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Teachers' Experiences (teacher + experience)
Selected AbstractsA strategic response to class size reduction: Combination classes and student achievement in CaliforniaJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008David Sims The California class size reduction program provided schools with cash rewards for K,3 classes of 20 or fewer students. I show how program rules made it possible for schools to save money by using mixed-grade classes to meet class size reduction obligations while maintaining larger average class sizes. I also show that this smoothing of students across grades is associated with a significant test score gap for certain second and third grade students. My estimates suggest that class size reduction may lead to lower test scores for students placed in combination classes. Alternative explanations of teacher experience and credentialing changes cannot explain the test score pattern. This result spotlights both the underappreciated role of age heterogeneity in classroom learning and the difficulty of replicating the success of policy experiments in statewide reform. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] Modeling the effects of health status and the educational infrastructure on the cognitive development of Tanzanian schoolchildrenAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Alok Bhargava This paper models the proximate determinants of school attendance and scores on cognitive and educational achievement tests and on school examinations of over 600 schoolchildren from the Control group of a randomized trial in Tanzania, where children in the Intervention group heavily infected with hookworm and schistosomiasis received treatment. The modeling approach used a random effects framework and incorporated the inter-relationships between school attendance and performance on various tests, controlling for children's health status, socioeconomic variables, grade level, and the educational infrastructure. The empirical results showed the importance of variables such as children's height and hemoglobin concentration for the scores, especially on educational achievement tests that are easy to implement in developing countries. Also, teacher experience and work assignments were significant predictors of the scores on educational achievement tests, and there was some evidence of multiplicative effects of children's heights and work assignments on the test scores. Lastly, some comparisons were made for changes in test scores of treated children in the Intervention group with the untreated children in the Control group. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:280,292, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Bridging the Divides: The Need for a Pragmatic Semiotics of Teacher Knowledge ResearchEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2005Jerry Rosiek In this essay, we consider four approaches to research on teacher knowledge: the scholarship of teaching, action research and teacher research, narrative inquiry, and critical-cultural teacher research. Similarities and differences among these four approaches are highlighted. The most salient difference lies in the way each approach identifies different discourses as sources of distortion in teacher knowledge research. Although some divergence within a field of study can be a valuable source of debate and dialogue, we believe the differences identified here risk dividing the field of teacher knowledge research in unproductive ways. What is needed, we propose, is a semiotic theory that acknowledges the way teacher knowledge is irreducibly mediated by multiple discourses while preserving a commitment to the idea that individual teachers' experiences can be a source of novel and useful knowledge. We examine two semiotic theories , French poststructuralism and Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmatic semiotics , and critically assess how they might facilitate more constructive dialogue among differing conceptions of teachers' knowledge research. [source] Clinical teachers' approaches to nursingJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 5-6 2010Helen Forbes Aims and objectives., The aim of the study was to investigate clinical teachers' experiences of nursing and clinical teaching of undergraduate university students. This article reports on clinical teachers' approaches to nursing, which is one part of that study. Background., A lack of knowledge and understanding exists about how clinical teachers approach nursing. There is a likely relationship between approaches to nursing and what is focused on when teaching undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting. It is therefore important to understand the variation in how clinical teachers approach nursing. Design., Phenomenography. Method., Semi-structured interviews of 20 practicing nurses currently employed as clinical teachers from a range of Australian universities were conducted. Data were analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Results., Key aspects of variation in clinical teacher approaches to nursing were identified. The results suggest that clinical teachers approach nursing in one of two ways, either a patient-focused approach or a nurse-focused approach. The research findings extend knowledge that will assist with preparation and support of clinical teachers. Conclusion., Knowledge of the different approaches to nursing provides a structure for helping clinical teachers increase their awareness of both their approach to nursing and the implications for their nursing and teaching. Relevance to clinical practice., Awareness of complex approaches to nursing may be required for multidisciplinary care. [source] Participants' opinions on the usefulness of a teaching portfolioMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2006Dineke E H Tigelaar Background, Whether teaching portfolios achieve their aim of stimulating teachers' professional development is favourably affected by the incorporation of a balanced structure and effective social interactions, such as coaching. We explored teachers' experiences with a teaching portfolio that was structured by teaching roles, portfolio assignments and conversation protocols. The related social interactions consisted of meetings with peers and personal coaches. Teachers' and coaches' opinions were sought about the benefits and the enabling and disabling factors of the portfolio structure and the social interactions involved. Method, Five teachers and their personal coaches were individually interviewed about their experiences with the portfolio. Protocols were analysed using a top-down strategy. Results, The teaching roles were helpful in analysing teaching, but the assignments and the conversation protocols were too detailed and directive. The social interactions were perceived as very valuable for professional development, particularly the meetings with personal coaches. Conclusions, The portfolio structure and social interactions, especially personal coaching, appeared to be helpful for teachers in analysing their teaching practice. The assignments and protocols, however, were too detailed and directive. This may be resolved by using assignments and conversation protocols more flexibly and enabling adjustment to personal learning needs. The high appreciation of personal coaching might be related to the freedom for teachers to choose their own coach. The results can be used by portfolio designers as guidelines for how to achieve a balanced structure and effective social interactions and how these might be combined to increase the benefits of working with a portfolio to teachers. [source] | ||||||||||