694 |
| Date | 01 January 2010 |
| Creators | Wilkins, Ilene E. |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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