Changes in student teachers' agency beliefs during a teacher education year,and relationships with observed classroom quality,and day‐to‐day experiences

Background Conceptualizations of teachers' agency beliefs converge around domains of support and instruction. Aim We investigated changes in student teachers' agency beliefs during a 1 year teacher education course, and related these to observed classroom quality and day‐to‐day experiences in partnership schools during the practicum. Samples Out of a sample of 66 student teachers who had responded to at least two out of four times to a questionnaire (18 men 48 women; mean age 26.4 years), 30 were observed during teaching, and 20 completed a 4‐day short form diary. Methods Confirmatory factor analysis validated two agency belief constructs. Multi‐level models for change investigated individual differences in change over time. Multi‐level path models related observation and diary responses to agency beliefs. Results Supportive agency belief was high and stable across time. Instructional agency belief increased over time, suggesting a beneficial effect of teacher education. This increase was predicted by observed classroom quality (emotional support and student engagement) and daily positive affect and agency beliefs. Conclusions Teacher education is successful in creating a context in which student teachers' supportive agency beliefs can be maintained and instructional agency beliefs can increase during the course.     

The teacher's role in promoting collaborative dialogue in the classroom

Background Research on student‐led small‐group learning in schools going back nearly four decades has documented many types of student participation that promote learning. Less is known about how the teacher can foster effective groupwork behaviours. Aims This paper reviews research that explores the role of the teacher in promoting learning in small groups. The focus is on how students can learn from their peers during small‐group work, how teachers can prepare students for collaborative group work, and the role of teacher discourse and classroom norms in small‐group dialogue. Method Studies selected for review focused on student‐led small‐group contexts for learning in which students were expected to collaborate, reported data from systematic observations of group work, and linked observational data to teacher practices and student learning outcomes. Results and conclusions This review uncovered multiple dimensions of the teacher's role in fostering beneficial group dialogue, including preparing students for collaborative work, forming groups, structuring the group‐work task, and influencing student interaction through teachers' discourse with small groups and with the class. Common threads through the research are the importance of students explaining their thinking, and teacher strategies and practices that may promote student elaboration of ideas.     

Tell Us More: Reading Comprehension,Engagement, and Conceptual Press Discourse

This study examines interactions between teachers and students during reading comprehension instruction to determine how certain patterns of teacher–student talk support student comprehension achievement and reading engagement. The central focus of the study is conceptual press discourse, a pattern of teacher response that includes requests for evidence, examples, clarification, and elaboration. Hierarchical Linear Modeling analysis of data from 21 fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms (495 students) indicated that in classrooms where teachers more frequently used discourse patterns that reduced conceptual press, students demonstrated weaker comprehension and engagement outcomes.     

THE DILEMMA OF ERROR AND ACCURACY: AN EXPLORATION

This paper reports on the research on error and accuracy within the realms of constructivism, reading, and writing, and describes an exploratory study of teacher perceptions of approaches to addressing error and accuracy in literacy instruction. Findings demonstrate that teachers who self-reported that they were developing constructivist approaches to classroom instructional practices had contradictory beliefs about dealing with reading and writing errors. There were also contradictory beliefs about addressing reading and writing errors with more- and less-able readers and writers. The teachers were solid in their conviction that students' inaccurate constructions of knowledge should be corrected through inquiry, but were unable to provide examples of instances in which they had done so.     

Teacher beliefs,teacher characteristics,and school contextual factors: What are the relationships?

Background. There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. Aims. The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio‐economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio‐psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. Sample. The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio‐economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. Method. Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio‐psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. Results. Mastery‐oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio‐economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. Conclusions. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes.     

Do organizational conditions influence teacher implementation of effective classroom management practices: Findings from a randomized trial

Although there is a growing evidence base about effective classroom management practices, teacher implementation of these practices varies due to a number of factors. A school's organizational health is one aspect of the broader social environment that has been hypothesized to influence implementation of interventions. Yet, empirical evidence is limited on whether organizational contexts can influence teacher implementation of effective interventions and subsequently, classroom environments and student outcomes. In the present study, teachers in an urban school district were randomly assigned to receive training in the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management program (IY TCM), a classroom management intervention. We examined how teacher perceptions of their school environment moderated intervention effects for previously established treatment outcomes – implementation of effective classroom methods, students' social behaviors, emotional regulation, and social competence. Results showed that treatment effects on teacher implementation and student outcomes were moderated by teachers' sense of affiliation to their school. Specifically, main effects on implementation of effective classroom management strategies were only observed among teachers whose perceptions of initial teacher affiliation was low or average; whereas main effects on student outcomes were only found for teachers with initial high levels of affiliation.     

What is a Seminar? Two Views of the Same Course

This article presents a methodology for a feminist theology of education based on reflection of women's educational experience in light of historical and contemporary theological works, especially the writing of Julian of Norwich. It argues for hospitality as a metaphor for theological education and suggests an understanding of the student, teacher, and environment of education that can create hospitality in the classroom.     

Hospitality: A Feminist Theology of Education

This article presents a methodology for a feminist theology of education based on reflection of women's educational experience in light of historical and contemporary theological works, especially the writing of Julian of Norwich. It argues for hospitality as a metaphor for theological education and suggests an understanding of the student, teacher, and environment of education that can create hospitality in the classroom.     

Supporting Whole-class Collaborative Inquiry in a Secondary Mathematics Classroom

Recent mathematics education reform efforts call for the instantiation of mathematics classroom environments where students have opportunities to reason and construct their understandings as part of a community of learners. Despite some successes, traditional models of instruction still dominate the educational landscape. This limited success can be attributed, in part, to an underdeveloped understanding of the roles teachers must enact to successfully organize and participate in collaborative classroom practices. Toward this end, an in-depth longitudinal case study of a collaborative high school mathematics classroom was undertaken guided by the following two questions: What roles do these collaborative practices require of teacher and students? How does the community's capacity to engage in collaborative practices develop over time? The analyses produced two conceptual models: one of the teacher's role, along with specific instructional strategies the teacher used to organize a collaborative learning environment, and another of the process by which the class's capacity to participate in collaborative inquiry practices developed over time.     

How Much Does Creative Teaching Enhance Elementary School Students' Achievement?

This study examined the relationship between creative teaching and elementary students' achievement gains. Forty‐eight upper elementary school teachers' classroom instruction was observed and evaluated over the course of 8 different lessons throughout the year. For each teacher, during each lesson, both a creative teaching frequency score and a quality score were derived. These scores were then used as predictor variables in a structural equation model to determine the magnitude of the relationship between creative teaching and classroom achievement gains in reading, language, and mathematics. Our results demonstrated that (a) the majority of teachers do not implement any teaching strategies that foster student creativity; (b) teachers who elicit student creativity turn out students that make substantial achievement gains; and (c) classrooms with high proportions of minority and low‐performing students receive significantly less creative teaching.     

Teacher organizational citizenship behaviours and job efficacy: Implications for student quality of school life

The present study investigated the impact of teachers' organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) on student quality of school life (SQSL) via the indirect effect of job efficacy. A measure of teacher OCBs was developed, tapping one dimension of individual‐focused OCB (OCBI – student‐directed behaviour) and two dimensions of organization‐focused OCB (OCBO – civic virtue and professional development). In line with previous research suggesting that OCBs may enhance job efficacy, as well as studies demonstrating the positive effects of teacher efficacy on student outcomes, we expected an indirect relationship between teachers OCBs and SQSL via teachers' job efficacy. Hypotheses were tested in a multi‐level design in which 170 teachers and their students (N=3,057) completed questionnaires. A significant proportion of variance in SQSL was attributable to classroom factors. Analyses revealed that the civic virtue and professional development behaviours of teachers were positively related to their job efficacy. The job efficacy of teachers also had a positive impact on all five indicators of SQSL. In regards to professional development, job efficacy acted as an indirect variable in the prediction of four student outcomes (i.e., general satisfaction, student–teacher relations, achievement, and opportunity) and fully mediated the direct negative effect on psychological distress.     

Classroom discourse and the distribution of student engagement

Research in the social psychology of achievement motivation stresses the contribution of the classroom motivational context to problems of student engagement among low achieving students. This analysis contributes to that literature through a focused analysis of English and language arts instruction during the middle school years. Using data from the Partnership for Literacy Study the author investigates the relationship between classroom evaluation during question and answer sessions and two forms of student engagement, participation in classroom discourse, and student effort on classroom and homework assignments. When teachers focus on provoking student thought and analysis, and postpone evaluation during question and answer sessions by engaging in dialogic instruction, levels of student effort are more evenly distributed among students. Moreover, the relationship between levels of initial achievement and student effort is weaker in classrooms where teachers incorporate elements of dialogic instruction into question and answer sessions. However, dialogic instruction had no effect on the distribution of participation in classroom discourse itself.     

INCREASING IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTION IN MAINSTREAM PRESCHOOLS: DIRECT AND GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF NONDIRECTIVE CONSULTATION

Two studies evaluated a consultation strategy for increasing teachers' implementation of instruction related to specific Individualized Education Plan objectives for handicapped children mainstreamed into regular preschool programs. In the first study, teachers viewed videotaped sequences of regular classroom routines and were asked to generate ideas for embedding IEP-related instruction into those routines. All teachers demonstrated increases in instructional behaviors in targeted routines, and 2 of the 3 teachers increased instruction in additional settings that had not been the focus of the consultation. Children demonstrated concomitant increases in IEP-targeted behaviors. In follow-up questionnaires and interviews, teachers reported increased confidence in their ability to implement specialized instruction. These findings were replicated in a second study in which the videotaping was replaced by teacher interview, and in which the consultation was carried out by a previously untrained special education teacher.     

Application of the Generalized Matching Law for Description of Student Behavior in the Classroom

Matching law and theory have applied implications for classroom instruction and student behavior. The Generalized Matching Law (GML) is examined in this exploratory study to assess its utility for quantitatively describing student behavior in the classroom. Data were collected using computer-based observational software. Time-lag sequential analysis was used to identify specific teacher behaviors following specific student behaviors as estimates of reinforcement. Derived rates of student and teacher behaviors were analyzed in a linear regression of the natural logarithmic form of the GML. On average, the GML described over 70% of the variance in two students' behavior in a first-grade regular education classroom. Discussion addresses the potential utility of the GML for observation and intervention in the classroom.     

Exploring Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms of Kindergarten Teachers in Kosovo and Ukraine

Teachers’ stress is a dynamic combination of the individual teacher's characteristics and characteristics of the classroom and school environment. To date, there are limited studies on teachers’ stress in the context of lower‐middle‐income countries (LMICs), where working conditions as well as general political and economic circumstances might pose a considerable threat for teachers’ well‐being. This study explores whether certain combinations of individual and environmental experiences of teachers in LMICs may result in stress, assessed as patterns of diurnal cortisol rhythm. Participants were kindergarten teachers in Kosovo and Ukraine, two LMICs in Europe. Latent Profile Analysis identified three subgroups of teachers that significantly differed on teachers’ education and experience. Preliminary results of Latent Growth Modeling suggested differences between profiles in baseline waking cortisol and patterns of diurnal decline. Teachers in the profile that was characterized by the longest experience working in the field but the lowest level of education showed blunted cortisol in the morning and a flatter slope; a pattern that could indicate a maladaptive cortisol response. Future directions for studying stress processes among teachers in LMICs and implications for policy and practice on how to support teacher well‐being in low‐resource contexts are discussed.     

Ecobehavioral analysis in the classroom: Review and implications

A rapidly developing area within applied behavior analysis that has implications for classroom instruction and behavior management is ecobehavioral analysis. Ecobehavioral analysis adds to behavior analysis the assessment of situational or contextual factors, such as classroom physical arrangements, instructional materials used by students, and teacher's behavior. Its eventual importance and contribution to behavior analysis and to education, however, has yet to be realized. In fact, it is difficult to find adequate accounts of exactly what ecobehavioral analysis entails (Morris & Midgley, 1990). To date, it has led to a number of interesting contributions. These include the development and validation of specific classroom instructional procedures, the development of a number of approaches to the reduction of challenging behaviors, an improved understanding of the components of effective instruction including the identification of instructional risk factors within regular and special education, as well as providing a better understanding of how the quality of implementation functions as a mediating variable for student outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the theory and principles that support ecobehavioral analysis, review research literature concerning its use in educational settings, describe emerging applications by school personnel (e.g., teachers, school psychologists), and examine a number of future research directions and their implications.     

A SURVEY OF WRITING INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOMS

Abstract

The purpose of the study was (1) to determine to what extent children, in a large southern state, are given opportunities to engage in process writing, and (2) to determine whether teachers have incorporated activities and strategies supported by current research findings on process writing into their language arts programs. A survey of teachers in randomly selected counties was conducted to determine and analyze the following information: 1. sources of content and instructional materials used in the language arts curriculum.

2. organizational patterns used in language arts instruction.

3. time spent in various types of writing.

4. time spent in each of the stages of process writing.

Data collected from the surveys indicated a textbook orientation to language instruction, small amounts of time spent in prewriting or writing activities, and a preference for teacher-controlled writing processes, such as teacher selection of writing topics and teacher editing of student writing. Factors that mitigate for or against the change process and models for teacher inservice that facilitate new instructional practices are discussed.     

A Study of Whole Classroom Mathematical Discourse and Teacher Change

This article presents a comparison of the first 2 years of an experienced middle school mathematics teacher's efforts to change her classroom practice as a result of an intervening professional development program. The teacher's intention was for her teaching to better reflect her vision of reform-based mathematics instruction. We compared events from the 1st and 2nd year's whole class discussions within a multilevel framework that considered the flow of information and the nature of peer- and teacher-directed scaffolding. Discourse analyses of classroom videos served both as an analytic tool for our study of whole classroom interactions, as well as a resource for promoting discussion and reflection during professional development meetings. The results show that there was little change in the teacher's specific goals and beliefs in light of a self-evaluation of her Year 1 practices, but substantial changes in how she set out to enact those goals. In Year 2, the teacher maintained a central, social scaffolding role, but removed herself as the analytic center to invite greater student participation. Consequently, student-led discussion increased manifold, but lacked the mathematical precision offered previously by the teacher. The analyses lead to insights about how classroom interactions can be shaped by a teacher's beliefs and interpretations of educational reform recommendations.     

Most Common Teacher Characteristics Related to Intentionality in Student Spiritual Formation

Teachers have the important commission of guiding students in their spiritual formation, which is the process through which an individual accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and continually becomes more like Him. Given this task, Christian teachers are able to be intentional within classroom management, through instruction, and by modeling. Teachers from 50 schools within the Southeast Region of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) were asked to complete a survey regarding intentional practices for student spiritual formation. With a Likert scale, a rating system, and open-ended questions, a triangulation method was used to find the most common characteristics related to spiritual formation intentionality. The characteristics found to be most common included “exhibiting a Christ-like attitude”, “creating a classroom climate that promotes spiritual growth”, and “being intentional in the spiritual disciplines”. By being intentional in these areas, the teacher is able to be that agent that fosters and guides student spiritual formation.     

教师变量对小学生数学学习观影响的多层线性分析

32名小学数学教师与这些教师所教班级的1691名学生参与了本研究.两个测量工具评价了教师的数学学科知识与学科教学知识,对教师的55节数学课进行了录像;并按照学习任务的认知水平与课堂对话的特点进行了编码,采用问卷法测查了学生对数学学习的看法与态度.多水平分析表明:教师的学科教学知识、课堂学习任务的认知水平、课堂师生对话的权威来源与教师运用学生想法的程度对学生数学学习观具有显著预测作用;教师的学科知识对学生数学学习观的预测未达到显著性水平.