Teachers' Perceptions of Their Teaching Practices and Means for Improving Their Instruction PDF Download

Author: Walter Simpson Foster
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Author: Shawna DeVoe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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This qualitative study sought to examine K-4 teacher perceptions of teacher instructional leadership practices as a result of increased statutory accountability demands in a high-achieving, homogeneous, rural Ohio school. Dodge Local, an Excellent school district as deemed by state of Ohio Local Report Card, was the school district studied. Through interviews, this study sought to examine how teachers currently describe their own instructional practice, how teachers describe their own capacity for instructional leadership, and what factors they perceive as levers for change in their own instructional leadership practice as a result of statutory accountability demands. Descriptive methods were used to describe the 11 teachers selected for the study from a K-2 and a 3-4 building. A face-to-face in-depth interview with pre-determined questions was utilized with each participant. All interviews were recorded, then transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Findings included the observation that Dodge Local lacks several foundational elements identified in the literature as effective instructional leadership practices. Dodge Local teachers focused on student needs in the classroom and felt a responsibility toward student achievement and learning. However, a formal improvement plan and vision were absent. Teachers tended to refer to various accountability demands as de facto goals. Finally, teachers in Dodge did not have an enduring understanding of accountability demands that have the potential to lead to meaning conversations about teaching and learning. Dodge did not have a broad enough awareness of the demands or any discrete ideas concerning how accountability demands would impact their instructional practices in future years. Although Dodge is rated excellent, according to the external accountability system, the internal structure and function of the district is in direct contrast. This study adds breadth and depth to the function of the Local Report Card in the State of Ohio and its function in relation to school district excellence.

Author: Peter Newby
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131786543X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 707

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Written with the novice educational researcher in mind, Research Methods in Education is designed to help students produce good quality, valid and valuable research. The text is written in an engaging style and adopts a mixed-methods approach; guidance on analytical procedures that require more advanced tools such as SPSS and Minitab are also provided. The book is packed with exercises, examples and comparative international material from other educational contexts, all of which help to introduce this complex subject in an easy to use format for people that are new to research and are not confident with numerical information. Peter Newby's student-friendly text allows the researcher to confidently address the practical aspects of deciding on a research project, designing a questionnaire or presenting conclusions in the most convincing way. "Of the many research books available this one stands out as it is clear, logically structured, explains sophisticated concepts in an accessible manner without oversimplifying them and has a format which students (at undergraduate and postgraduate) like. In addition the powerpoint slides that accompany the book provide an excellent basis for lectures and can be edited / adopted to personalise them. I anticipate using this book for quite some time on several courses." Dr Pete Allison, Coordinator of Masters Research courses at The Moray House School of Education, The University of Edinburgh

Author: James Nolan, Jr.
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 9780470084052
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Now in its second edition, this brief yet comprehensive book will help readers develop an effective teacher supervision and evaluation system. It first focuses on classroom supervision and coaching, presenting differentiated supervision and professional development strategies for promoting teacher growth. The book then examines the principles, standards, and procedures for effective teacher evaluation as well as addresses the supervision and evaluation of preservice, novice, and marginal teachers.

Author: Dr. Althea Seivwright-Lue
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1796052434
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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This qualitative case study was developed to explore teachers’ perceptions of the use of differentiated instructional strategies and the impact it had on teacher practice and student learning after engaging in a professional development initiative. Teachers were trained using two professional development modules; a 90-minute face-to-face module and/or, an eight-hour book club. The research questions addressed how targeted professional development, in differentiated instruction, changed teacher instructional practice and how teachers, who used differentiated instructional strategies and techniques, perceived these strategies impacted student learning. Data instruments included teacher perception surveys, demographic surveys, classroom observations, lesson plan checklists, semi-structured questionnaires, and book club evaluations were collected over a two month time period, were analyzed from themes using a manual coding system. Based on the multiple sources of data collected, teachers needed change for their instructional practices and more differentiated instructional strategies in their daily lesson delivery models.

Author: Jennifer Hoffman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Author: Laura J. Link
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Decades of research suggest that grading practices vary widely among American K-12 classroom teachers, and the many factors that teachers choose to determine grades have little, if anything, to do with what students know and are able to do. More current research, however, has made connections between effective grading practices and their ability to compel positive student motivation and greater student academic success. This study reinforces and extends that work by conducting a secondary analysis of 2,996 urban and suburban West Tennessee K-12 teachers’ views about grading practices, centered on six factors: relationship to grade levels taught, district policy, teacher effectiveness summative and observation scores, years of experience, and type of training. A slightly-modified version of the Teachers’ Perceptions of Grading Practices (TPGP) questionnaire was used to survey the participating teachers in May of 2013. This study quantitatively examines teachers’ grading agreements and disagreements resulting from survey item analysis and comparisons between teacher groups. The results of item means, standard deviations, t and g statistics revealed that teachers, across the 6 factor groups, mainly agreed grading can encourage good work, provide essential feedback for students, and that grades of zero can demotivate students to learn. Yet, in contradiction, middle/high school teachers, especially those from non-traditional training, largely favored the practice of assigning zeros for students’ failure to complete assignments as opposed to their elementary peers. To compound, the same middle/high school teachers in the urban district also favored basing grades on students’ completion of homework, effort and class participation—grading practices rooted in student behavior rather than academic mastery. Policy in the urban district was found to undermine the use of effective grading practices and may be a significant influence on the urban teachers’ perceptions resulting in this study. Understanding teachers’ perceptions of grading practices can be used as a framework for identifying educational resources meant to help schools, teachers and students perform, especially in our results-driven reality where assessment and accountability have become the driving forces for educational practices. If policy makers are aware of teachers’ perceptions regarding grading, especially where they agree and disagree, they can help teachers formulate grading practices that promote student motivation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Training on assessment and grading practices can be further infused into middle/high school teachers’ preparation programs and ongoing professional development. Policy makers may consider a curricular and programmatic overhaul of non-traditional teacher programs to include more courses/training on assessments and grading prior to granting individual licensure or program accreditation. A mentoring program to match teachers demonstrating effective grading practices with those that are not can be developed to help teachers improve their teaching and promote use of effective instructional and grading practices. .

Author: Joyce Elizabeth Dwyer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Author: Bo Hannaford
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9783846511671
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Many studies provide evidence that professional learning communities are a valid means for school reform in public education. These studies may be even more important since schools are facing more pressure than ever to meet high academic performance benchmarks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to discover teacher perceptions toward a professional learning community and teacher perceptions of instructional practice in a middle school in a southern U.S. state. The results of this study indicated that teachers have a positive perception of learning communities, instructional practice, effective communication, collaboration, shared leadership practices, and the use of common assessments. Teachers, principals, and superintendents may use the results of this study to promote the creation of professional learning communities. The results of this study can lead to positive social change by providing an alternative school culture encouraging a positive perception among teachers that leads to improved instructional practice which can impact student learning

Author: Karen Gunlikson Hart
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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