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This paper examines the effects of instructional leadership on the change in teachers’ classroom practices, with the mediating role of shared practice and learning effectiveness. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, using quantitative methods. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data collected from 350 teachers in primary and secondary schools in various provinces of Turkey. The results provided evidence consistent with the previous research from western English-speaking societies, suggesting an indirect relationship between leadership and teachers’ instructional practices with the full mediation roles of shared practices among teachers and their sense of agency in learning effectiveness. This work concludes that teacher learning and collaborative practices among teachers, influenced by principals’ instructional practices, can facilitate a significant change in several diverse components of classroom instruction, such as the quality of grouping, questions, homework, instructional strategies and differentiated practices.

Mobile phones are turning into a growingly widespread educational tool across various contexts. However, the scope of research on teachers’ role in mobile-oriented instruction is limited, much less...

المستخلص: بحثت هذا الدراسة اعتقادات معلمات اللغة الإنجليزية في المرحلة الثانوية المتعلقة بالواجبات المنزلية من حيث: أثر الواجبات المنزلية في دعم تعلم الطالبات، مواصفات الواجب المنزلي الفعال، وأثر الواجبات المنزلية في تطوير شخصيات الطالبات، وممارسات المعلمات من حيث: الهدف من تعيين الواجب، ومقدار الجهد المبذول في أداء الواجب، والعمل على تنمية مهارات اللغة الأجنبية باستخدام الواجب المنزلي، ومتابعة أداء الواجب وتقديم التغذية الراجعة. وقد استخدمت الباحثة الاستبانة لتحقيق هذا الغرض، وخلصت الدراسة إلى افتقار المعلمات إلى المعرفة، وعدم الإلتزام بمعايير الواجبات المنزلية الفعالة، التي تؤدي إلى تعلم الطالبات، وإتقان مهارات اللغة الأجنبية. وقد فاقت مناطق الضعف بکثير مناطق القوة، وقد أبرزت النتائج تناقضا کبيرا بين اعتقادات المعلمات المتعلقة بالواجبات المنزلية وممارساتهن، وقد اتضح من نتائج تحليل الاستبانة تهميش عبء العمل وعدم اعتباره مهما، والتطبيق المنخفض لاستراتيجيات التغذية الراجعة الفعالة، وتفضيل الأساليب التقليدية وغير التفسيرية، وقد عززت هذه النتائج الحاجة إلى تقديم مقررات تتعلق بالواجبات المنزلية الفعالة، وکيفية بناءها، والجهد الذي ينبغي أن يبذل لکل مرحلة دراسية، ولکل منهج دراسي في کليات التربية، وضرورة تقديم درورات تدريبية لمعلمات اللغة الإنجليزية في المرحلة الثانوية، تتعلق بأهمية الواجبات المنزلية، وکيفية تحديد الأهداف، والتخطيط لعبء العمل، وتقديم التغذية الراجعة بطريقة تدعم عملية التعلم. Abstract: This study examined the beliefs of female English language teachers at the secondary stage related to homework in terms of: the impact of homework in supporting female students’ learning, effective homework characteristics, and the impact of homework in developing students’ personalities, and examine teacher practices in terms of: the goal of imposing the assignment, and the amount of effort needed to accomplish homework. To achieve this purpose, the researcher used a questionnaire, and the study concluded that there is a lack of knowledge, lack of commitment to maintain effective homework standards, which does not enrich female students learning to master the foreign language skills. The areas of weakness far exceeded the areas of strength, and the results highlighted a significant contradiction between the female teachers’ beliefs related to homework and their practices. These results have reinforced the need to add a course about effective homework. The female teachers should be trained by workshop of homework, how to set goals, plan workload, monitor and evaluate homework, and provide feedback in a manner that supports the learning process.

While higher education institutions (HEIs) are exploring innovative ways to enhance and facilitate learning experience of students and so to improve the overall quality of studies, technology enhanced learning (TEL, henceforth) becomes inevitable. Having explored the possibilities and benefits of TEL, HEIs encourage teachers to develop blended online courses in virtual learning environments, to use new tools and solutions available for student learning monitoring and enhancement and to research how these practices are successful and what are the factors that make impact to teaching and learning success. This paper aims to identify teacher practices how the use of learning analytics in virtual learning environment may enhance learners’ engagement in blended online studies in HE.

The aim of the study is to investigate the learning objectives and teacher practices in the preschool curriculum implemented in the 2013-2014 academic year in terms of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. Case study design of the qualitative research methods is used in the study. In collecting research data, convenience sampling method of purposive sampling is used. For this purpose, planned classroom practices of five teachers in a private primary school were observed, and then the same teachers were interviewed. Additionally, the learning objectives of the preschool curriculum in 2013 are examined. Teacher observation and interview forms are used to collect the data. Descriptive content analysis is conducted using “QSR NVivo 10” and “Microsoft Excel 2010” software in the analysis of the research data. The study results indicate that learning objectives in the preschool curriculum were gathered at the knowledge level, that teacher practices supported this finding, but that the results obtained in the interviews did not support this finding.

This investigation examined whether teacher practices, as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), were associated with students’ proficiency and gain scores, as measured by the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), in 13 high-poverty charter schools in New Jersey. Results from two-level hierarchical linear models, fitted to a sample of 2,188 Kindergarteners through eighth-grade students in 110 classrooms, revealed that instructional and behavior management strategies on the CSAS were associated with (a) MAP gains in mathematics but not in reading and (b) MAP Rasch Unit (RIT) (proficiency) scores in mathematics and reading. The relationship between CSAS scores and student achievement did not differ across grade levels. In general, students in classrooms with higher quality use of classroom strategies exhibited higher gains in mathematics and proficiency scores in mathematics and reading. Implications for research and educational practices are discussed.

Teachers of young learners often seek guidance on how best to engage and motivate their students. In this study, we aimed to document engaging teacher practices in the context of foreign language classes in Japanese elementary schools. We surveyed 16 public elementary school foreign language classes in western Japan using quantitative (questionnaire; external rating) and qualitative (naturalistic observation) tools grounded in self-determination theory. Classes were sorted into three groups of high, middle, and low teacher support based on student surveys, and observed for practices that influenced student engagement in each tercile. Results indicate that students are most responsive in classrooms involving teacher warmth and strictness, homeroom teacher involvement, appropriate pacing, instructional clarity, and a balance of activities. We offer descriptions of how these practices were employed, with implications for classroom practice and teacher training.

This study examined the stress and coping patterns of middle school teachers. A final teacher sample of 102 and student sample of 1450 agreed to participate in the study. We conducted a latent profile analysis of the teachers' self-reported levels of stress and coping at the beginning of the school year and used the resulting profiles to predict teacher practices and student outcomes over time. Nearly all teachers were characterized by high stress and high coping (66%) or high stress and low coping (28%). Based on concurrent ratings and observations, the High Stress/Low Coping profile had higher burnout and lower self-efficacy, higher rates of observed reprimands, and higher student-reported depression in comparison to the other classes. The most adaptive profile, Low Stress/High Coping (6% of sample), had lower burnout, greater parent involvement and higher student prosocial skills in comparison to the other groups. Profiles also predicted the maintenance of most of these effects and the increase of some effects over the school year. Examining stress and coping in combination can inform efforts to improve teacher well-being and have a positive influence on student learning environments.

As early childhood education programs in the United States increasingly serve a growing number of children from linguistically and culturally diverse families, understanding teacher practices to better serve these families continues to be an important focus for the profession. In programs that serve migrant farmworker families, little is known about teachers’ communication practices and ways in which teachers promote parent engagement with migrant farmworker families. This article explores the practices of teachers relevant to family communication and engagement in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs, a branch of Head Start program for farmworker families, mostly of Mexican origin. This study used qualitative methods of in-depth interviews and a focus group to bring forth the perspectives and lived experience of Spanish-speaking and English-speaking teachers working with farmworker families in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Key findings illustrate the role of shared language and culture, mediated language barriers, the reliability of interpreters and written communication, and authentic ways of creating home–school connections with the migrant farmworker community.

This study examines the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement in Mathematics among Grade 4 pupils located in 91 urban primary schools and 181 rural primary schools in Kenya. ...

This paper reports on teacher practices in tablet-based Finnish one-to-one computing classrooms in grades 7-9. The aim of this study was to increase the understanding of teacher practices by illustrating and analysing the relations of power and control in Finnish teachers' one-to-one computing classrooms. The study applied methods based on classroom observations, photographs and audio recordings of the teachers' communication. Within the context of this study, the results indicate two theoretically distinct, but varying, forms of teaching practice. These teaching practices demonstrate contrasts with regard to how the classroom spaces were organised, including one-to-one computing, as well as the teacher-enacted communication with students. Based on how power and control either was retained by the teachers or distributed to the students, this paper highlight how different meanings were constructed in student learning.

Using portraiture methodology, this study features caring classroom experiences between Latina teen mothers and their teachers at an alternative school along the U.S./Mexico border. Classroom observations and in-depth interviews were conducted to piece together three classroom portraits which reveal the following: (a) authentically caring pedagogical interactions in the classrooms enabled Latina teen mothers to develop a pro-school ethos, and (b) these pedagogical interactions of care and support in the classroom were made possible within a caring schooling structure. This article contributes to the field of urban education by showcasing successes and effective practices in an urban setting.

Students master the methods of reasoning and argumentation in school mathematics when study theorems and their proofs. In studying theorems, students must learn to understand the essence of the theorem. For this, special work with the wording of the theorem is necessary. We believe that this work must contain: a) four mandatory stages; b) three stages for students who take a genuine interest in mathematics; c) stage for those who want to go further in learning mathematics. The aim of this study is to investigate the challenges in teacher practices during four mandatory stages; to reveal the obvious and hidden factors that affect student outcomes. For this study, a survey that involved 129 mathematics teachers across Ukraine was carried out. A standard closed ended questionnaire was developed. Several challenges were found in the area of students' motivation, and teachers' lack of understanding of how to most efficiently teach the wording of theorems. Factor analysis was used to analyze the results of the survey, and 10 variables were found to describe how teachers motivated students to learn theorems and taught the wording of theorems.

Establishing a positive peer climate in the elementary school classroom is an important goal for educators. This pilot study examined if children’s liking and disliking of their classroom peers are predicted by teachers’ use of practices designed to address child disruptive behaviors that are off-putting to peers, and practices designed to enhance peer inclusivity. Whereas teacher practices to foster good peer relationships are useful for all students, they are particularly important for those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, as these children are often poorly regarded by classmates. Thus, we explored the moderating effect of child ADHD symptom status. Participants were 194 children (grades K-4) in the classrooms of 12 teachers. The teachers were helping our study team revise the Making Socially Accepting Inclusive Classrooms (MOSAIC) program for use in general education classrooms. The MOSAIC program contains a set of teacher strategies to encourage students’ increased liking and decreased disliking of one another, which was measured by sociometric ratings. Teachers’ use of MOSAIC strategies was observed and self-reported over a school year. Results indicated that teacher practices designed to improve children’s classroom behaviors, as well as practices that encouraged peers to be more inclusive, each predicted children receiving better sociometric ratings at the end of the year after accounting for ratings at the beginning of the year. Some practices appeared uniquely efficacious for children with elevated ADHD symptoms, whereas others were useful for all children but had accentuated benefits for typical children. Implications for practitioners are discussed.

This article presents a synthesis of international research in mathematics education about the secondarytertiary transition, with a specific interest in the most recent works. These studies may concern students' difficulties, and investigate different factors causing these difficulties: notions become more abstract, expected practices refer to those of mathematicians, the institutional culture changes. Some studies analyze more broadly the practices of teachers and students at the end of high school or at the beginning of post-secondary level. Research in mathematics education provides keys to understanding current practices and their consequences, whether in ordinary courses or in teaching device specially designed to improve the transition from secondary to tertiary education. In some cases, it also proposes innovative courses fostering active student involvement, and highlights the benefits of these courses. The development of initial and in-service training for university teachers could help extend such teaching beyond experimental contexts., Cet article présente une synthèse de travaux de recherche internationaux en didactique des mathématiques à propos de la transition secondaire-supérieur, avec un intérêt spécifique porté aux travaux les plus récents. Ces travaux peuvent concerner les difficultés des étudiants, et en donner diverses interprétations : les notions deviennent plus abstraites, les pratiques attendues se réfèrent à celles des mathématiciens, la culture institutionnelle change. Certaines études analysent plus largement les pratiques des enseignants et des élèves en fin de lycée ou étudiants au début du supérieur. La recherche en didactique des mathématiques donne des clefs pour comprendre l’existant, qu’il s’agisse de cours ordinaires ou de dispositifs spécialement conçus pour accompagner la transition secondaire-supérieur. Elle propose aussi dans certains cas des enseignements innovants qui permettent une implication active des étudiants, et met en évidence les apports de ces dispositifs. Le développement de la formation initiale et continue des enseignants de l’université pourrait contribuer à étendre de tels enseignements au-delà de contextes expérimentaux.

Despite the existence of a large body of research on pragmatic instruction, teachers’ beliefs about teaching and assessing pragmatic competence have received scant attention. The present study sought to investigate Persian-speaking EFL teachers’ beliefs and perceived knowledge about pragmatic instruction and assessment and their self-reported instructional practice. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was administered to 204 EFL teachers and 30 of these teachers also participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that even though the teachers were aware of the importance of pragmatics, they did not consider themselves highly competent in teaching the subject to learners or in the assessment of learners’ pragmatic abilities. The most frequent method they reported having used was pragmatic corrective feedback. Further, the teachers believed that their colleagues and institute directors also gave little weight to the improvement of learners’ pragmatic abilities, and they further argued that textbooks and exams, while containing some pragmatics-related sections, failed to enhance and measure learners’ pragmatic knowledge. These results have critical implications for teachers’ pragmatic awareness in their professional development and for the inclusion of more explicit pragmatic activities in textbooks.

Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education has become a top priority, particularly for low-income Latino students, who are vastly underrepresented in STEM fields, largely due to various inequities in the PK-20 pipeline (Villareal, Cabrera, & Friedrich, 2012). Implementing effective science instruction in preschool has been identified as a way to increase low-income Latino students’ participation in STEM (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). However, science in preschool classrooms is often nonexistent or not of high-quality (Nayfield et al, 2011; Tu, 2006). This lack of high-quality science in preschool is especially problematic for low-income Latino children, who already face challenges persisting in the STEM pipeline throughout their years of schooling. Research that centers around improving children’s early science learning focus mostly on children’s science experiences within the classroom, but there is little research that consider children’s culturally-based early science experiences within the home.This study investigated low-income Latino children’s early science experiences at home and at school. Using mixed-methods and an ecocultural (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Weisner, 2002)/ cultural communities (Rogoff 2003) perspective, this study examined and compared the early science learning beliefs/values and practices of low-income Latino parents of preschool children and their children’s preschool teachers. Both parents and teachers ranked science as one of the least important school readiness domains that children should learn about in preschool. Teachers also rated science the domain they felt least comfortable teaching. Teachers reported science as being difficult to teach due to various barriers (i.e. fixed mindset of their science teaching capabilities, issues with preschool program structure, and a belief that science is inappropriate for preschool children). Science was both a reported and documented area of weakness, as there were very few science-related activities/interactions and several “missed opportunities” for science-related talk, play, and exploration that were observed. This study provided a more detailed picture of two cultural communities (home and school) that impact children’s early science learning. An increased awareness of parents and teachers’ beliefs/values and practices, can aid in the improvement and development of effective, culturally adaptive, science curriculum and instruction that is informed by the beliefs/values and practices of children’s parents and teachers.

This study examines associations between teacher effectiveness in improving both students’ academic achievement and social-emotional skills. Using hierarchical linear modeling, a specific set of teacher practices were used to examine teacher effectiveness in both domains. Our results show that the average academic achievement residuals do not correlate with the average social-emotional residuals. However, some teaching characteristics—including teacher expectation, teacher-student relationship, and classroom discipline—significantly related to both academic achievement gains and social-emotional skill development, while some other practices significantly associated with only one domain. These findings suggest that even though there is no necessary association between teacher effectiveness in improving academic achievement along with social-emotional skills in general, teachers’ instructional and social-emotional practices can make differences in students’ academic and social-emotional development.

Mobile augmented reality games (MARGs) can be leveraged for educational purposes, as there are several examples in the literature revealing their educational value. The supporting technologies for MARGs’ implementation in education are increasingly pervasive and popular, so it is time for their adoption in teacher practices. However, the integration of new practices in schools, with an impact on students’ learning, requires teacher training. For that, a 50 h workshop was con-ducted to promote the collaborative development of MARGs for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning, which was attended by 16 in-service teachers, in Portugal. The aim of this study is to propose a set of guidelines for teacher training on MARGs, emergent from the perspectives of teachers who participated in the workshop. This is a descriptive qualitative study focusing on documental analysis of the individual final reflections of the participating teachers. The results showed that the workshop answered teachers’ personal and professional needs, with an impact on their practices, in what concerns the integration of mobile and AR technology, and of games. Producing a new game during training and making it freely available for others to use seemed to be very satisfactory for teachers, and a good practice to follow. From teachers’ reflections, it was possible to propose a set of guidelines useful for international readership, both researchers and teacher trainers, who aim to conceive and develop continuous professional development initiatives for MARGs’ integration in teacher practices. This research was funded by FEDER-Fundo Europeu de Desevolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020-Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, grant number PO-CI-01-0145-FEDER-016542, and the work of the second author is funded by national funds (OE), through University of Aveiro, in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. published

This mixed methods study examines the development of native English speakers’ Spanish oral language proficiency in an elementary school two-way immersion program in the southeast United States. I first collected Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey data to determine the Spanish proficiency for 86 randomly chosen students, then used the oral language results to select eight focal students for continued classroom observation over the course of two months. Using Douglas Barnes’ (2008) description of exploratory talk as a theoretical framework, I found that Morning Meeting, Turn-and-Talk with a Partner, pre-taught Sentence Stems, and Socratic Seminar supported students’ discourse in Spanish in one fourth-grade classroom. These teacher practices have in common their promotion of language interaction between peers in unscripted, high social engagement activities and a safe classroom setting. Recommendations for practice include: 1) adopting teacher practices that support student interaction and engagement in exploratory talk in Spanish, especially targeted sentence stems and turn-and-talk with a partner; 2) building safe language classrooms, including the implementation of ground rules for discussion together with the class, small group preparation time for whole class discussion, and giving students ample wait time before correction; 3) establishing a Spanish-language assessment program; 4) working to build a culture of bilingualism schoolwide; and 5) engaging in further evaluation with a focus on the Spanish-speaking population.

The inclusion of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing, but there have been no longitudinal studies of included students in Australia. Interview data reported in this study concern primary school children with ASD enrolled in mainstream classes in South Australia and New South Wales, Australia. In order to examine perceived facilitators and barriers to inclusion, parents, teachers, and principals were asked to comment on the facilitators and barriers to inclusion relevant to each child. Data are reported about 60 students, comprising a total of 305 parent interviews, 208 teacher interviews, and 227 principal interviews collected at 6-monthly intervals over 3.5 years. The most commonly mentioned facilitator was teacher practices. The most commonly mentioned barrier was intrinsic student factors. Other factors not directly controllable by school staff, such as resource limitations, were also commonly identified by principals and teachers. Parents were more likely to mention school- or teacher-related barriers. Many of the current findings were consistent with previous studies but some differences were noted, including limited reporting of sensory issues and bullying as barriers. There was little change in the pattern of facilitators and barriers identified by respondents over time. A number of implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Student self-assessment practices are central to involving students in meaningful assessment-as-learning. While personal and psychological factors are known antecedents, little is known about proximal social contexts (e.g., teacher practices) as predictors of student self-assessment. This chapter presents the findings from a cross-sectional study that aimed to test the association between perceived teacher practices and students' self-assessment practices. Using data from 796 secondary school students, we used regression analyses to examine the link between three types of teaching practices (i.e., involved, structured, and autonomy-supportive) and student's four self-assessment actions (i.e., seeking external feedback by monitoring, seeking external feedback by inquiry, seeking internal feedback, and self-reflection). Results showed that involved teaching predicted self-assessment practices with small to medium effect sizes. Involved and autonomy-supportive teaching practices had medium effect sizes to self-reflection and seeking external feedback by monitoring, respectively, while structured teaching did not. These findings highlight the importance of teacher involvement and autonomy-support in promoting students' self-assessment.

While collaborative writing has been increasingly investigated in educational research, little is known about whether and how it is adopted as a pedagogical activity in classroom contexts. This exploratory study investigated EFL teachers' perceptions of the implementation of collaborative writing in Chinese tertiary institutions. The analysis of in-depth interviews with 31 EFL teachers from 13 institutions in the People's Republic of China and their teaching materials reveals mismatches between their perceptions and practices, as well as their perceptions and knowledge. While the teachers perceived collaborative writing as valuable and feasible, more than half of them were not using it, and their perceptions were not supported by sound teacher knowledge. Practical implications are provided for implementing collaborative writing in classroom contexts.

Autonomous motivation is known as being positively related to individuals' resilience and well-being. This article investigates the self-perceived teacher motivation in relation with manager-perceived teacher motivation. A comparative study was conducted using the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (Gagné et al., 2015). The scale was filled in for five main tasks that teachers were asked to evaluate: class preparation, teaching, evaluation of students, administrative tasks, and complementary tasks (Fernet et al., 2008). The participants were 40 elementary and secondary teachers and 25 school managers from Romanian schools. Teachers evaluated their own motivation while managers filled in the scale with their perception on the teachers they coordinate. Specifically, we found that teacher and school managers have different ways to experience or perceive teacher motivation on the five investigated dimensions. The research results are analyzed to suggest two levels of intervention for enhancing teacher motivation: 1. Teacher motivational development aiming at determining teachers’ motivational self-knowledge and transforming motivation; 2. Developing managerial strategies for enhancing teacher motivation.

This article presents a synthesis of international research in mathematics education about the secondarytertiary transition, with a specific interest in the most recent works. These studies may concern students' difficulties, and investigate different factors causing these difficulties: notions become more abstract, expected practices refer to those of mathematicians, the institutional culture changes. Some studies analyze more broadly the practices of teachers and students at the end of high school or at the beginning of post-secondary level. Research in mathematics education provides keys to understanding current practices and their consequences, whether in ordinary courses or in teaching device specially designed to improve the transition from secondary to tertiary education. In some cases, it also proposes innovative courses fostering active student involvement, and highlights the benefits of these courses. The development of initial and in-service training for university teachers could help extend such teaching beyond experimental contexts.; Cet article présente une synthèse de travaux de recherche internationaux en didactique des mathématiques à propos de la transition secondaire-supérieur, avec un intérêt spécifique porté aux travaux les plus récents. Ces travaux peuvent concerner les difficultés des étudiants, et en donner diverses interprétations : les notions deviennent plus abstraites, les pratiques attendues se réfèrent à celles des mathématiciens, la culture institutionnelle change. Certaines études analysent plus largement les pratiques des enseignants et des élèves en fin de lycée ou étudiants au début du supérieur. La recherche en didactique donne des clefs pour comprendre l’existant, qu’il s’agisse de cours ordinaires ou de dispositifs spécialement conçus pour accompagner la transition secondaire-supérieur. Elle propose aussi dans certains cas des enseignements innovants qui permettent une implication active des étudiants, et met en évidence les apports de ces dispositifs. Le développement de la formation initiale et continue des enseignants de l’université pourrait contribuer à étendre de tels enseignements au-delà de contextes expérimentaux.

With the introduction of educational robotics (ER) and computational thinking (CT) in classrooms, there is a rising need for operational models that help ensure that CT skills are adequately developed. One such model is the Creative Computational Problem Solving Model (CCPS) which can be employed to improve the design of ER learning activities. Following the first validation with students, the objective of the present study is to validate the model with teachers, specifically considering how they may employ the model in their own practices. The Utility, Usability and Acceptability framework was leveraged for the evaluation through a survey analysis with 334 teachers. Teachers found the CCPS model useful to foster transversal skills but could not recognise the impact of specific intervention methods on CT-related cognitive processes. Similarly, teachers perceived the model to be usable for activity design and intervention, although felt unsure about how to use it to assess student learning and adapt their teaching accordingly. Finally, the teachers accepted the model, as shown by their intent to replicate the activity in their classrooms, but were less willing to modify it or create their own activities, suggesting that they need time to appropriate the model and underlying tenets., To appear in the proceedings of the 12th international conference on robotics in education (RiE 2021)

The studies in the special series focus on the measurement of teacher practices and approaches for facilitating and evaluating school personnel’s use of data to inform instructional decisions that promote student achievement. In this commentary, the importance of conducting research on professional development and coaching is highlighted. The need to consider a broader framework within which professional development and coaching are contextualized and directions for future research are discussed.

he study aimed to identify the role of kindergarten teachers during the mealtime in providing nutritional knowledge of the kindergarten child. To achieve this, a descriptive method was used. The questionnaire was used as data collection tool. The sample consisted of (60) Kindergarten Teachers. In the analysis of the data, the study showed that the tool obtained an average of (2. 95 from 4. 00) and at the field level Axis concept of nutritional knowledge (2. 88). Followed by the difficulty of kindergarten teachers during the mealtime, teachers were at an average of (2.49). Both of which are rated (High), while very high on (kindergarten teacher practices during the mealtime at an average of (3.46).The teachers also showed that the meals attended by the children are healthy and that there is awareness among the families about the type of food provided to the children. In the light of the results of this study, a number of recommendation and suggestions are made to introduce the food culture of the child as judges in the rehabilitation and training of nannies and teachers.

This study explores the relationship between students’ perceptions and teachers’ discourse practices in mathematics classrooms. It reframes the sequence of Initiate-Response-Follow-up (IRF) with a renewed discourse structure that focuses on teachers’ follow-up actions including listening, thoughtful questioning, and effective talk moves. Specifically, the study analyzes how these follow-up actions were related to positive student perceptions about their teachers’ discourse practices around sustaining productive discussions in mathematics classrooms. Participants were secondary mathematics teachers (n = 57) and their students (n = 875) in U.S. schools. The study first considered the students’ perceptions of their teachers’ discourse practices, identifying which teachers were perceived by students to implement mathematics discussions. Next, the study identified and examined patterns of teacher practices in discussions—the teachers’ talk moves, duration, and frequency in asking follow-up questions. Findings indicate that the teachers identified by students as promoting mathematics discussion tended to ask follow-up questions that increased and sustained students’ participation in mathematics discussions. What this finding implies is that in asking follow-up questions, the teacher listened and responded to students’ ideas, and students felt heard. The study asserts that there is much potential for enhancing mathematics instruction by learning more about how teachers listen to and build on students’ responses.

Scholars propose that contextual problems can be used to ground students’ understanding of mathematical ideas, and recent curricular trends have resulted in a plethora of resources that int...

Background: The literature on the effects of teacher coaching in early childhood (EC) education programs is underdeveloped but emerging. Using the theory of action in professional development as our theoretical framework, we hypothesize that active coaching improves teaching methods and creates a more effective classroom environment for enhancing children’s learning and skills. Objectives: This study evaluates the effects of the Mississippi Building Blocks (MBB) program, an EC intervention with a strong emphasis on supervisor and coaching training. Research design: We conduct a randomized controlled experiment in which data were collected at baseline, midpoint (Month 3), and postintervention (Month 6) in 24 preschool classrooms in Mississippi. Subjects: The experiment included 195 preschoolers, of which 95 were in classrooms led by teachers who received coaching (treatment) and 100 were in classrooms without coaching (control). Measures: We measured child’s emergent language and literacy, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, print language skills, problem-solving, math skills, and socioemotional development. Results: We find that MBB coaching led to substantial improvements in child outcomes relative to the control group, particularly in gross motor skills, print language skills, and socioemotional development. We also find some evidence that MBB coaching improved math skills, though these estimates are on the margin of statistical significance. Finally, a mediator analysis indicates that improvements in the classroom learning environment brought about by MBB coaching improved child outcomes. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that an intensive form of classroom coaching for teachers leads to significant gains in child outcomes.

There is a consensus that what teachers do in the classroom directly impacts student’s learning. Currently, however there is a paucity of data identifying which teaching practices actually support ...

textabstractMetaphors are devices that people employ for both poetic purposes and rhetorical elaboration and belong to the realm of extraordinary language. Metaphors are used to connect abstract ideas and information to more concrete experiences, thus making these experiences more familiar and easier to understand. Moreover, metaphors are more than symbolic intellectual processes; they influence the conceptual understanding of our experiences and help define our everyday realities. For education, there is an important and relevant practical connection between the metaphors that teachers employ and their beliefs about teaching and classroom practices. This stems from the notion that metaphors guide one’s mental framework. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the metaphors influencing teachers in gifted education, this study specifically asked teachers to describe both their metaphors concerning gifted students as well as those influencing their teaching. In this study, nine different themes were identified. This research demonstrates a clear connection between reported metaphors and how gifted students receive their education from teachers. Participants’ answers demonstrate a strong connection between their metaphors and their classroom practices. However, strict adherence to one’s root metaphor increases the chance for dogmatism in the classroom and can lead to potentially incoherent classroom differentiation and a potential disconnect between classroom practices and the actual pedagogical needs of the gifted learner.

This paper traces the development of a program of work that seeks to understand the teacher practices that promote productive dialogue and learning in mathematics classrooms. This work originated in cooperative/collaborative learning research, with a focus on understanding group dynamics effective for student learning. Over time, it layered on increasing attention to the teacher’s role, and branched out to consider the multiple participation structures in the classroom (whole-class discussion, small-group collaborative work, private student-student conversations). Each phase of this work brought in a heightened focus on the details of classroom interaction around mathematics—both in the thinking that students share and in the practices teachers use to support student participation—to better understand the development of students’ mathematics learning.

Existing research suggests that students with ADHD may not receive the expected benefit from some testing accommodations. One possible explanation for this lack of benefit might be that students do not receive adequate instruction in and practice with testing accommodations to make them effective. The current study was designed to investigate teacher belief, knowledge, and practices that may influence the competent use of academic testing accommodations on the part of students. An anonymous survey of current classroom teachers ( n = 240) representing the full range of roles and grade spans was conducted via social media platforms. Overall, teachers endorsed beliefs about testing accommodations most positively, followed by practice, then knowledge. Teacher role (i.e., special vs. general education teacher) and grade span taught were associated with beliefs, knowledge, and practice with regard to supporting competent student use of academic testing accommodations. Teacher training was positively associated with teacher knowledge regarding practices that are thought to best prepare students to use their testing accommodations with independence. These findings suggest that additional training may be needed, particularly for certain groups of teachers, in order to promote instructional practices that may improve the successful use of student academic testing accommodations. Subscribe to LDMJ