Education Commons^™

Student And Teacher Attitudes Toward Giftedness In A Two Laboratory School Environment: A Case For Conducting A Needs Assessment, Jennifer Riedl Cross, Tracy Cross, Andrea D. Frazier

Jennifer Cross

Providing effective professional development in laboratory schools around topics that can be divisive, such as preparing a school environment for expansion of gifted education services, can be quite difficult. However, doing so based on data collected through a needs assessment can be invaluable to the planning process. As part of a needs assessment in preparation to enroll 100 new gifted students, students and teachers (N=171) from a unique setting in which a residential school for gifted high school students is housed within a laboratory school were surveyed using F. Gagné and L. Nadeau’s (1991) Opinions about the Gifted …

Queensland Teacher Workload Study: Final Report To The Queensland Teachers’ Union, Sheldon Rothman, Lawrence Ingvarson, Darren Matthews

Dr Sheldon Rothman

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU). The survey was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and heads of program working in Queensland government schools. It was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) in 2016 and the AEU – Tasmanian Branch in 2017. The survey of the work of union members in Queensland government schools focussed on the hours of work by school staff, staff perceptions of their work, and the relationship between work practices …

Queensland Teacher Workload Study: Final Report To The Queensland Teachers’ Union, Sheldon Rothman, Lawrence Ingvarson, Darren Matthews

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU). The survey was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and heads of program working in Queensland government schools. It was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) in 2016 and the AEU – Tasmanian Branch in 2017. The survey of the work of union members in Queensland government schools focussed on the hours of work by school staff, staff perceptions of their work, and the relationship between work practices …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Kathryn Brooks

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Investing In Teachers, Adeola Capel, Hilary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Alison Lonsdale, Yung Nietschke, Rachel Parker, Kate Reid, Jeaniene Spink, Mollie Tobin, Mary Fearnley-Sander, Jacinta Overs

Dr Kate Reid

This evaluation compares evidence from the literature with Australia’s experience in supporting teacher development in a range of developing countries. It uses case studies to good effect in explaining choices made, the extent to which expectations were or were not met, and the lessons for future Australian assistance for teacher development. The evaluation found mixed results. In cooperation with governments and other donors, Australia has made positive contributions, such as improving teacher frameworks and curriculums, and training teachers through a range of interventions. However, there is room to improve—for example, in enhancing policy, strengthening analysis and negotiating new investments—so teacher …

Investing In Teachers, Adeola Capel, Hilary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Alison Lonsdale, Yung Nietschke, Rachel Parker, Kate Reid, Jeaniene Spink, Mollie Tobin, Mary Fearnley-Sander, Jacinta Overs

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

This evaluation compares evidence from the literature with Australia’s experience in supporting teacher development in a range of developing countries. It uses case studies to good effect in explaining choices made, the extent to which expectations were or were not met, and the lessons for future Australian assistance for teacher development. The evaluation found mixed results. In cooperation with governments and other donors, Australia has made positive contributions, such as improving teacher frameworks and curriculums, and training teachers through a range of interventions. However, there is room to improve—for example, in enhancing policy, strengthening analysis and negotiating new investments—so teacher …

Supporting Leadership Preparation In Indonesia, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

Kathryn Moyle reports on an evaluation of a professional learning program for aspiring school principals in Indonesia.

Staff In Australia’S Schools 2007, Phillip Mckenzie, Julie Kos, Maurice Walker, Jennifer Hong, Susanne Owen

Maurice Walker

The SIAS project, undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research in collaboration with the Australia College of Educators, gathered information from over 13,000 secondary and primary school teachers and leaders across the country. It aimed to address key gaps in the data available to characterise the teaching profession to support workforce planning. The project's findings and recommendations are presented in two components: the Staff in Australia's Schools data survey; and a report on Teacher Workforce Data and Planning Processes in Australia. The reports produced through the SIAS project provide a wide range of comprehensive data and advice on a …

Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research, Cathy Caro-Bruce, Ryan Flessner, M. Klehr, K. Zeichner

Ryan Flessner

Despite the best intentions of reform efforts, educational inequity continues to exist in public schools. Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research to both raise student achievement and strengthen instruction leadership. Ideal for both a first-time action research endeavor or one already in progress, this practical guidebook helps practitioners formulate specific research questions, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings. Invaluable for school district leaders, teachers, professional development schools, and preservice teachers, this resource …

Traumatic Brain Injury: The Efficacy Of A Half-Day Training For School Psychologists, Susan C. Davies, Ashlyn M. Ray

Susan C. Davies

The incidence rates of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are increasing, yet educators continue to be inadequately trained in assessing and serving students with TBIs. This study examined the efficacy of a half-day TBI training program for school psychologists designed to improve their knowledge and skills. Results of quantitative and qualitative survey analysis indicated there was little increase in knowledge and skills from pre-training to one-year follow-up, although participants did increase in confidence related to their decision-making abilities in working with students with TBI. The data indicate a need for future study of more effective training models.

What Teaching Means, Tanya Baker, Daniel Boster, Marni Valerio, Susan R. Adams

Susan Adams

Join the editors of What Teaching Means: Stories from America’s Classrooms, as well as several teacher-consultants/authors whose essays are featured in the text. We will talk about the book, hear some essays from it, and talk about its audiences and uses in writing project work.

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Susan Adams

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Theory Guided Professional Development In Early Childhood Science Education, Soo-Young Hong, Julia Torquati, Victoria J. Molfese

Soo-Young Hong

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standard. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical …

Head Start Classrooms And Children’S School Readiness Benefit From Teachers’ Qualifications And Ongoing Training, Seung-Hee Claire Son, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Hyun-Joo Jeon, Soo-Young Hong

Soo-Young Hong

Background Teacher qualifications have been emphasized as a basis of professional development to improve classroom practices for at-risk children’s school readiness. However, teacher qualifications have often not been compared to another form of professional development, in-service training. Objective The current study attempts to investigate contributions of multiple types of professional development to school readiness skills of low-income preschoolers. Specifically, we examined the significance of teachers’ education level, degree, teaching certificate, teaching experiences as well as specialized in-service training and coaching support as these teacher trainings are linked to preschoolers’ school readiness through proximal classroom practices. Method We used a multi-level …

Engaging With Excellence In Mathematics Teaching : Creating Excellence In The Learning Environment, Ray Peck, Hilary Hollingsworth, W Morony

Ray Peck

No abstract provided.

The Digest Edition 2010/1 : Successful Professional Learning, Marion Meiers, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

This edition of The Digest is focused on research into teacher learning and professional development. Teacher learning includes not only activities such as conferences and workshops, but also includes participation in many formal and informal learning activities. Recent research has focussed, amongst other things, on characteristics of successful professional learning, and on the connections between teachers’ professional learning and improvements in student learning. This research has the potential to assist teachers and schools in selecting and planning for professional learning, so that it will maximise the benefits for participants. The first section of this digest presents some research findings on …

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presentation at the 12th American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 24-27, 2013.

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presentation at the 34th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, Philadelphia, PA, February 23, 2013.

Evaluation Of The School Centres For Teaching Excellence (Sctes) Initiatives : Final Report, Glenn Rowley, Paul Weldon, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Lawrence Ingvarson

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Learning On The Spot: Site Based Teacher Education In Australia, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

In recent years, some Australian schools and universities have been moving away from traditional modes of teacher education in which pre-service teachers typically undertake their practicums in ‘blocks’ of about four weeks a couple of times a year, to newer models in which they become attached to a school, spending at least two days a week there, undertaking extra-curricular duties and participating in a variety of activities so that they become more like a teacher who actually works in that school than a visitor. In some site-based models, neighbouring schools have joined in clusters or partnerships together with the university …

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, Dayton, OH, October 19, 2012.

The Digest Edition 2010/1 : Successful Professional Learning, Marion Meiers, Sarah Buckley

Marion Meiers

This edition of The Digest is focused on research into teacher learning and professional development. Teacher learning includes not only activities such as conferences and workshops, but also includes participation in many formal and informal learning activities. Recent research has focussed, amongst other things, on characteristics of successful professional learning, and on the connections between teachers’ professional learning and improvements in student learning. This research has the potential to assist teachers and schools in selecting and planning for professional learning, so that it will maximise the benefits for participants. The first section of this digest presents some research findings on …

Experiences In The Field: The Evolution Of A Teacher Technology Professional Development Model, M. Robertshaw, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, Heather Leary, Linda Sellers

Heather Leary, Ph.D.

The New Science of Learning: Cognition, Computers and Collaboration in Education deftly explores the multiple relationships found among these critical elements in students’ increasingly complex and multi-paced educational experience. Starting with instructors’ insights into the cognitive effects of digital media—a diverse range of viewpoints with little consensus—this cutting-edge resource acknowledges the double-edged potential inherent in computer-based education and its role in shaping students’ thinking capabilities.

Australian Teachers And The Learning Environment : An Analysis Of Teacher Response To Talis 2008 : Final Report, Chris Freeman, Kate O’Malley, Frances Eveleigh

Chris Freeman

The Department of Education, Science and Training commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to undertake the Australian component of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). TALIS is one of the first international surveys to focus on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers in schools. TALIS was conducted in 24 OECD and OECD-partner countries in 2007 and 2008, though internationally comparable results were reported for only 23 countries due to requisite sampling standards for publication. This first survey is part of a planned programme of surveys which will examine various levels of schooling over …

Exploring Partnership Models Of Teacher Education, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Observing Interactive Teaching, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Instructional Architect Teacher Professional Development Handouts, Mimi Recker, Andrew Walker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather M. Leary

Linda Sellers

Three handouts for the teacher professional development workshops on the Instructional Architect (IA). Starting spring 2009 the face-to-face workshop was changed to be three different days of learning about how to use the IA, inquiry based and problem based learning, evaluation of IA projects with a rubric, and creating IA projects.

Experiences In The Field: The Evolution Of A Teacher Technology Professional Development Model, M. Robertshaw, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, Heather Leary, Linda Sellers

Linda Sellers

The New Science of Learning: Cognition, Computers and Collaboration in Education deftly explores the multiple relationships found among these critical elements in students’ increasingly complex and multi-paced educational experience. Starting with instructors’ insights into the cognitive effects of digital media—a diverse range of viewpoints with little consensus—this cutting-edge resource acknowledges the double-edged potential inherent in computer-based education and its role in shaping students’ thinking capabilities.

Practical Challenges And Possibilities For The Integration Of Academic Literacy In A First Year Subject, Clifford Jackson, Pauline Taylor, Adam Raoul

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Staff In Australia’S Schools 2007, Phillip Mckenzie, Julie Kos, Maurice Walker, Jennifer Hong, Susanne Owen

Dr Julie Kos

The SIAS project, undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research in collaboration with the Australia College of Educators, gathered information from over 13,000 secondary and primary school teachers and leaders across the country. It aimed to address key gaps in the data available to characterise the teaching profession to support workforce planning. The project's findings and recommendations are presented in two components: the Staff in Australia's Schools data survey; and a report on Teacher Workforce Data and Planning Processes in Australia. The reports produced through the SIAS project provide a wide range of comprehensive data and advice on a …