Rates of Specific Antecedent Instructional Practices and Differences Between Title I and non-Title I Schools

The use of effective instructional strategies is clearly emphasized in current educational reform, especially in the area of reading. The purposes of this study were to investigate the rates at which specific instructional practices (i.e., attention signals, prior knowledge supports, previews, instructor modeling, student modeling, organizational prompts) were utilized during literacy time in elementary schools, determine if there were relationships among the instructional variables, and explore if teachers in Title I schools and teachers in non-Title I schools differed in their use of specific practices. Participants included teachers and students from 35 classrooms who were each observed for 5 hours, resulting in a total of 175 observation hours. The Setting Factors Assessment Tool (SFAT) was used to measure the antecedent instructional variables. Main results included that teachers in non-Title I classrooms used significantly more prior knowledge references than teachers in Title I schools; the effect size for this finding was large. Several correlations among the instructional variables were significant. The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings, implications for future research and the limitations of this study.     

A Multilevel Analysis of the Effects of Parents, Teachers and Schools on Student Values

Do schools influence the values of the students who attend them? This study examines the influence of parents, peer groups, teachers and the schools on student values as assessed by the Schwartz Value Survey. A sample of students at Grade 12 was chosen from 11 South Australian secondary schools of a wide variety of types, and the students, their parents and their teachers completed the Value Survey, and students also provided sociodemographic information. The data were analysed using the HLM multilevel analysis program with respect to the four higher order value components, namely self-transcendence, self-enhancement, conservation and openness to change in order to identify student level and school level effects on the values held by the students. Results showed that sex of student, language background, the Christian involvement of the student, parental social position and the values held by parents and peer groups had much greater effects upon the students' values than the schools and their teachers. Further research involving a larger number of schools in a wider variety of settings is suggested to build on this exploratory study.     

学校教育资源对学生数学素养预测效应的跨文化比较

采用国际学生评价项目PISA2006的数据,使用多水平线性模型方法,比较中国香港、日本、芬兰和美国四个国家（地区）的学校教育资源与学生数学素养成绩的关系。结果发现,在控制学生背景变量的情况下,学校教育资源对学生数学素养成绩的影响在四个国家（地区）之间存在一定的文化差异：学校大小、生师比对中国香港学生数学素养成绩有显著的正向预测作用;学校大小、班级大小、学校类型、有硕士研究生学历的教师比例对日本学生数学素养成绩有显著的正向预测作用,用于教学的计算机比例对日本学生数学素养成绩有显著的反向预测作用;学校教育资源对芬兰学生数学素养成绩没有显著的预测作用;学校类型对美国学生数学素养成绩具有显著的反向预测作用。     

The Emergence of Student Creativity in Classroom Settings: A Case Study of Elementary Schools in Korea

This research explores the emergence of student creativity in classroom settings, specifically within two content areas: science and social studies. Fourteen classrooms in three elementary schools in Korea were observed, and the teachers and students were interviewed. The three types of student creativity emerging in the teaching and learning process found in this research were: (a) heuristic creativity when the students express their thoughts about a new concept based on their experience, (b) interpretive creativity when the students explain the meaning of materials based on students' knowledge, and (c) integrative creativity when students generate new solutions or make new products based on their internalized knowledge. The study results will challenge teachers to find instances of student creativity in their teaching and learning situations and to facilitate student creativity when the students interpret data or materials related to the contents of the curriculum.     

Four mediation models of teacher expectancy effects on students’ outcomes in mathematics and literacy

The study tested 4 direct and 28 indirect teacher expectancy effects on students’ results in the mathematics and literacy sections of the matriculation test, and their final marks in the 12th-grade mathematics and literacy class. The following were considered as mediators: student self-esteem, their self-expectancy, and time spent learning mathematics and literacy. The study involved 1374 first year college students. Conducted path analyses revealed: (1) the total teacher expectancy effects was the strongest for final marks in mathematics, followed by test results in mathematics, test results in literacy, and final marks in literacy; (2) the direct effect was stronger than the total indirect teacher expectancy effects in the case of mathematics, while for literacy outcomes, the order of the effects was reversed; (3) the direct teacher expectancy effects were positive; the indirect effects reversed after including student self-esteem/student self-expectancy into relations between teachers’ expectancy and mathematics and literacy outcomes; (4) teachers’ expectancy was mediated most strongly by student self-esteem, time spent learning, and student self-expectancy, or by student self-expectancy and time spent learning, respectively for mathematics and literacy outcomes; (5) the impact of teachers’ expectancy was stronger than student self-expectancy for mathematics, but was the same or weaker for literacy outcomes, respectively. The obtained results were discussed in the light of the theory and results of studies concerning teacher expectancy effects.     

“Living the Literate Life”: How Teachers Make Connections Between the Personal and Professional Literate Selves

This study examines teachers' beliefs about themselves as literate people and how those beliefs translate into classroom literary practice. Using a multi-method approach, it explores the private literate selves (via diary, survey, and interviews) of twelve K–12 teachers and establishes a foundational understanding of the influence of the social and personal nature of literacy on teacher support for literacy in the classroom and how teachers' personal literacy practices are made public to classroom learners. Results indicate that literacy played an important functional role in the lives of all 12 teachers. There was variability in the prominence of literacy for pleasure in the teachers' lives. In addition, there was variability in whether and in what ways teachers made their literacy practices public for their students. Implications for teacher education and professional development programs are offered.     

Standardized classroom management program: Social validation and replication studies in Utah and Oregon

A comprehensive validation study was conducted of the Program for Academic Survival Skills (PASS), a consultant-based, teacher-mediated program for student classroom behavior. The study addressed questions related to: (a) brief consultant training, (b) subsequent teacher training by consultants using PASS manuals, (c) contrasts between PASS experimental teachers and students and equivalent controls on measures of teacher management skills, student classroom behavior, teacher ratings of student problem behaviors, and academic achievement, (d) reported satisfaction of participants, and (e) replication of effects across two separate school sites. Results indicated that in both sites significant effects were noted in favor of the PASS experimental group for (a) teacher approval, (b) student appropriate classroom behavior, and (c) four categories of student inappropriate behavior. Program satisfaction ratings of students, teachers, and consultants were uniformly positive, and continued use of the program was reported a year later. Discussion focused upon issues of cost-effectiveness, differential site effects, and the relationship between appropriate classroom behavior and academic achievement.     

中美高校教师教学风格差异与大学生课堂学习行为的关系研究

本研究通过学生的评价对中美高校教师的教学风格进行测量和比较,并对两个教师群体在教学风格上的差异能否部分地解释中美大学生存在的课堂学习行为差异进行了检验。研究采用相关量表对185名中国大学生和120名美国大学生施测,要求他们对教师的教学风格和自己在课堂上的行为表现进行评价。数据分析结果表明,学生所感知的中美教师在执行型、保守型和整体型风格上存在显著差异;中美大学生在课堂学习行为的课堂活动参与、提出问题、对师生关系的独立性等维度上存在显著差异;学生所感知的教师教学风格的各维度均与学生的课堂行为表现显著相关;教师教学风格中的保守型和整体型能够部分地解释中美学生之间存在的课堂学习行为差异。     

Current teaching practice for religious education in Hong Kong: implications for ‘learning from religion’

The human development (HD) model for religious education (RE) emphasises how students benefit from studying religion. However, detailed teaching practices for ‘learning from religion’ are not fully understood. In this article, lesson observations, school documents and interview data were collected from two Christian primary schools in Hong Kong (HK) . Two lessons were analysed as paradigmatic examples of the teaching for student development in RE lessons. This study found that the teachers helped their students engage in religion by giving them opportunities to associate religion with their lives through religious and moral-related contents. The use of daily life and religious experiences with discussions was the pedagogical approach for moving RE from just ‘the teaching of religion’. Moreover, various opportunities for student reflections to enhance personal and moral development were observed. Future studies should consider examining the theory of the adopted model and its classroom practice, which can aid understanding regarding the role of RE for student development and its global identity.     

Pyramid training of elementary school teachers to use a classroom management "skill package"

Three regular elementary teachers were trained in the use of a classroom management "skill package". Subsequently, each of these three teachers (tier 1 of training) trained three more teachers to use the same skill package (tier 2 of training). Direct behavioral measures of student disruptiveness were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms and four tier-2 classrooms, and permanent product measures of student productivity in arithmetic were taken in the three tier-1 classrooms. Results indicated that student disruptiveness decreased at least as much in the tier-2 classrooms as in the tier-1 classrooms. Data also indicated that serving as trainers benefited two of the tier-1 teachers who profited least from the original training by producing further reductions in disruptiveness in their respective classrooms. Productivity data suggested that use of the "skill package" increased classroom academic output, especially for those students below the median in productivity during baseline. The investigators' time investment in training a tier-2 teacher was one-fourth that of training a tier-1 teacher.     

Effects of Self-Monitoring on On-Task Behaviors of At-Risk Middle School Students

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effects of self-monitoring on increasing the on-task behaviors of four at-risk middle school students, and to examine its indirect effects on academic performance. Additionally, we attempted to develop and validate cost- and time-efficient procedures that typical classroom teachers could use. The data from a multiple baseline design across three academic settings, replicated with four students, revealed immediate increases in on-task behavior as each student began to self-monitor in each sequential setting. The data also revealed slightly higher levels of academic performance and, in most instances, gradually accelerating trends. These findings suggest that self-monitoring is a cost- and time-efficient procedure that classroom teachers can use to teach at-risk students to manage their own behaviors.     

Considerations for classroom seating arrangements and the role of teacher characteristics and beliefs

As a part of classroom management, teachers face the question of how and where to seat their students. However, it is far from clear what considerations teachers have when making seating arrangements. Therefore, in this study seating arrangement considerations from 50 teachers in grades 4–6 of elementary school were assessed. In Phase 1, teachers were interviewed about their goals and considerations for classroom seating arrangements. Teachers mentioned between 2 and 19 reasons for placing students at specific places in the classroom, with mostly academic considerations. They mainly preferred arrangements in small groups to promote student cooperation. In Phase 2, teachers completed a questionnaire about seating arrangements. This allowed us to examine individual differences between teachers related to gender, years of experience, and beliefs, and the concurrence between the interview and questionnaire data. Teachers reported multiple and various considerations for seating arrangements. Correlations with their general student-oriented or subject-oriented beliefs and personal characteristics were low. The concurrence between measurement methods also was low. The discussion focused on teacher awareness of classroom seating arrangements as an important part of classroom management and a tool for prevention and intervention.     

Physical education and fostering relationships

Rather than presenting an academic paper, I wanted to simply examine my own perspective as a physical educator and classroom teacher and the importance of creating relationships with children. As a relatively new physical educator and recent Masters of Education graduate of the University of Toronto at OISE, but experienced classroom teacher working in a Toronto public school, spirituality at first appeared to be the farthest thing that affected both my life and the life of my classes. During the last two years, I became increasingly aware of the connection between physical education and feelings of enthusiasm and perseverance that have helped my students to see themselves in positive ways. The relationship developed between teacher and student had been apparent to me but I had not realised how important until I began graduate school and reflecting on both my classroom practice and how it had extended into the gymnasium. I often thought that physical education teachers tended to focus on the physical aspects and skills, but instead I found that it was indeed making a shared connection with my students through the various physical and everyday activities as of the highest importance. The shared connections encourage feelings of perseverance, and fit together between mind, body and spirit, which also encouraged active participation and success. What I had suspected to be true for the classroom really was true anywhere in the school community. My experiences as a physical educator and classroom teacher helped me create positive learning environments for children as they struggled with academic and physical activities. With this paper, I am asking academics to help teachers such as myself to understand the correlation to something we as teachers take for granted as part of our everyday teacher–student relationship.     

The DIAGNOSER project: Combining assessment and learning

DIAGNOSER is an Internet-based tool for classroom instruction. It delivers continuous formative assessment and feedback to high school physics students and their teachers about the correct and incorrect concepts and ideas the students may hold regarding physical situations. That is, it diagnoses misconceptions that underlie wrong answers of students, such as a confusion of velocity with acceleration. We use data about patterns of student responses, particularly consistency of errors from question to question, to improve the system’s understanding of student concepts.     

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.     

The effects of group contingencies on first graders' academic and social behaviors

This study describes how a graduate student in counseling and guidance worked with a team of teachers in implementing a group-contingent reinforcement system with first graders. One hundred students in an open-spaced classroom were divided into smaller groups of from 9–12 students. Each group could earn free time by completing its work within a designated period and by minimizing disruptive activity. The group contigencies proved highly effective in increasing the percentage of work completed and reducing disruptive responses. After the study was completed, the teachers voluntarily organized the entire morning's activities around the group contigencies. A check of the same classroom the following year indicated that the teachers were continuing to make extensive use of group-contingent free time.     

Situational and Individual Determinants of Teachers' Reported Use of Behavior Alteration Techniques

Tying together principles applicable to compliance-gaining from both interpersonal and instructional communication theory and research, this investigation focused on situational and individual difference determinants of teachers’ strategy selection in the classroom. Specifically, this study required teachers to focus on student misbehavior scenarios that reflected the situational determinants of misbehavior type (active/passive) and intensity (moderate/severe). Results indicated that teachers’ compliance-gaining message selection was influenced substantially by misbehavior type, and to a lesser extent, misbehavior intensity. Assessments of teachers’ and students’ gender confirmed stereotypic differences for male and female teachers’ reported technique use, but no student gender effect was obtained. These findings are compared with those obtained with prospective teachers (Plax, Kearney, & Tucker, 1986). Results are discussed in terms of cognitive scheme development for classroom management.     

The teacher-pupil interaction scale: An empirical method for analyzing the interactive effects of teacher and pupil behavior

The Teacher-Pupil Interaction Scale was developed for use by educational consultants to provide teachers with systematic data for analyzing and improving the learning of pupils. The scoring protocol provides for the simultaneous rating of sequential teacher-pupil interactions; a single mark is used to designate both teacher and pupil behavior at each five-second interval. Observations of a target pupil are alternated with other pupils in the classroom to serve as a point of comparison with the target pupil and to provide a general assessment of the classroom climate. Using the sequential record of their verbal and nonverbal interactions with students, teachers can pinpoint conditions serving both as antecedents and consequents of current student behavior. Armed with this information, teachers can effect changes in their instructional program to increase the rate of desired behaviors and eliminate or reduce unwanted responses.