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The role of environmental factors in beginning teachers’ professional learning related to differentiated instruction
Abstract
Little research has investigated factors that facilitate beginning teachers’ participation in professional learning activities related to differentiated instruction (DI). This study examines environmental factors for DI learning activities in a sample of 272 beginning teachers from 72 primary schools. Multilevel analyses show that teacher education, reflective dialogue, deprivatized practice, educational type, and diversity in student population are related to beginning teachers’ use of DI learning activities (i.e., learning in interaction and changes in practice). As such, the findings revealed that beginning teachers’ participation in such activities may depend on a multitude of factors. Several suggestions regarding these factors are made. First, teacher education can provide foundational knowledge of DI applications. Second, schools can enable teachers to have in-depth conversations with colleagues and provide opportunities to observe good teaching practices. Lastly, alternative schools and schools with diverse student populations can inspire other schools to enhance participation in DI learning activities.
... Maulana et al. (2015) stressed the complexity of DI and indicated that effectively developing competencies for DI takes time and that basic teaching skills are considered a prerequisite. Other studies emphasized the importance of paying attention to DI as early as during teacher education, because (1) knowledge and skills gained during initial teacher education would be key to successful implementation of differentiation, and (2) it allows DI to be presented as the standard teaching approach, rather than introducing it later as an additional and complementary approach (Brevik et al., 2018;D'Intino & Wang, 2021;Dee, 2010;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Matsko & Hammerness, 2014;Scarparolo & Subban, 2021;Specht et al., 2016;Van Geel et al., 2022;Wertheim & Leyser, 2002). Although teacher education programs meet the demands placed on them by addressing DI in their curricula, they often offer only an introduction to theory (D'Intino & Wang, 2021). ...
... Reflective exercise enables teachers to gain self-awareness about their practice and its impact on their students, which mediates teacher practice. When teachers reflect on and discuss their own beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and experiences related to DI, they feel more prepared and more confident to work with diverse learners (De Neve & Devos, 2016). ...
... The efficacy of a teacher program is influenced by the context in which the program is situated (De Neve & Devos, 2016;Desimone, 2009;Kerry & Kerry, 1997;VanTassel-Baska & Stambaugh, 2005). We included the programs context to gain a better understanding of this interaction. ...
Primary and secondary school teachers are expected to adapt their teaching to the diverse educational needs of students through differentiated instruction (DI). This review included 29 peer-reviewed published articles from 2010 to 2020 evaluating the contribution of preservice and in-service teacher programs for DI. We synthesized program components, outcomes and contextual interplay. Results indicate that successful programs incorporate active learning, collaboration and reflection and were often longitudinal, comprehensive and addressed attitudes , knowledge and skills. Contextual (school) factors acted as facilitators and impediments to program efficacy. Balancing school ambitions with realistic expectations is a concern. Educational and policy implications are further discussed.
... In this context, the main purpose of this research is to determine the perceptions of primary school teachers about the application levels of differentiated instruction. Since it was determined in the literature that participating in inservice training for this approach increases the perception of practice (Burkett, 2013;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Dixon et al., 2014;Kurnaz & Arslantaş, 2018;Richards-Usher, 2013) and this training has been recommended to teachers and practiced by the Ministry of National Education since 2018, it is planned to examine these perceptions of primary school teachers in terms of their participation in in-service training. It is known that there are students with different characteristics in the classrooms, then it is aimed to examine the perceptions of the primary school teachers regarded to the presence of these students. ...
... In addition, a significant difference was found in all sub-dimensions in this direction. It is revealed in the literature (Burkett, 2013;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Dixon et al., 2014;Kurnaz & Arslantaş, 2018;Richards-Usher, 2013) that the perception of applying this approach is high among primary school teachers who receive training for differentiated instruction. As a matter of fact, when teachers do not receive training for this approach, they cannot differentiate teaching sufficiently (Gray, 2008). ...
... Bu bağlamda bu araştırmanın temel amacı, sınıf öğretmenlerinin farklılaştırılmış öğretimi uygulama düzeylerine ilişkin algılarının belirlenmesidir. Literatürde bu yaklaşıma yönelik hizmet içi eğitime katılmanın uygulama algısını artırdığını belirlenmesinden (Burkett, 2013;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Dixon vd., 2014;Kurnaz & Arslantaş, 2018;Richards-Usher, 2013), sıklıkla öğretmenlere bu eğitimin sunulmasının önerilmesinden ve 2018 yılından itibaren bakanlığın bunu gerçekleştirmesinden ötürü sınıf öğretmenlerinin bu algılarının hizmet içi eğitime katılma durumu bakımından incelenmesi planlanmıştır. Son yıllarda sınıflardaki farklı özellikli öğrenci sayısının hızla artmasından dolayı sınıf öğretmenlerinin bu algılarının bu öğrencilerin bulunması durumuna göre de incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. ...
The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of primary school teachers related to the application levels of differentiated instruction, and to investigate these perceptions in terms of participating in in-service training for this approach, presence of students with different characteristic, graduated faculty, and gender. In the study, survey method as one of the quantitative research designs was employed. The study group of the research was composed of 703 primary school teachers selected by random sampling. The study data were gathered with "Differentiated Instruction Scale" developed by the researchers. The collected data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS 18 software. As a result of the research, it was determined that the perceptions of primary school teachers related to the implementation of differentiated instruction were high. In addition, these perceptions of primary school teachers who participated in differentiated instruction training were significantly higher than those who did not, primary school teachers graduated from education faculties compared to those who graduated from other faculties, and female primary school teachers compared to men had higher perceptions of differentiated instruction. It was concluded that the perceptions of primary school teachers did not change significantly according to the presence of students with different characteristics in the classrooms. It is suggested that new studies should be carried out using the scale developed in this study and in-service training for differentiated instruction should be disseminated for teachers.
... Van Veen et al., 2012). More recent studies confirm this finding (e.g., Carrillo, Maasen van den Brink, & Groot, 2016;Coenders & Verhoef, 2018;DeNeve & Devos, 2016;Kintz, Lane, Gotwals, & Cisterna, 2015). Furthermore, several studies suggested that feedback from peers elicits reflection on the part of the feedback receiver (Showers & Joyce, 1996) and, moreover, that feedback and reflection were important characteristics of effective PTL activities. ...
... Furthermore, several studies suggested that feedback from peers elicits reflection on the part of the feedback receiver (Showers & Joyce, 1996) and, moreover, that feedback and reflection were important characteristics of effective PTL activities. Again, more recent studies confirm this finding (e.g., Coenders & Verhoef, 2018;DeNeve & Devos, 2016). Additionally, a facilitator is needed, especially in collaborative activities. ...
... Avalos, 2011;Van Veen et al., 2012) were addressed as important for the effectiveness of PTL activities in the majority of studies. Again, recent studies confirmed these insights (e.g., DeNeve & Devos, 2016DeNeve et al., 2015;Hadfield & Jopling, 2016;Wang, 2015). At the same time, studies departing from an organisational perspective rather than a learning activities perspective add to and nuance this view. ...
The aim of this review in the form of a realist synthesis is to
understand what makes peer (student) teacher learning activities
effective. Three types of peer learning were explored:
collaborative, coaching, and assessment activities. Hypotheses
were developed and tested against a set of 63 studies. These
hypotheses indicated what mechanisms (i.e., characteristics of the
activities) would influence the effectiveness of the activities and
which contexts (i.e., factors) influenced this process. Findings
showed that activities wherein participants gain subject matter
and pedagogical content knowledge and apply this into practice
made such learning effective. Peer learning is also reinforced by
facilitators, reflection, and feedback, and influenced by personal
and interpersonal factors. The main contribution of this realist
synthesis is the practical implications for developers of peer
learning activities, for school leaders and teacher educators, and
for (student) teachers.
... Frustrations because of the lack of job security, limited prospects for long-term employment (contract renewal or tenured positions) as well as for career development and promotion, have been found to be decisive reasons for teacher attrition (Struyven & Vanthournout, 2014). The significant turnover rates of ECTs have become an issue of continuing concern in education internationally (Craig, 2017;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). However, little is known about the motivational process that encourages ECTs to stay in the teaching profession (De Neve & Devos, 2016). ...
... The significant turnover rates of ECTs have become an issue of continuing concern in education internationally (Craig, 2017;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). However, little is known about the motivational process that encourages ECTs to stay in the teaching profession (De Neve & Devos, 2016). De Neve and Devos (2016) showed how self-efficacy and affective commitment as well as working conditions (like job insecurity) are related to the intention to leave the job. ...
... But, our sampling approach does not allow for this alternative analysis; the number of teachers per school is too small. Nevertheless, our findings have strong implications for future research in which a school level perspective should be adopted and DI implementations could be studied from a school policy perspective (see e.g., (De Neve & Devos, 2016;Dijkstra, Walraven, Mooij, & Kirschner, 2017;. ...
... Research about differentiated instruction points at promising insights to be developed from such school perspective. Researchers point in this context to the availability of school resources, team culture, organisational learning, school policies, etc. (De Neve & Devos, 2016;De Neve et al., 2015;Wan, 2017). ...
Student diversity has becomes the norm in today’s classrooms (Subban, 2006). This trend can also be observed in Indonesian schools (Hamdan & Mattarima, 2012). Learners mirror a large variety in differences; e.g. learner interests, abilities, learning speed, learning styles, developmental level, language level, ability level, attitudes, cultural background, etc. (Moore, 2005; Tomlinson, 2001). The traditional one-size-fits-all instructional strategy – building on single teaching strategy – neglects these student characteristics, and differences in student needs (Fox & Hoffman, 2011). The key solution is to adopt teaching strategies that cater for student diversity (Heacox, 2012; Subban, 2006; Tomlinson, 2014) since all learners deserve good education to achieve optimum learning outcomes (Yun, 2007). Quality of education in Indonesia, the context of the studies discussed in this PhD, faces clear challenges. One major challenge is related to the low academic achievement of learners as reflected in international reports about student achievement (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Arora, 2012; OECD, 2016a, 2016b; Pearson, 2014). Another is related to low teaching quality (Raihani, 2007; Sofo, Fitzgerald, & Jawas, 2012; Sumintono & Raihani, 2010; Sumintono & Subekti, 2014; Zulfikar, 2009). Thirdly, we observe a gap between public and private schools that is reflected in the allocation of funding (Heyneman & Stern, 2014; Stern & Smith, 2016), academic achievement (Newhouse & Beegle, 2006; PUSPENDIK, 2015), salary levels of teachers, teacher motivation (DeRee, Muralidharan, Pradhan, & Rogers, 2015), the number of certified teachers and the level of access to teacher professional development (Künkler & Lerner, 2016). To deal with diverse students as well as to improve the academic achievement, many authors suggest to apply Differentiated Instruction (DI) (Fox & Hoffman, 2011; Subban, 2006; Tomlinson, 2014). DI is instructional approach emphasizing that every student is unique, inherently different, and learns in a different way (Fogarty & Pete, 2011; Tomlinson, 1995), offering students a more responsive and personalized learning experience (Fox & Hoffman, 2011), as well as engaging them in activities that better respond to their particular learning needs, strengths, and preferences (Heacox, 2012). DI implementation incorporates the psychological factors of teachers, such as teacher self-efficacy (Dixon, Yssel, McConnell, & Hardin, 2014; Wan, 2015; Wertheim & Leyser, 2002), and teaching beliefs (Cross, 2009; He & Levin, 2008; Valcke, Sang, Rots, & Hermans, 2010). It also involves other related factors such teaching experience (Donnell & Gettinger, 2015; Hargreaves, 2005), professional development (Dixon et al., 2014; Donnell & Gettinger, 2015; Rienties, Brouwer, & Lygo-Baker, 2013), teacher certification, and classroom characteristics (Subban, 2006). Differentiated instruction receives diverse labels such as ‘differentiated assessment’, ‘inclusion’, ‘student-centered’ (Fox & Hoffman, 2011), ‘individualized instruction’ (Hattie, 2009), ‘adaptive instruction’, ‘personalized learning’ (Waxman, Alford, & Brown, 2013), ‘response to intervention’ (Fox & Hoffman, 2011), and ‘Universal Design of Learning’ (UDL) (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2014). Those different labels share the same idea. This is why we put forward the following general DI definition for this PhD: Differentiated instruction is an instructional approach that accommodates the diversity of students by (1) coping with student diversity, (2) adopting specific teaching strategies, (3) invoking a variety in learning activities, (4) monitoring individual student need, and (5) pursuing optimal learning outcomes. Meanwhile, DI is also approaches in different ways, which consequently implies that choices have to be made. This pushes us to define a particular implementation definition of DI. Firstly, we opt for grouping as a key design feature of a specific DI intervention. Secondly, we opt for “math ability” grouping. Next, we choose specific supporting strategies that foster cognitive processing approach (exercising math) and metacognitive processing. Lastly we provide individual and peer support that gives timely feedback in line with student capabilities. These choices help in presenting a more operational definition of DI. This DI approach – in the context of this PhD - has been studied via an intervention set up in Indonesian primary schools: Differentiated instruction is an instructional approach accommodating the diversity of students by (1) coping with student diversity in math ability levels, (2) adopting specific teaching strategies; ability grouping, (3) invoking a variety of mathematics learning experience by presenting lots of exercising possibilities; (4) monitoring individual student needs; follow-up and feedback by peers/teacher, (5) pursuing optimal learning outcomes; controlling of the time distance between instruction and exercising of the new content with or without metacognitive support. Weaker ability students will get faster instructional opportunities and feedback. Since the literature suggest that psychological factors play an important role in learners and how these factors affect achievement (Aronson, 2002; Neroni, Gijselaers, Kirschner, & Groot, 2015), , we also look in the context of this dissertation at the psychological factors: self-efficacy, motivation, and anxiety related to mathematics as psychological factors in learners. Above we gave a brief summary of research context and conceptual framework of the dissertation that have been extensively explained in the first six chapters of this dissertation. In the next paragraphs we further discuss the research objectives of this dissertation and how the research studies are linked to the research objectives. Research objectives Research objective 1. To explore the nature and the extent of DI implementation in Indonesian school. The first research objective dealt with the actual implementation of DI by teachers in their daily teaching and learning activities. The study examined two aspects: (1) the nature and (2) the extent of DI implementation in Indonesian schools. Furthermore, the study also examined potential differences in the DI implementation between public and private schools. Research objective 2. To examine the relationship between teachers’ DI self-efficacy and teaching beliefs and other related factors to the DI implementation in Indonesian School. The second research objective was to assess DI implementation and how this was related to teachers’ psychological and other factors. In this study, we mainly focused on two psychological teacher factors; i.e. teacher DI self-efficacy, and teaching beliefs. The other factors are linked teacher experience and teaching certification and two school level factors: professional development and classroom size. Research objective 3. To investigate the impact of DI intervention on the student achievement. The third research objective was to examine the impact of a DI intervention on student achievement. The DI intervention adopted in the study built on grouping and metacognitive instruction. The study took into account psychological factors of the students, i.e. math motivation, math efficacy, and math anxiety. Research objective 4. To investigate the effectiveness of DI intervention in helping struggling learners. Our fourth research objective dealt with the effectiveness of DI intervention in helping more in particular struggling learners. The study involved three different ability groups based on their mathematics capabilities, i.e. low ability, medium ability, and high ability. We considered the low ability group as the struggling learners. Overview of the chapters presented in this dissertation Chapter 2: Differentiated instruction in primary schools: Implementation and challenges in Indonesia. The study was based on a teacher survey, administered to a sample of 604 Indonesian primary schools in the most populated province, Jakarta. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out to assess the nature and the extent of DI implementation. We focused on five DI-dimensions, following our general DI definition. The results show that the nature of actual DI implementation in these Indonesian primary schools is varied. Considering the first dimension, coping with student diversity, most teachers feel realistic, as they want their students to succeed. They adopt appropriate teaching strategies. In view of the second dimension, adopting specific teaching strategies, the teachers mainly opt for grouping students in their teaching and learning activities. Furthermore, they do not agree with the one-size-fits-all (OSFA) strategy. They explicitly state this OSFA cannot accommodate student diversity. Related to the third dimension, invoking a variety in learning activities, the teachers help students being active in the class in view of comprehension of what is to be learned. Most teachers agree on the need to select different learning activities for different students. In relation to the fourth DI dimension, monitoring individual student needs, the majority of teachers agree to monitor individual students as a key responsibility of a teacher. They try to understand the nature of specific student characteristics and needs. The fifth DI dimension, pursuing optimal learning outcomes, pushes teachers to opt for active learning, to motivate students and to give extra time for remedial and enrichment activities, following the needs of a student. Studying the extent of DI implementation, we observed a DI implementation index score of 7.31/10. The score seems high. But it is lower compared to the benchmark of mastery learning (Zimmerman & Dibenedetto, 2008) of 80%. This finding reflects the need for Indonesian teachers to improve their DI implementation. None of the five DI decision dimensions (see definition) reflects scores that are at par with the benchmark. The fact that the DI implementation in Indonesia is below par, stresses the need to invest heavily in teacher professional development and to pay attention to a reorientation in Indonesian teacher education. Chapter 3: The implementation of differentiated instruction in Indonesia: A comparison between public and private schools This study was based on data from 294 public primary school teachers, and 310 private school teachers. The analysis results revealed – as expected - a significant gap between both types of school. The public school teachers reported a significantly higher extent of DI implementation than their counterparts in private schools. The significant difference is observed in some major decision dimensions in DI: dimension 1, coping with student diversity; dimension 4, monitoring individual students need; and dimension 5, pursuing optimal learning outcome. These particular findings reiterate the gaps – already reported in the literature – in the quality of public and private school as reflected e.g., in operational funds (Heyneman & Stern, 2014), and student performance (Newhouse & Beegle, 2006; PUSPENDIK, 2015), salary levels of teachers and teacher motivation (DeRee et al., 2015), the number of certified teachers and the level of access to teacher professional development (Künkler & Lerner, 2016). Our findings corroborate the need to equally support both types of schools, as all students deserve optimal quality in teaching and learning (Yun, 2007). Moreover, the privileges of public schools result in an imbalance in the quality of education in Indonesia (Heyneman & Stern, 2014). Chapter 4: Teacher and their implementation of differentiated instruction in the classroom The results of this study show a significant and positive relationship between all variables (DI self-efficacy, teaching beliefs, teaching experience, teacher certification, professional development, classroom size) and the level of DI implementation. DI self-efficacy seems to contribute significantly and strongly to the level of DI implementation, but the association of constructivist teaching beliefs remains low. Moreover, the traditional management teaching beliefs seem not significantly associated. Our findings mainly support the importance of teachers’ self-efficacy as a predictor of changes in DI practices in primary school teachers (De Neve, Devos, & Tuytens, 2015), and teachers’ intention to frequently adopt DI practices (Wertheim & Leyser, 2002). On the other hand, our assumptions as to the linkage between teaching beliefs and DI adoption are hardly confirmed. It might be because in this study, we did not let our teachers focus on a specific content domain when studying their teaching beliefs. The literature in relation to beliefs often stresses that beliefs should be contextualized (Pajares, 1992). Next, we also observed no significant contribution of teaching experience, teacher certification, and teacher professional development to teacher’s level of DI implementation. But, the contextual factor “classroom size” was significantly linked. This finding implies that the bigger the classroom, the higher the need to implement DI to accommodate student diversity (Subban, 2006; Tomlinson et al., 2003). The results in relation to teacher experience are not surprising. Donnell and Gettinger (2015) also found no significant relationship between teaching experience and adoption of innovative teaching practices. Our sampling framework could have been the cause, by including a disproportional large number of teachers with a particular experience level. Also, the relationship between experience and adoption of innovations is not always linear: more experience – higher adoption (Hargreaves, 2005). The insignificant relation between PD and DI implementation is striking. This might be related to the nature of the PD content, the teachers reported no explicit focus on DI. Another reason might be related to the lack of PD that is relevant for the real classroom context as also raised by Luschei and Zubaidah (2012). Also, we can link this to the still predominant central policy influences in Indonesian education. Teachers still rely heavily on the directives of central authorities and - though teacher and school autonomy is increasing - hardly make use of local autonomy to implement local practices and policies (Bjork, 2005). Chapter 5: The impact of differentiated instruction on student achievement: Grouping and metacognitive support as key design variables This chapter is based on the quasi-experimental study involving 223 students, assigned to 3 research conditions: 59 students in a grouping, 53 students in a grouping + MCI, and 111 students in a control condition. The study analyzed the differential impact of the DI-intervention approaches on math learning performance. Analysis of research result revealed that DI-grouping had a significant differential and positive impact on math performance. Learners in this condition outperformed learners in the two other conditions. Surprisingly, learners in the grouping + MCI condition performed significantly worse than those in the grouping condition and not significantly different from learners in the control group. The impact of DI-grouping corroborates the findings reported in the literature; especially when looking at implementations in the mathematics domain (Lou, 2013; McQuarrie & McRae, 2010). These results confirm our theoretical expectations about the impact of the ZPD in comparable ability group settings. Teachers seem to be better able to accommodate the level of learners when tackling exercises when student diversity is manageable and the distance between the current level and the next development level is somewhat smaller in a group of learners being supported at the same time. Next, the fact the DI grouping + MCI intervention did not produce the expected outcomes, is surprising. Reasons to explain this are found in the fact that MCI needs time to have an impact (see Gourgey, 1998), it requires extra cognitive resources that already is being used to tackle new math learning content, and it requires extra time and effort (Schwartz et al., 2009). Math efficacy had a significant impact on math achievement. However, math anxiety, and math motivation had no significant impact. We refer in this context to the integration of the intervention in the regular classroom activities. The intervention was set up during two of the four math lessons in the same week. This implies that students still experienced the “traditional” math instructional approach during the non-DI lessons. This might have caused inconsistencies in learner experiences and introduced uncontrolled bias in the study. In addition, the DI intervention was only integrated in the math lessons and not in language learning lessons, science classes, physical education, etc. Research shows that conditions for successful innovations or change often depend on the scale of the innovation and the extent to which the innovation is sufficiently comprehensive and school-wide. Chapter 6: Helping struggling learners: Evaluating the implementation of differentiated instruction. The study involved 69 low ability learners, 81 medium ability learners, and 73 high ability learners. The findings of this last study showed that the DI intervention seems beneficial for all students. When looking at the significant differential positive impact of grouping, all learners of different ability levels appeared to have gained academically. This reiterates the findings of Hanushek, Kain, Markman, and Rivkin (2003), who also found that group interactions and peer influences are beneficial for the full range of learner abilities. It appears that supporting learners in their Zone of Proximate Development works for all ability levels. Nevertheless, our results also showed that high ability learners keep outperforming the other ability groups. But, especially when taking initial math performance into account, the impact of the DI intervention is not always linear. It was remarkable to see that middle ability level learners reflected higher scores as compared to low and high ability learners in the grouping + MCI condition. Though this DI intervention did not result in significantly higher math performance, compared to learners in the control condition, it was nevertheless worth noting how middle ability level learners reacted differently to the MCI approach. This urges us at least to be careful in our expectations as to the “linear” impact of interventions. Montague, Krawec, Enders, and Dietz (2014) referred to this when studying the impact of cognitive strategy instruction in middle school. Implications of the findings in this dissertation Theoretical implications The results empirically link teacher DI self-efficacy and teaching beliefs to levels of DI implementation. This also strengthens theoretical models of teacher professionalism and the Onion model of Korthagen that interlinks behavior, competences and underlying factors. The findings in our DI intervention study imply that we can underpin theoretical assumptions about ability grouping and how DI reinforces the mechanisms as defined in Vygotsky’s theory about the Zone of Proximate Development (Vygotsky, 1980). Grouping and ability grouping seem to empirically ground these assumptions. Practical implications As to practical implications, the findings of the first studies (chapter 2) push the school to consider psychological factors in teachers, i.e. Self-efficacy and teaching beliefs, when developing programs for teacher education and teacher professional development (PD). Teachers should be confronted with their own teaching beliefs, their own behavior, and their own competences. This requires more in-depth, longer duration and active PD approaches. Policy implications From a policy perspective, an innovation plan should be set up that interlinks teacher professional development, teacher initial training, school support, school policy development and school monitoring. At the same time, school principals could be made accountable to map and track the teaching approaches of their teachers to cater for student diversity. School based monitoring, considering the particular school diversity, should be established and schools/principals should be empowered with tools and expertise to monitor learner and teacher progress. A collaboration with universities and teacher education institutes could be beneficial in this context to pool expertise. The fact that DI implementation in Indonesia is still below par, leads to a strong recommendation to the Indonesian educational authorities to look in-depth at teacher professional development (PD) programs in Indonesia both for pre-service teachers and for in-service teachers. Towards a comprehensive approach to implement DI in Indonesia, some grounding ideas The findings of the studies in the present PhD, our discussion of the results, an analysis of limitations and a first projection of implications are helpful to draft the outline of a more comprehensive approach to implement differentiated instruction in Indonesia. Firstly, we propose strengthening initial teacher education. The teacher education has a significant role in improving quality of teaching, and therefore the initial teacher education in teacher education institution needs to be improved. Secondly, we propose an enhancement of the quantity and quality of professional development (PD). The result of the fourth chapter in this PhD thesis revealed that 27% of the participating teachers never attended PD. This is strange and crucial, as teacher is the key player in an education setting that should receive opportunities for continuous upgrading their professional competences. The research has shown that PD has significantly improves teacher professionalism (Rienties et al., 2013), and school quality (Hoque, Alam, & Abdullah, 2011), as well as educational reforms (Barmby, Bolden, Raine, & Thompson, 2013). Therefore, educational authorities, including school principals, should empower and encourage all teachers to actively participate in PD programs. Thirdly, we want to redefine the role of the principal / school leader. School leaders significantly influence teacher motivation, commitment, and overall beliefs about their working conditions, which in turn can result in improvements in classroom level teaching and learning (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008). For that reason, principals and school leaders need to develop an empathic understanding of teachers and actively work to develop these capacities. Fourthly, we propose pushing collegial consultation. The success of a shared school vision depends on its responsiveness to internal and external environments, including the local community and broader context (Penlington, Kington, & Day, 2008). Also, collaboration between schools in the same district is highly recommended. The collaboration could involve teacher education institutes/universities. Authors suggest that well-developed professional learning communities have a positive impact on both teaching practice and student achievement (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008). Lastly, empower a teacher certification program. The enactment of teacher certification programs by Indonesian Government aimed at improving teaching quality, and therefore improving academic outcomes (Jalal, 2009). Empowering teacher certification programs could also imply involving other stakeholders (students and parents) to enrich the supporting assessment of teacher teaching quality. The government should also set periodical assessment to guarantee the certified teachers to apply good quality teaching that results in good academic outcome. This can be a motivation for teachers to improve their skills and capabilities.
... The practice requires a broad set of professional competencies and ample resources, as teachers must be adept at recognizing, identifying, and promptly addressing students' varying needs (Van Casteren et al., 2017). The dynamic nature of classroom environments and evolving understanding of effective DI techniques further complicate these challenges (Blatchford et al., 2011;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Imants & Van Veen, 2010;Stollman, 2018). An international study spanning over seven years revealed that among various effective teaching behaviour domains, DI was the least frequently implemented by teachers across different education systems (Maulana et al., 2023). ...
The increasing diversity in modern classrooms necessitates that teacher education programmes equip pre-service teachers with skills to create equitable and inclusive learning environments for all students. In response to this imperative, particularly within the Chinese educational context, this study investigated pre-service teachers' multicultural attitudes—including stages of awareness (Know), emotional engagement (Care), and behavioural intentions (Act)—and their differentiated instruction skills. Furthermore, it examined how Chinese teacher education programmes can cultivate these attributes and enhance their alignment. Using a mixed-methods approach, we surveyed 257 pre-service teachers on their multicultural attitudes and 1356 students on their perceptions of their teachers' differentiated instruction skills, supplemented by in-depth interviews with 10 pre-service teachers. Results from descriptive, correlation, and multilevel modelling analyses revealed that pre-service teachers generally possessed positive multicultural attitudes, progressing from initial awareness to empathy and behavioural intention, and were perceived as proficient in differentiated instruction. However, the Know and Act dimensions showed limited direct relationships with student-perceived differentiated instruction practices, highlighting an 'intention-action gap'. Content analysis identified several essential components of teacher education for enhancing pre-service teachers' multicultural competence and bridging this gap, including specialized formal training, reflection activities, and practical application opportunities. These findings advocate for a shift towards more personalized, experiential, and reflective learning environments in Chinese teacher education programmes to better align multicultural attitudes with effective differentiated instruction implementation.
... With more attention given to the concept of constructivism, teacher educators can create an active online learning environment for student teachers during their online teacher education. Student teachers, therefore, can gain practical skills analytically, implement learning tasks collaboratively, access indefinite materials freely, and enhance knowledge of their practice reflectively and collaboratively in an experience-based digital context through the emergence of Web 2.0 applications of information and communication technology (ICT) (De Neve & Devos, 2016). Due to the emergence of various online learning environments, online teacher education programs offer new opportunities for Page 4 of 21 Arefian and Esfandiari Language Testing in Asia (2024) 14:36 student teachers to learn online with their peers collaboratively through social media applications, experience co-teaching and co-learning with others, build an online CoP, learn from their practical online contexts reflectively, connect with others socially, and observe, plan, and act reflectively (Son, 2004). ...
Online teacher education programs can be more situated by engaging student teachers in Internet-based collaborative reflection (ICR) and e-learning-oriented assessment (ELOA) via Web 2.0 technology. Thus, this study explored how the role of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) student teachers’ ICR practices and ELOA can enhance student teachers’ situated online teacher education. In this qualitative study, 15 Iranian EFL student teachers were chosen purposively within a transcendental phenomenology to conduct ICR on ELOA practices during situated learning in online teacher education. The results showed that implementing ICR on ELOA tended to enhance student-centered teacher education; collaborative and reflective teacher development; social, professional, cognitive, and emotional growth; and the connection of teaching, learning, and assessment within online teacher education. More specifically, ELOA practices allowed for meaningful tasks and authentic activities based on practical experience, triggered continuous feedback on EFL student teachers’ performance via technology, directed online learning and teaching, and enhanced a performance-based and learning-oriented assessment process. Pedagogical implications for the design of student teacher programs are discussed.
... Since about one third of all teachers are 50 years or older, many new teachers will be starting in the coming years though (OECD, 2019b). Differences in the relations between experience and DI may be caused by variation in the way teachers are prepared for DI in teacher education, in-service professionalization or by differences in educational policy (De Neve & Devos, 2016;, which stresses the need to take the broader context into account. ...
Internationally, differentiated instruction (DI) is suggested as a teaching approach that can help teachers to meet the varying learning needs of students in the classroom. However, not all teachers reach a high level of implementation. Personal characteristics of the teacher as well as teaching quality may affect the degree and quality of DI. In addition, several classroom-, school-, and country characteristics may affect DI practices. In this chapter, literature is reviewed about personal factors, teaching characteristics and contextual factors influencing DI. Findings from the literature are connected to analyses of classroom observation-data collected in six countries including Indonesia, the Netherlands, Mongolia, Pakistan, South Korea and Spain. The chapter aims to contribute to insights into factors related to DI and into differences in these associations between the six countries. This chapter concludes by discussing scientific and practical implications.
... In addition, some studies revealed that participating in in-service training for inclusive education raises teachers' awareness (Joseph et al., 2013;Kara-Eren, 2021;Öner, 2022) and knowledge level (Kara-Eren, 2021). Some studies revealed that education has positive effects on the application of inclusive education and differentiated instruction (Aydoğan-Yenmez & Özpınar, 2017;Burkett, 2013;De Neve & Devos, 2016;Dixon et al., 2014;Gülay, 2021;Kurnaz & Arslantaş, 2018;Richards-Usher, 2013). However, Kılıç-Avan and Kalenderoğlu (2020) determined that teachers trained for inclusive education found themselves partially competent in implementing this approach. ...
This study aimed to examine the awareness of teacher candidates towards inclusive education. This mixed method study was performed with the convergent parallel mixed pattern. The sample of quantitative part of the study consisted of 708 teacher candidates in an education faculty determined by criterion sampling. The study group of the qualitative part of the research is 14 teacher candidates (preservice teachers) selected from among these participants. The research data were collected with Awareness Scale for Inclusive Education and Interview Form for Evaluation of Inclusive Education Course. The scale data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, and the semi-structured interview data were analyzed by content analysis. The results revealed that the awareness of teacher candidates’ inclusive education was at a moderate level. In addition, the awareness level of the participants who had inclusive education training was higher than the participants who did not, and the female participants had higher awareness compared to the male participants. The interview results revealed that training on inclusive education increased teacher candidates’ awareness of its history, aims, the students it encompasses, and its applications. According to the results of the research, it has been suggested to expand the inclusive education provided to teachers before and during the service.
... Their scale aimed to measure the concept of teachers' professional community built around the five dimensions proposed by Kruse et al. (1995) [4]. Given that these scales all draw on Louis et al.'s PCI (1996), her work can also be taken to have influenced numerous applied studies (e.g. Louis and Marks, 1998;Yin et al., 2019;Vanblaere and Devos, 2016;Vanblaere and Devos, 2018;Neve and Devos, 2016). Notably, Wahlstrom and Louis's (2008) TPC has been widely validated by studies across various educational contexts (Hallinger et al., 2014;Ho et al., 2016;Lee et al., 2012;Walker et al., 2014). ...
Purpose
Despite the continuous growth of empirical studies exploring professional learning communities (PLCs) across different education systems, little is known about PLC instruments developed and used in existing research. This article aims to capture a full picture of existing PLC instruments developed since 1990. In so doing, the authors also pay attention to the seminal work of Karen Seashore Louis in alignment with the theme of the special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the authors’ searching databases, the authors identified eleven PLC instruments and 26 applied studies using the PLC instruments since 1990. Following this, the authors closely reviewed the identified studies and their relationships (i.e. which one influences which).
Findings
The authors’ review illuminates the measurement domains, conceptual origins and methodological soundness of the existing instruments and captures the impact of Louis's work on the applied studies using PLC instruments.
Originality/value
Given that PLCs are seen as a policy measure to sustain and scale up school improvement internationally, the authors’ review provides a better understanding of what and how researchers have measured the effect of PLCs on school improvement. As the first of its kind, the authors believe that their findings can give researchers valuable ideas about how to develop and use a PLC instrument.
... Second, the design of measurement tools to measure teachers' attitudes or practices towards DI (Coubergs et al. 2017;Gheyssens et al. 2020;Letzel, Pozas, and Schneider 2020). Third, the relationship between DI and teachers' professional development (De Neve and Devos 2016;Prast et al. 2018). ...
Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a hot topic in educational research. Keeping abreast of its latest developments and frontiers can provide new perspectives for future study. Using CiteSpace software, 1086 publications included in the Web of Science core collection from 2000 to 2020 were analysed to create knowledge maps of DI research. The findings show that, firstly, the number of DI-related publications is fluctuating upwards. Secondly, The United States is a world leader in DI research. Thirdly, the core group of authors has not yet formed. Fourthly, the main research hotspots are Universal Design for Learning, Behaviour, Assessment, Text Features, Science Education and Concept Inventory. Fifthly, the development of DI research can be divided into three phases: 2000–2007, 2008–2014, and 2015–2020. On this basis, the future direction of DI research is discussed and suggestions are given accordingly.
... Both internal and external sources determine whether teachers will succeed in developing complex teaching skills (Clarke and Hollingsworth, 2002). In the case of differentiated instruction, teacher-level variables like education, professional development and personal characteristics like knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values and self-efficacy may influence their behavior (Tomlinson, 1995;Tomlinson et al., 2003;Kiley, 2011;De Jager, 2013;Parsons et al., 2013;Dixon et al., 2014;De Neve and Devos, 2016;Suprayogi et al., 2017;Stollman, 2018). Teachers need thorough content knowledge and a broad range of pedagogical and didactic skills to plan and execute differentiated instruction (Van Casteren et al., 2017). ...
Differentiated instruction is a pedagogical-didactical approach that provides teachers with a starting point for meeting students' diverse learning needs. Although differentiated instruction has gained a lot of attention in practice and research, not much is known about the status of the empirical evidence and its benefits for enhancing student achievement in secondary education. The current review sets out to provide an overview of the theoretical conceptualizations of differentiated instruction as well as prior findings on its effectiveness. Then, by means of a systematic review of the literature from 2006 to 2016, empirical evidence on the effects of within-class differentiated instruction for secondary school students' academic achievement is evaluated and summarized. After a rigorous search and selection process, only 14 papers about 12 unique empirical studies on the topic were selected for review. A narrative description of the selected papers shows that differentiated instruction has been operationalized in many different ways. The selection includes studies on generic teacher trainings for differentiated instruction, ability grouping and tiering, individualization, mastery learning, heterogeneous grouping, and remediation in flipped classroom lessons. The majority of the studies show small to moderate positive effects of differentiated instruction on student achievement. Summarized effect sizes across studies range from d = +0.741 to +0.509 (omitting an outlier). These empirical findings give some indication of the possible benefits of differentiated instruction. However, they also point out that there are still severe knowledge gaps. More research is needed before drawing convincing conclusions regarding the effectiveness and value of different approaches to differentiated instruction for secondary school classes.
... Thus, without appropriate school culture, teachers may see collaborative involvement in learning communities as a criticism of their work. De Neve and Devos (2016) argue that this challenge can be associated with teachers' lack of trust and lack of good relations with their colleagues, as they have not taken time to familiarize themselves with the learning communities and the quality of communication offered there. Jita and Ndlalane (2009) in their study on teacher clusters in South Africa found that there were barriers to sharing among teachers as most of them preferred to work in isolation and not to share their classroom challenges with their colleagues. ...
This paper investigates challenges encountered by communities of practice in enhancing continuing professional teachers’ development in selected high schools in the Fort Beaufort Education District, South Africa. The study adopted the mixed methods research approach that concurrently integrated procedures in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. It employed structured and unstructured questionnaires as well as face-to-face interviews as data collection instruments. Teachers not having sufficient time to meet due to various workloads and unavailability of permanent space for meeting venue were the major challenges encountered by formal and informal communities of practice. The study concluded that teachers did not have sufficient time to engage in collaborative learning activities. The study recommends that teachers spend adequate time for collaborative learning activities in communities of practice and informal communities of practice activities in high schools should be supported with financial and educational resources by the Department of Education.
... No such positive effects were found. A reverse causality between DI and student achievement (i.e., DI practices are executed more in classrooms with many low-performing students and a very diverse student population) might be an explanation for this finding (De Neve & Devos, 2016;Nomi, 2009). Another explanation might be the impact of DI on noncognitive outcomes such as students' feelings of competence (Carver & Scheier, 1990). ...
In this study, the relationship between differentiated instruction, as an element of data-based decision making, and student achievement was examined. Classroom observations (n = 144) were used to measure teachers’ differentiated instruction practices and to predict the mathematical achievement of 2nd- and 5th-grade students (n = 953). The analysis of classroom observation data was based on a combination of generalizability theory and item response theory, and student achievement effects were determined by means of multilevel analysis. No significant positive effects were found for differentiated instruction practices. Furthermore, findings showed that students in low-ability groups profited less from differentiated instruction than students in average or high-ability groups. Nevertheless, the findings, data collection, and data-analysis procedures of this study contribute to the study of classroom observation and the measurement of differentiated instruction.
... Omwille van de moeilijkheid van het thema kan niet verwacht worden dat leraars leren differentiëren tijdens een korte vorming of nascholing. Eerder wordt gepleit voor het samenstellen van 'teacher design teams' of 'professional learning communities'(De Neve & Devos, 2016a, 2016b. ...
Het Vlaamse onderwijsbeleid heeft de afgelopen jaren verschillende keuzes gemaakt die zorgen voor hernieuwde aandacht voor binnenklasdifferentiatie. Terwijl intern differentiëren in het verleden eerder een pedagogische keuze was, wordt dit vandaag een onontkoombare noodzaak. Onderwijsbeleid dwingt scholen hiertoe. Toch blijft de weerstand op veel plaatsen groot. De doelstelling van dit artikel is om te reflecteren over de moeilijke relatie tussen onderwijsonderzoek en onderwijspraktijk met betrekking tot binnenklasdifferentiatie. Daarbij worden enkele tendensen geschetst vanuit enerzijds het perspectief van onderwijsonderzoek, en anderzijds dat van de onderwijspraktijk. Op basis van enkele spanningsvelden tussen deze perspectieven formuleren we een pleidooi voor een hechtere relatie tussen onderwijsonderzoek en onderwijspraktijk.
... Previous Flemish (Belgian) studies have established that a common denominator of alternative schools is that they are guided by very specific and pronounced educational principles and that they offer a different and often more innovative didactical and pedagogical learning environment than traditional schools (de Verhaeghe & Van Damme, 2005). Furthermore, an international study found evidence of a universal emphasis on community building, collaboration, and responsibility for the development of all students in alternative schools (Hazel & Allen, 2013), while beginning teachers in Flemish alternative schools have been found to ask colleagues for help or feedback more often than teachers in traditional schools (De Neve & Devos, 2015). ...
This study examines the role of transformational and instructional school leadership in facilitating interpersonal professional learning community (PLC) characteristics (collective responsibility, deprivatized practice, and reflective dialogue). Survey data were collected in 48 Flemish (Belgian) primary schools from 495 experienced teachers. Multilevel analyses, when controlling for school characteristics, demonstrated that instructional leadership is related to perceived participation in deprivatized practice and participation in reflective dialogue. Transformational leadership matters for perceived participation in reflective dialogue but also for the presence of collective responsibility. These findings result in practical implications, based on the distinct merits of both leadership styles for interpersonal PLC characteristics.
An important quality criterion of homework is fit, i.e. the optimal relationship between task requirements and the students’ abilities and interests. Fit can be achieved through differentiation. It has been found that few teachers give differentiated homework despite knowledge of its advantages. In light of this finding, the study conducted 23 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Swiss secondary school teachers to investigate whether teachers use differentiation measures for homework – and if so, which ones. The interviews explored teachers’ arguments and challenges surrounding the differentiation of homework, including the conditions required for the successful differentiation of homework. The results showed that only six teachers assigned differentiated homework regularly. In addition, the authors found that the interviewed teachers mentioned a variety of arguments and associated challenges and reported conditions for success that occur both at the individual teacher level and the structural level.
Given the importance of their roles in society, the education of professionals is a central concern for providers and recipients of public services. In this article we consider the contribution of research on professional learning to current debate on the form and content of professional education. This mapping review asked, ‘What does the research literature tell us about the characteristics of research into professional learning across professions?’ We identified and synthesised primary research involving post‐qualification professionals' professional learning. We searched seven databases using terms such as ‘professional learning’, ‘professional development’ and ‘continuing education’ from 2000 to date. We carefully screened articles against agreed criteria, extracted data and mapped the findings. After removing duplicates, 20,616 records remained. After full text screening, 356 articles were included: 266 from teaching (75%), 77 from healthcare (22%) and 13 from another profession or cross‐professional (4%). Three included papers that spanned professions. Only 6% of articles studied the institution as the unit of analysis (rather than the individual). Around half of the included papers (49%) included an intervention. Most teaching interventions were proximal to the workplace whereas most healthcare/other studies were distal to the workplace, perhaps reflecting stage of development of the research field. Our study synthesised a heterogeneous literature to indicate the types or research that are needed to progress the debate. The clear differences in ‘style’ between professions suggested that collaboration could provide mutual benefit. Future research requires studies that report research in ways that lend themselves to evidence synthesis or replication.
Across the UK and internationally high rates of attrition among recently qualified teachers has focused attention on strengthening early career support. Policy attention has shifted from recruitment to the issue of sustainability. While the importance of induction is widely recognised, few studies investigate the components of early career support that new teachers deem most effective and the contextual conditions that support professional growth. This article explores the complex relationship between perceptions of pre-service preparation, school context and induction experience on the continuing learning needs, job satisfaction and career intentions of teachers at the end of their first year post-qualification. The analysis draws on 382 survey responses from teachers undertaking statutory induction in primary and secondary schools in the North West of England and Scotland in 2019. The findings suggest that the quality of initial teacher education is the strongest predictor of continuing development needs at the end of induction. High quality preparation has the potential to sustain new teachers across diverse employment contexts and the many challenges of the early career phase.
La inclusión es un elemento fundamental de la práctica escolar. Sin embargo, los efectos de la pandemia COVID-19 en docentes y directivos que implementan prácticas inclusivas, como los miembros del Programa de Integración Escolar (PIE) en Chile, no han sido sondeados en profundidad. Este estudio utilizó el Análisis de Redes Sociales (ARS) para examinar patrones de interacción colaborativa de profesionales de la educación en una escuela chilena y determinar los papeles de integrantes del PIE durante la pandemia. Los resultados muestran que los profesionales de la educación del PIE tienen un rol preponderante, aunque ambivalente, dentro de las redes. Si bien la pandemia no afectó su trabajo tradicional, sí resaltó sus papeles por sobre las jefaturas tradicionales, donde la inclusión es clave para contrarrestar la inequidad exacerbada por el contexto. Esta evidencia puede contribuir al desarrollo de prácticas colaborativas atingentes a desafíos educativos durante y posteriores a la emergencia sanitaria.
Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a well-known and well-debated pedagogical approach that gives importance to the fulfilment of student needs (Tomlinson; 2000, Jacobse; 2019). However, many studies found that although this well-known approach has been introduced to most educational institutions, there still lie challenges that hampers its implementation. The current review intends to set an overview of the barriers that teachers face in the implementation and incorporation of DI in classroom teaching and learning. A total of 19 empirical studies were chosen for thorough review upon meticulous selection criteria. The findings showed that there are numerous challenges that teachers face. The challenges were listed and classified into 11 different categories and the most common challenge that teachers face is the lack of DI knowledge with 63.3% of frequency. It was also found that certain challenges were the effect of other mentioned challenges. A framework was formed in this study; categorising the challenges into governable and ungovernable factors. This review framework will ease researchers and teachers in working out the challenges that could be dealt with personally and the challenges that require the interference of other parties. It also provides a summary of the challenges that teachers face in DI implementation from 2014 till 2019.
The use of a pedagogical practice known as ‘differentiation’ has become more common over time as educators have sought to respond to increases in the diversity of students enrolling in their local school. However, there are now so many misperceptions and definitional inconsistencies that it is difficult to know what is being enacted in the name of differentiation or indeed what is being researched internationally. The aim of this scoping review was to identify key characteristics of and conceptualisations within peer‐reviewed empirical research on differentiation published between 1999 and 2019, as well as to map the ways in which this body of research was produced. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to inform a systematic screening process and resulted in a final sample of 34 articles focusing on differentiation in regular schools. Half were conducted in the United States and most in the elementary school phase. Survey and case study designs were dominant, as was research of and influences on teacher practice. Only a small group of studies focused on differentiation's impact on student outcomes and these typically only examined specific elements of differentiation or its use in specific academic domains. The diversity of focus and methodological approaches across the 34 studies prevents comparison of findings and weakens the evidential basis to make claims of either differentiation's effectiveness or indeed its ineffectiveness. The review concludes with recommendations for future research and practice in this important area of practice.
This study focuses on the link between teacher collaboration on the one hand and teachers’ beliefs towards inclusion and differentiated instruction on the other hand, using a social network approach. Multilevel analysis on data from teachers (N = 441) in primary schools (N = 24) shows that teachers in highly dense school networks are more positive towards inclusion and implement more differentiated instruction. Teachers in highly centralized school networks differentiate less. This centralization was not significantly related to teachers’ beliefs towards inclusion. Finally, school external support did not have a significant impact on teachers’ beliefs towards inclusion and differentiated instruction.
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are considered ideal contexts for teachers’ professional development and school improvement. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the interplay between PLC characteristics (i.e. collective responsibility, reflective dialogue, and deprivatized practice) in secondary school departments, and understand what variables (i.e. transformational leadership by the principal, teacher autonomy, and teachers’ self-efficacy) stimulate these PLC characteristics. Data was collected from 324 Mathematics, French, and General Studies teachers in 80 departments of 33 Flemish secondary schools. The results of a path analysis show that teachers’ collective responsibility and self-efficacy are positively related to their reflective dialogue. Furthermore, the relationship between transformational leadership by the principal and reflective dialogue is fully mediated by collective responsibility. Finally, the relationship between teacher autonomy and reflective dialogue is fully mediated by teachers’ self-efficacy.
This groundbreaking text demonstrates how to build collaborative environments that both help schools achieve national standards, and also help the school community realize high academic standards.
School reform efforts have focused on the development of professionally enriching work groups for teachers as a vehicle for improving student achievement. This study examines the impact of school professional community on the intellectual quality of student performance (assessed using authentic measures) and on two dimensions of classroom organization, the technical (measured as authentic pedagogy) and the social (measured as social support for achievement). Employing quantitative (multilevel) and qualitative analytic methods, we show that in 24 nationally selected, restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools professional community is strongly associated with these dimensions of classroom organization. Both professional community and social support for achievement have a positive relationship to student performance, but the strength of their association with authentic pedagogy accounts for that effect.
At a time when educators and policy makers are focused on improving outcomes for all children, we believe it is essential to understand better the ways in which principals may influence instructional norms in their schools. Our literature review led us to believe that a combination of leadership approaches is important for supporting teachers' use of differentiated instruction schoolwide to meet their students' diverse needs. Therefore, we examined whether principals' instructional support predicts differences among schools in group norms for the use of differentiated instruction. Data were drawn from a stratified random sample of a Midwestern state's noncharter public elementary schools. Hierarchical linear modeling results of surveys from 616 teachers in 77 schools revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between these two constructs. In addition to presenting these findings, we discuss their importance and the need for further research in this area.
In this study we examined the relative importance of teachers' psychological states, school organizational conditions (teacher collaboration and participative decision making), and the leadership practices (vision, individual consideration, and intellectual stimulation) of principals at their schools in explaining variation in teachers' professional learning. We examined teachers' learning by focusing on their participation in the following professional learning activities: keeping up to date (or collecting new knowledge and information), experimentation, reflective practice, and innovation. The data we used came from the Dutch School Improvement Questionnaire consisting of 54 items administered to teachers from 18 Dutch primary schools (grades 1-8). To test our theoretical model, data from 328 teachers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. As expected, results showed that psychological factors (teachers' sense of self-efficacy and internalization of school goals into personal goals) had strong effects on teachers' participation in the professional learning activities. Furthermore, differential effects of leadership practices and organizational conditions on the 2 psychological factors and the professional learning activities were found. To better understand change mechanisms in schools and based on our findings, we stress the need to conduct research using models that contain factors at both the school and teacher levels.
In this study, the path of influence of support programmes for beginning teachers (BTs) is examined. Longitudinal relationships between self-efficacy and stress causes experienced by BTs and their job tension and discontent are investigated. Differential effects are explored in the relationships between the perceived psychological variables for induction and non-induction groups, after a period of three years. A total of 62 secondary schools and 338 BTs, in the Netherlands, were randomly selected to two context conditions. In the experimental condition, an induction arrangement was provided to the BTs. The remaining schools and BTs followed their regular (induction) arrangements. Results show that school and class efficacy are negatively related to job tension and job discontent. Stress causes were positively related to job tension and discontent. The link between classroom self-efficacy and stress outcomes is much stronger in the induction group. For school self-efficacy, however, the link is weaker in the induction groups. Implications of the findings for practice and theory are discussed.
Early career teachers face a range of challenges in their first years of teaching and how these challenges are managed as career implications. Based on current literature, this paper presents a model of early career teacher resilience where resilience is seen as a process located at the interface of personal and contextual challenges and resources. Through a semi-structured interview the challenges faced by 13 Australian early career teachers and the resources available to manage these challenges are examined. Findings show that beginning teachers experience multiple, varied and ongoing challenges and that personal and contextual resources are both important in sustaining them through the beginning year(s) of their teaching careers. The study emphasises the critical roles played by family and friends and the importance of relationships in the resilience process. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed.
Development and evaluation of a questionnaire measuring pre-service teachers' teaching behavior: A Rasch moelling approach. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. Advance online publication. 2 Development and evaluation of a questionnaire measuring pre-service teachers' teaching behaviour: A Rasch modelling approach The present study examines the development of a measure tapping students' perceptions of (pre-service) teachers' teaching behaviour to explore the practical value of such a measure in teacher education and teacher professional development programs. From a sample of 1635 students of 91 pre-service teachers teaching in secondary education in the Netherlands, random subsamples of 809 students of 45 teachers and of 826 students of 46 teachers were used for analyses. Classical test analyses were used as a preliminary approach prior to utilizing the Rasch modelling to the data. Additionally, multilevel analyses were used to examine the predictive validity of the measure on student academic engagement as an external criterion. Results revealed that a shortened and representative measure of teachers' behaviour meet the requirements of the Rasch model sufficiently. In addition, the predictive quality of the shortened measure was confirmed. Implications of findings for research and educational practices were discussed.
Teachers are supposed to use forms of differentiated instruction to anticipate the differences among their students. However, the adaptation of teaching to the diversity of the group often takes place with difficulty. Teacher education is blamed for not preparing student teachers adequately for differentiated instruction. Several authors suggest that congruent teaching in teacher education might be an adequate solution to this problem. This case study aims to investigate the (congruent) realization of differentiated instruction in teacher education using ethnographic tools. The results indicate that the observed teacher educator demonstrated limited forms of differentiation, largely without providing meta-commentary. Therefore, she is not a role model on the subject of differentiated instruction in the view of student teachers. These results are discussed in depth, and form a basis for further research and suggestions for practice in teacher education.
This paper explores the impact of a Teaching and Learning Audit of all government schools in Queensland, Australia. This audit has a concern with the extent to which schools ‘differentiate classroom learning’. We note that in England, since September 2012, one of the standards that teachers have been expected to demonstrate is an ability to ‘differentiate appropriately’, and thus the lessons of how this particular audit was implemented in Queensland have relevance outside of Australia. The paper draws on data collected from Red Point High School, one of the State’s 1257 schools and education centres audited in 2010. We suggest that this requirement to differentiate classroom learning was implemented without appropriate clarity or support, and that it increased teacher surveillance in this school. However, we also argue that some spaces were opened up by this audit, and its concern with differentiation, to articulate a social justice agenda within the school. We conclude that differentiation is a complex concept which is not easy to shift from a policy to a classroom context, and requires more careful explication at policy level and more support for teachers to enact.
Research indicates that differentiated practices enhance the likelihood of meeting the needs of students who find literacy learning challenging (Tobin & McInnes, 2008; Tomlinson, 2003). The aim of the professional development project described here was to leverage these findings and to build the foundation for future research exploring if similar outcomes occurred in science. We wanted to examine teachers’ perceptions regarding planning and implementing Differentiated Instruction (DI) in science. Our workshops emphasized multimodal possibilities, so the project draws on research indicating that elementary students are able to demonstrate their understanding of science concepts in a variety of ways (Tippett, 2003) as well as research on DI in the context of language and literacy instruction. The study yielded insights about in-service teachers’ perceptions of the possibilities and potential barriers presented by DI in science.
Rural areas in the alpine regions suffer from dwindling student numbers. Differentiated instruction (DI) could help improve the teaching culture by allowing instructors to better adapt to heterogeneous student groups. At the beginning of a combined research and school improvement project, a survey of 162 teachers and 1180 students was conducted to obtain an overview of the types of DI that are currently practiced. In addition, we examined the school conditions that supported the implementation of DI. This cross-sectional study demonstrates a difference in practices between teachers with more- and less-developed DI cultures, and it was determined that team collaboration that includes pedagogical topics enhances teachers' use of DI.
Professional community among teachers, the subject of a number of recent major studies, is regarded as an ingredient that may contribute to the improvement of schools. The research reported in this article is grounded in the assumption that how teachers interact with each other outside of their classrooms may be critical to the effects of restructuring on students. The analysis focuses on the type of professional community that occurs within a school and investigates both the organizational factors that facilitate its development and its consequences for teachers' sense of responsibility for student learning. The findings suggest that wide variation in professional community exists between schools, much of which is attributable to both structural features and human resources characteristics, as well as school level. Implications for current school reform efforts are discussed.
As many schools move toward serving a broad range of students in heterogeneous settings, it is important to assist teachers in developing classrooms responsive to the needs of academically diverse learners. Understanding what impedes and what facilitates appropriately differentiated instruction is essential for educational leaders if schools are to move away from one-size-fits-all teaching and if heterogeneous classrooms are to become viable for "academic outliers" such as gifted, struggling, and special education learners. This case study examines the experience of one middle school confronted with a district mandate for differentiated instruction and presents the factors which impeded or facilitated their movement toward appropriately differentiated classrooms.
This paper examines the effects of principal leadership and peer teacher influence on teachers’ instructional practice and student learning. Using teacher survey and student achievement data from a mid-sized urban southeastern school district in the United States in 2006-2007, the study employs multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the structural relationships between student learning and theorized dimensions of principal leadership, teacher peer influence, and change in teachers’ instructional practice.The findings confirm previous empirical work and provide new contributions to research on the chain of hypothesized relationships between leadership practice and student learning. Both principal leadership and teacher peer influence were significantly associated with teachers’ instructional practices and English language arts (ELA) student learning. A major contribution of this research is the strong and significant indirect relationships which mediate education leadership and student learning. The results indicate the importance of principals work for student learning because of their indirect influence on teachers’ practices through the fostering of collaboration and communication around instruction.
Professional community is receiving markedly increased attention as part of both practitioner and scholarly efforts to promote improvements in instruction and student learning. Interest in this area joins two previously distinct literatures, one dealing with the benefits of communal school organization and another with enhanced teacher professionalism, to formulate a theoretical framework for a school-based professional community. Using data from a large urban school district, this article tests the impact of structural, human, and social factors on the emergence of school-based professional community and examines the extent to which such developments in turn promote learning and experimentation among faculty.
Purpose: The leadership of the principal is known to be a key factor in supporting student achievement, but how that leadership is experienced and instructionally enacted by teachers is much less clear. The purpose of this study was to examine various factors that are often present in principal—teacher interactions and teacher—teacher relationships to see how those may have an impact on teachers' classroom instructional practices.
Data Collection and Analysis: Data for this quantitative study are from a teacher survey developed for the national research project, Learning from Leadership, funded by the Wallace Foundation. There are 4,165 completed surveys in the database, which reflects responses from teachers in grades K-12 in a sample of schools across the United States. Using a conceptual framework based on various known components of effective schools today, a stepwise linear regression examined the relationships among practices such as shared leadership and professional community with contextual variables such as trust and efficacy.
Findings: Three types of instructional behaviors—Standard Contemporary Practice, Focused Instruction, and Flexible Grouping Practices—emerged as strong factors which operationally described effective teacher practice. The presence of shared leadership and professional community explain much of the strength among the three instructional variables. Furthermore, the effect of teachers' trust in the principal becomes less important when shared leadership and professional community are present. Self-efficacy strongly predicts Focused Instruction, but it has less predictive value for the other measures of instructional behavior. Individual teacher characteristics of gender and years of experience have clear impact on instructional practice, but there are no discernible patterns that suggest that the level of the principal (elementary vs. secondary) have more or less influence on teacher instructional behaviors.
Conclusions: Increasing our knowledge about what leaders do and how they have an impact on the instructional behaviors of teachers will lead us to a better understanding of how leadership has a direct relationship to improved student achievement. These findings create a clearer picture of teacher—principal and teacher—teacher interactions that support learning and bring us closer to the elusive goal of clarifying the link between leadership and learning.
School reform efforts have focused on the development BE professionally enriching work groups for teachers as a vehicle for improving student achievement. This study examines the impact of school professional community on the intellectual quality of student performance (assessed using authentic measures) and on two dimensions of classroom organization, the technical (measured as authentic pedagogy) and the social (measured as social support for achievement). Employing quantitative (multilevel) and qualitative analytic methods, we show that in 24 nationally selected, restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools professional community is strongly associated with these dimensions of classroom organization. Both professional community and social support for achievement have a positive relationship to student performance, but the strength of their association with authentic pedagogy accounts for that effect.
Systematic quantitative research on measuring distributed leadership is scarce. In this study, the Distributed Leadership Inventory (DLI) was developed and evaluated to investigate leadership team characteristics and distribution of leadership functions between formally designed leadership positions in large secondary schools. The DLI was presented to a sample of 2,198 respondents in 46 secondary schools. The input from a first subsample was used to perform exploratory factor analyses; the second subsample was used to verify the factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. A one-factor structure for the leadership team characteristics (coherent leadership team) and a two-factor structure for the leadership functions (support and supervision) were confirmed. The results of the DLI underpin that leading schools involve multiple individuals, which differs by the type of function.
The authors aimed to clarify the similarities, differences, and interrelationships among multiple types of proactive behavior. Factor analyses of managers’ self-ratings (N = 622) showed concepts were distinct from each other but related via a higher-order structure. Three higher-order proactive behavior categories were identified—proactive work behavior, proactive strategic behavior, and proactive person-environment fit behavior—each corresponding to behaviors aimed at bringing about change in the internal organization (e.g., voice), the fit between the organization and its environment (e.g., issue selling), and the fit between the individual and the organization (e.g., feedback seeking), respectively. Further analyses on a subsample (n = 319) showed similarities and differences in the antecedents of these behaviors.
This essay posits a problem of fit among five streams of reform and prevailing configurations of teachers’ professional development. It argues that the dominant training-and-coaching model—focused on expanding an individual repertoire of well-defined classroom practice—is not adequate to the conceptions or requirements of teaching embedded in present reform initiatives. Subject matter collaboratives and other emerging alternatives are found to embody six principles that stand up to the complexity of reforms in subject matter teaching, equity, assessment, school organization, and the professionalization of teaching. The principles form criteria for assessing professional development policies and practices.
Educational reformers increasingly seek to manipulate policies regarding assessment, curriculum, and professional development in order to improve instruction. They assume that manipulating these elements of instructional policy will change teachers' practice, which will then improve student performance. We formalize these ideas into a rudimentary model of the relations among instructional policy, teaching, and learning. We propose that successful instructional policies are themselves instructional in nature: because teachers figure as a key connection between policy and practice, their opportunities to learn about and from policy are a crucial influence both on their practice, and, at least indirectly, on student achievement. Using data from a 1994 survey of California elementary school teachers and 1994 student California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) scores, we examine the influence of assessment, curriculum, and professional development on teacher practice and student achievement. Our results bear out the usefulness of the model: under circumstances that we identify, policy can affect practice, and both can affect student performance.
Transformational leadership by the principal appears to be a precondition of shared instructional leadership in schools, but it does not guarantee that principals and teachers will collaborate on curriculum and instruction. The present study, a content analysis of existing case studies, explores the ways in which teachers respond to transformational leadership by the principal, with attention paid to the influence and conditions that activate interdependent relationships and enhance shared transformational leadership and shared instructional leadership. A contrast school, where shared instructional leadership did not take hold, suggests that structures and processes that organize teachers’ work differently do not automatically result in the kinds of interactions associated with quality teaching and learning.
Transformational Leadership, Second Edition is intended for both the scholars and serious students of leadership. It is a comprehensive review of theorizing and empirical research that can serve as a reference and starting point for additional research on the theory. It can be used as a supplementary textbook in an intense course on leadership--or as a primary text in a course or seminar focusing on transformational leadership. New in the Second Edition: New, updated examples of leadership have been included to help illustrate the concepts, as well as show the broad range of transformational leadership in a variety of settings. New chapters have been added focusing specifically on the measurement of transformational leadership and transformational leadership and effectiveness. The discussion of both predicators and effects of transformational leadership is greatly expanded. Much more emphasis is given to authentic vs. inauthentic transformational leadership. Suggestions are made for guiding the future of research and applications of transformational leadership. © 2006 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Both the current school reform and standards movements call for enhanced quality of instruction for all learners. Recent emphases on heterogeneity, special education inclusion, and reduction in out-of-class services for gifted learners, combined with escalations in cultural diversity in classrooms, make the challenge of serving academically diverse learners in regular classrooms seem an inevitable part of a teacher's role. Nonetheless, indications are that most teachers make few proactive modifications based on learner variance. This review of literature examines a need for "differentiated" or academically responsive instruction. It provides support in theory and research for differentiating instruction based on a model of addressing student readiness, interest, and learning profile for a broad range of learners in mixed-ability classroom settings.
This chapter addresses the issue of becoming a teacher, with the induction phase as a critical transition from initial teacher education to the lifelong professional learning of teachers, and mentoring as a tool of support. It presents newly qualified teachers’ views on initial teacher education and discusses the need for fostering the connection between teacher training and the induction year. New teachers’ views on teacher induction and mentoring are based on research findings in Finland and other Nordic countries. Another important question addresses how initial teacher education can facilitate the metamorphosis of a student teacher into an autonomous teacher. The new teachers’ experiences of mentoring have been highly positive, and they wished to see it made a standard practice. The mentoring meetings have served them as a useful interaction that supported them in their work and enabled them to learn from each other and from an experienced mentor. The mentees considered mentoring a highly important tool for inducting new teachers and fostering their professional growth. The results suggest that all new teachers should have access to either team-based or individual mentoring over the course of one or two school years.
Teaching skills are observed in samples of primary schools in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Slowakia, Croatia and Scotland. A sequential level of difficulty in teaching skills has been observed. Activities in the domains 'ensuring a safe and stimulating environment' and 'efficient lesson organization' constitute the most easy competence domains, while those in the domains of 'clear and structured instruction' and 'intensifying the lesson and activating students' are of intermediate difficulty. Activities in the domains of 'adapting instruction to student differences' and 'teaching students thinking and learning strategies' are the most difficult ones. A cross-sectional study reveals that teachers, during the first 20 years of experience seem to develop their teaching skills according this sequential level of difficulty. After about 20 years of experience the level of teaching of the average teacher seems to decrease slowly.
The present study investigates the psychometric quality of a measure tapping pupils’ perceptions of teachers’ teaching behaviour in the Indonesian context. It also examines the relationship between pupils’ perceptions of teaching behaviour and their perceived academic motivation. Surveys from a total of 4000 pupils of 200 teachers/classes were analysed using classical test analyses and Rasch modelling. Results reveal that the Indonesian version of the instrument is reliable and valid for measuring teaching behaviour in the Indonesian context. Teachers’ teaching behaviour is a significant predictor of pupils’ controlled and autonomous motivation. The effect of teaching behaviour is stronger for pupils’ autonomous motivation than for controlled motivation. Implications of findings for research and educational practices were discussed.
Professional development has become the panacea of 1990s reform efforts. However, our understanding of the breadth, depth, and nature of teacher learning experiences remains limited. Using an embedded case study design, this article examines the factors that motivate teachers to engage in development activities, the ways they experience professional learning, and most important, how work context influences their learning experiences. The author suggests that a complex nesting of work contexts limits the types of learning activities, and hence knowledge, available to teachers. Finally, steps that school leaders and education policy makers can take to broaden and enhance professional learning opportunities are discussed.
In this wonderful new volume, Geneva Gay makes a convincing case for using culturally responsive teaching to improve the school performance of underachieving students of color. Key components of culturally responsive teaching discussed include teacher caring, teacher attitudes and expectations, formal and informal multicultural curriculum, culturally informed classroom discourse, and cultural congruity in teaching and learning strategies. This is an excellent resource for anyone who cares about improving and recognizing the factors that shape culturally responsive teaching and learning.
In the fall of 1994, 12 people gathered in Chicago to outline a professional development program for educators, a program meant to break new ground. All had been involved in programs associated with the Coalition of Essential Schools, some as teachers, others as administrators. Three were professional development specialists from the fledgling Annenberg Institute for School Reform. All were familiar --and dissatisfied --with traditional forms of professional development, such as scripted workshops and motivational presentations. They wanted to build a very different approach, one that focuses on the practitioner and engages the teacher in defining what will improve student learning. This new model had worked very well for individuals in the group. The challenge was to make it work for groups of practitioners within a school. A program emerged from this meeting. It was practitioner-driven and highly collaborative. It asked participants to draw on one another's skills and ideas, as well as on knowledge bases outside the school, to design a program and expand repertoires in ways specifically tailored to their own environment. The program was supported by emerging research from the Stanford Study of the Context of Secondary School Teaching led by Milbrey McLaughlin and Joan Talbert and from Fred Newmann and Gary Wehlage's school restructuring study at the University of Wisconsin.1 Scholars and school people agree that professional collegiality correlates with more appropriate teaching practices and elevated student achievement. The professional development unit of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF), took on the task of designing a program to train coaches who would help groups of practitioners, or Critical Friends Groups (CFGs), identify student learning goals that make sense in their schools, look reflectively at practices intended to achieve those goals, and collaboratively examine teacher and student work in order to meet their objectives.
In de voorbij jaren groeide de aandacht voor professionele leergemeenschappen. In een school als professionele leergemeenschap ontwikkelen en onderhouden de onderwijsprofessionals een structuur en een cultuur van samen werken en samen leren met het oog op de voortdurende verbetering van het onderwijs. Toch zijn professionele leergemeenschappen nog meer metafoor dan realiteit. Vragen naar de effectiviteit van een professionele leergemeenschap of naar de wijze waarop een school zich als professionele leergemeenschap kan ontwikkelen, zijn nog ver van beantwoord. In deze publicatie wordt uitgebreid ingegaan op deze vragen.
De publicatie is gebaseerd op een project dat de afgelopen jaren is uitgevoerd door het lectoraat en kenniskring Schoolontwikkeling en Schoolmanagement van Fontys Hogescholen. Het project kende een dubbele doelstelling. Enerzijds werd een aantal basisscholen ondersteund in hun ontwikkeling als professionele leergemeenschap. Anderzijds werd kennis verzameld over die ontwikkeling: hoe verloopt die ontwikkeling, welke interventies doen er toe, wat is de rol van de schoolleider? Het is een type onderzoek dat lectoraten - die sinds 2000 aan de Nederlandse Hogescholen zijn ingericht ambiëren: onderzoek dat niet enkel theoretisch maar zeker ook praktisch relevant is voor scholen en onderwijsprofessionals.
Het boek begint dan ook met een uitgebreide schets van een school in ontwikkeling. Vervolgens worden in enkele theoretische hoofdstukken het begrip professionele leergemeenschap verder uitgewerkt, wordt het project van de kenniskring beschreven en wordt de aard van het uitgevoerde onderzoek toegelicht. In de vier volgende worden door verschillende auteurs, vanuit dezelfde perspectieven, vier scholen beschreven. In de analyse van al deze scholen wordt telkens ingegaan op de ontwikkeling van de school als professionele leergemeenschap, op de interventies (met name de bronnen, de focus en de effecten van de interventies) en op de rol van de schoolleider. Hierin wordt de ontwikkeling van de scholen getypeerd, wordt een aantal effectieve interventies beschreven en wordt de rol van de schoolleider in dit proces belicht.
Op basis van deze inzichten worden vervolgens een aantal praktische handreikingen voor scholen geformuleerd.
In de laatste drie hoofdstukken vindt men een aantal praktische instrumenten die behulpzaam kunnen zijn bij de ontwikkeling van de school als professionele leergemeenschap. Het betreft onder meer een matrix met behulp waarvan men eerste goede indruk krijgen van de eigen school als professionele leergemeenschap en van indicaties voor de verdere ontwikkeling van de school. verder wordt een professionele leergemeenschap-bril gepresenteerd. Door het opzetten van deze bril ziet men, bij het denken over een concrete onderwijsvernieuwing, hoe de ontwikkeling van de verschillende dimensies van een professionele leergemeenschap in onderlinge samenhang kan bijdragen aan die onderwijsvernieuwing. Ten slotte vindt men een vragenlijst waarmee men de rolinvulling van de schoolleider in een professionele leergemeenschap kan vaststellen.
Het boek is in de eerste plaats bedoeld voor onderwijsprofessionals, zowel in Nederland als in Vlaanderen die een belangrijke en noodzakelijke rol willen spelen in de ontwikkeling van hun school en voor leerkrachten die hun professionaliteit verder willen ontwikkelen. Het boek is vooral geschreven voor en vanuit het primair onderwijs. Maar de beschreven ontwikkelingen, processen, interventies en rollen kunnen ook inzicht en inspiratie bieden aan professionals in andere sectoren van het onderwijs.
This article summarizes a unique approach to reducing the achievement gap that strategically blended differentiated curriculum with schoolwide enrichment teaching and learning. The theories of enrichment and instructional differentiation were translated into practice in an elementary school that had previously embraced a remedial paradigm. This enrichment approach resulted in improved student achievement and the reduction of the achievement gap between rich and poor and among different ethnic groups. The school improvement process began with a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of all dimensions of the school, and resulted in the creation of a school mission, strategic plan with broad instructional goals, specific learning objectives, and detailed action plans. Enrichment and differentiation were chosen as the methods to improve the learning environment based on evidence that engagement in learning is enhanced when students' interests and choices are considered, and the need to provide learning experiences that were responsive to the learning characteristics of a diverse student population. Specific components of the strategic plan were implemented simultaneously while others were introduced over a series of years. Teachers rewrote the curriculum for reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies to include enrichment experiences and differentiated instruction. This enriched learning environment extended to an afterschool program inspired by Enrichment Clusters. Staff development was essential to the success of each new initiative, and a significant amount of time was devoted to teacher training. Teachers were provided with training, modeling, coaching, and planning time to integrate the new ideas and skills into their lessons.
In order to respond to the growing academic diversity in classrooms, teachers must recognize that their students have different needs and commit to differentiating instruction accordingly; however, the relationship between teachers’ willingness and ability to differentiate instruction and principals’ attitudes toward differentiation is unknown. In this qualitative study, the principals and faculty at three schools were interviewed and observed over the course of 3 years. The results suggested that principals played a key role in teachers’ willingness and ability to differentiate instruction. Principals successful in encouraging teachers to differentiate exhibited the critical support, desire for change, belief that change was possible, and long-term vision of implementation that teachers required in order to effectively differentiate in their classrooms.
Professional learning communities have become one of the most talked about ideas in education today. Many K-12 schools are working to become professional learning communities in the hope that student learning will improve when adults commit themselves to talking collaboratively about teaching and learning and then take action that will improve student learning and achievement. The researchers in this study believe that a school must understand and practice the five disciplines of a learning organization to be a true professional learning community and that leadership plays a significant role in the ability of a school to become a professional learning community that enhances student learning. The questions explored in this study of six middle schools, three urban and three suburban, were: 1) What does a professional learning community look like in a
Professional development has become the panacea of 1990s reform efforts. However, our understanding of the breadth, depth, and nature of teacher learning experiences remains limited. Using an embedded case study design, this article examines the factors that motivate teachers to engage in development activities, the ways they experience professional learning, and most important, how work context influences their learning experiences. The author suggests that a complex nesting of work contexts limits the types of learning activities, and hence knowledge, available to teachers. Finally, steps that school leaders and education policy makers can take to broaden and enhance professional learning opportunities are discussed.
Educational reformers increasingly seek to manipulate policies regarding assessment, curriculum, and professional development in order to improve instruction. They assume that manipulating these elements of instructional policy will change teachers' practice, which will then improve student performance. We formalize these ideas into a rudimentary model of the relations among instructional policy teaching, and learning. We propose that successful instructional policies are themselves instructional in nature: because teachers figure as a key connection between policy and practice, their opportunities to learn about and from policy are a crucial influence both on their practice and, at least indirectly, on student achievement. Using data from a 1994 survey of California elementary school teachers and 1994 student California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) scores, we examine the influence of assessment, curriculum, bear out the usefulness of the model: under circumstances that we identify, policy can affect practice and both can affect student performance.
Turnaround leadership concerns the kind of leadership needed for turning around a persistently low-performing school to one that is performing acceptably as measured by student achievement according to state tests. I first treat this question in the narrow sense, i.e., as a strategy for targeting low-performing schools, and then place it in a larger context—namely, how such turnaround can be part of an overall approach to sustainable system change. The sequence I will consider moves from the school to the district to the system as a whole. My conclusion, which I state upfront, is that what looks like apparent success in turning around schools is actually quite superficial and indeed illusory.
Life-cycle research has only recently become a subject of scientific study, through the combined influence of Freudian and sociological theory and of an interest in longitudinal phenomena. Work on teachers' professional life-cycles is even more recent, but is currently undergoing a virtual explosion of interest. After the first few generations of research, one can tease out a plausible and compelling ‘stage model’ of teaching, but its facets have more of an heuristic than a prescriptive value, given the imperfectoins and diversity of studies in this emergent field.
Learning is now widely accepted as the currency of survival in an era of constant change. Many businesses, however, are struggling to learn how to learn. The cultural and structural issues they need to confront in order to acquire the flexibility and responsiveness to learn were articulated in 1990 in The Fifth Discipline by Peter M Senge of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Measuring Business Excellence revisits this now landmark work to review its continuing relevance to the aspirant learning organization.
Measures that are reliable, valid, and can be used across diverse populations are vital to social work research, but the development of new measures is an expensive and time-consuming process. An array of existing measures can provide a cost-effective alternative, but in order to take this expedient step with confidence, researchers must ensure that the existing measure is appropriate for the new study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is one of the ways to do so. CFA has four primary functions-psychometric evaluation of measures, construct validation, testing method effects, and testing measurement invariance. This book provides an overview of the method, step-by-step guides to creating a CFA model and assessing its fit, and explanations of the requirements for using CFA, as well the book underscores the issues that are necessary to consider when using multiple groups or equivalent and multilevel models. Real-world examples, screenshots from the Amos software program that can be used to conduct CFA, and reading suggestions for each chapter form part of the book.
This study compared the time use and perceptions of schools, teachers, and friends of approximately 290 demographically matched students in Montessori and traditional middle schools. We used the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and questionnaires and conducted multivariate analyses showing that the Montessori students (a) reported more positive perceptions of their school environment and their teachers, and (b) more often perceived their classmates as friends while at school. ESM time estimates suggested that the 2 school environments were also organized in different ways: Montessori students spent more time engaged with school-related tasks, chores, collaborative work, and individual projects; traditional students spent more time in social and leisure activities and more time in didactic educational settings (e.g., listening to a lecture, note taking, watching instructional videos). These results are discussed in terms of current thought on motivation in education and middle school reform. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. All rights reserved.