Education Commons^™

Validation Of The Principal’S High Stakes Testing Survey, Lantry L. Brockmeier, James L. Pate, Don W. Leech

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this study was to examine the soundness of the psychometric characteristics of the Principal’s High Stakes Testing Survey. The 48-item instrument is comprised of six hypothesized subscales (i.e., curriculum, teaching, work satisfaction, stress, accountability, and students) measured with a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). An expert panel reviewed the instrument plus an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Expert panel members suggested only a few minor modifications to improve the instrument. The confirmatory factor analyses yielded data to support the fit of …

What Does It Mean To Be Highly Qualified?, Diana Brannon

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) seems to be one of the most talked about and controversial educational reforms in decades. NCLB is an elementary and secondary education act signed into law January 8, 2002 designed to help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. It requires that teachers be considered “highly qualified” in the core academic subjects they teach. A highly qualified teacher according to NCLB is one who has a bachelor’s degree, full state certification and licensure, and has demonstrated competency in the subject area he or she teaches (U. S. Department of Education, 2004). However, …

Stress Levels Of School Administrators And Teachers In November And January, Robert Moody, James Barrett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Teaching today’s young people is not only arduous work, but can be dangerously stressful. Anxiety due to school reform efforts, minimal administrative support, poor working circumstances, lack of involvement in school decision making, the encumbrance of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among educators (Hammond & Onikama, 1997). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its subsequential mandated standardized assessments, family responsibilities, continuing education, low salaries, and poor working conditions can also create stress.

How Do You Go From ‘Good’ To ‘Outstanding’?, Rima Aboudan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Many college educators receive a rating of ‘good’ on their teaching delivery. Following teaching evaluations, usually, raters highlight some clear areas for improvement in their rating reports. The challenge for the educator is to characterize what needs to be done and work on the pedagogy advice to gain an ‘outstanding’ rating in the final verdict of the college rating – satisfy those criteria they say, and outstanding you will be. But how? That is the question.

Preparing Students For The College Experience, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Preparing students for College life and most importantly for life beyond high school is a key challenge for many educators and secondary education institutions. Above all, today more than ever, educators must prepare students for the unknown and the unpredictable; careers not yet known to us, opportunities that we can not imagine, and for a world so different that we have no idea what it will look like in thirty or forty years. Hence some of the questions that arise are as follows: what shall we teach our students? What skills do we expect them to develop; and which processes …

Reverence, Mystery, And Christian Education, James C. Schaap

Pro Rege

This speech was presented at the Christian Education Association annual convention in South Bend, Indiana, in 2007.

Erratum: This article states the following: “One quick story: Many here remember Rev. Tony Van Zanten, who ministered faithfully at Roseland, suburban Chicago, before he was called home” (38). Dr. Schaap and the editor of Pro Rege deeply regret the error. Rev. Tony Van Zanten lives in the Chicago area.

The Role Of The Teacher In Moving Students From Below Grade Level To Grade Level, Kathy Beck

The Corinthian

The purpose of this study is to research some of the challenges that teachers face when teaching students who are reading below grade level. The study involved third grade students at Southwest Laurens Elementary School in Laurens County, Georgia. The study revealed that through the intense use of some basic reading strategies that students’ fluency, reading comprehension, and reading levels increased more than basic sight word recognition. The study recommends that teachers continue to spend time each day allowing students to read aloud individually to the teacher. The study further recommends that since it is difficult for one teacher to …

A Case Study On Teaching An Ad/Hd Child With Special Reference To Southwest Laurens Elementary, Tammy Gibson

The Corinthian

When I became on educator eight years ago, I found Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) to be a very intriguing subject. Parents and teachers often have very strong opinions about how to handle students who show symptoms. These opinions are often very different and, if not approached in a professional manner, can damage a parent/teacher relationship. When my oldest son was in the third grade, his teacher and I discussed the fact that he had a very hard time focusing on his class work. For example, he was easily distracted by colorful maps, etc. while looking for a specific page number. …

Differentiated Instruction: One School’S Survey Analysis, Dianne James

The Corinthian

The purposes of this study are to investigate teachers’ perceptions of differentiated instruction and its implementation in day-to-day teaching within the classroom. A small sample of thirty-seven middle school teachers participated in this study. Thirty-three of them completed a fifty-item survey and four participated in a semi-structured individual interview. The findings support the premise that teachers know what differentiated instruction is theoretically or conceptually, but may not be implementing the corresponding strategies in their classrooms. One important implication of this study is that future staff development should continue to reinforce the necessity of differentiated instruction, correct the various misconceptions about …

Relationship Between Teacher Morale And School Climate, Stephanie Blackwell

The Corinthian

The purpose of this study is to obtain information from teachers and administrators on the understanding or lack of understanding of how teacher morale and school climate have a connection at Springdale Elementary School in Macon, Georgia. Questionnaires were administered to certified classroom teachers employed at Springdale Elementary School. In addition, interviews were conducted with the administration.