Assisting struggling teachers effectively

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliezer Yariv ◽  
Efrat Kass

In this research, we examine strategies school principals have used to assist struggling teachers. In an open-ended questionnaire designed for this study, we asked 219 school principals to describe a successful intervention they held. The results show that principals prefer supportive assistance to organizational changes (such as moving the teacher to another class). They rarely used confrontational approaches. A content analysis of the strategies that enabled successful intervention identified four conditions: (a) principals’ willingness to intervene; (b) intensive use of measures and resources; (c) the teacher’s willingness to make changes; and (d) the need for flexibility in managing the intervention. The findings indicate the need to train principals to assist struggling teachers more effectively and to encourage them to become more assertive. This requires a professional development program for teachers and principals, guidance in classroom management, as well as organizational, financial, and human support.

2016 ◽  
pp. 517-533
Author(s):  
Mali Nets

As a part of the worldwide trend, in Israel the issues of accountability in management, the school improvement, and the learners’ achievements are topics on the public agenda. In the attempt to address these challenges, Israel implemented a reform in the professional development of the principals, which was applied to the system with the establishment of the School Leadership Institute, Avnei Rosha (2007). The theoretical model of the professional development is based on the career stages approach,1 which originated in the research studies on the career circles of teachers2 and principals. These models examined characteristics of different stages in the professional life track of the teacher3 as well as the mental aspect of the principals’ perception of management throughout the career.4 The Israeli model adopted these theories as the basis for the professional development of principals and formed a comprehensive program of learning from the stage of the entry into the role to the stage of the retirement.5 The article will propose a critical look at the professional development program of the school principals from the third year in the role and onwards, on the background of the new challenges with which the Israeli educational system copes. The article will focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of the question of the professional development of principals, will review the influences of recent reforms on the professional development of principals from the third y ear i n t he position, will p resent t he i mmanent g aps of t he I sraeli p rogram a pplied to t hese principals, and will suggest issues for future thought.


Author(s):  
Muriel Gallego

This study explores the outcomes of reflective journaling among novice Graduate Teaching Assistants during the initial stages of their professional development. It seeks to establish whether there were common concerns addressed in their journals and if different levels of reflection were achieved. By means of content analysis of 177 entries, nine common themes were identified. Among these,  “methodology” and “classroom management” were the most prevalent. Three degrees of reflection were used to categorize the entries. Slightly over half of the entries achieved high levels of reflection, whereas 49% of the entries did not. Recommendations for teacher educators and facilitators of the professional development of graduate students are provided.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Ruba Fahmi Bataineh ◽  
Lubna Ahmad Shawish ◽  
Mohammad Khalid Al-Alawneh

<p> </p><p class="Default">This study examines the potential effect of <em>Shaping the Way We Teach English</em>, a teacher professional development program, on Jordanian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ instructional practices. The participants of the study are 20 Jordanian EFL teachers selected from 14 public schools in North Ghour Directorate of Education in the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019. Observations of the participants, along the seven domains of <em>classroom management, language, teaching strategies, learning strategies, assessment strategies, authentic materials, </em>and<em> reflection</em>, were conducted before and after the treatment to determine whether or not the treatment has an effect on the participants’ instructional practices. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the participants’ performance before and after the treatment. The findings revealed that the participants gained on all seven domains of the observation checklist, with statistically significant differences found (at α=0.05) in their instructional practices before and after the treatment, in favor of the latter.  The study concludes with pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research.</p><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
Justin D. Garwood ◽  
Alene H. Harris

AbstractClassroom management remains one of the greatest challenges for teachers. In this study, with 52 general and special education teachers, we examined the effectiveness of a screencast-delivered professional development program focused on classroom management practices in the first 3 days of school. Results suggest that after participating in the program, teachers report a positive change to the start of their school year across 12 different areas. Further, teachers’ classroom management self-efficacy increased significantly after completing the program, and there was a significant correlation (r = .41) between increases in classroom management self-efficacy and rate of implementation of new practices. Implications for practitioners and future directions for research are included.


Author(s):  
David Agwu Udu ◽  
Benson Ikechukwu Igboanugo ◽  
John Nmadu ◽  
Chidebe Chijioke Uwaleke ◽  
Benjamin Chukwunonso Okechineke ◽  
...  

This study evaluated the impact of a professional development program (PDP) on science lecturers' level of knowledge/understanding and the extent of use of modern technologies for improving their self-efficacy in teaching in the areas of students' engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management, in some selected universities in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The sample was 269 lecturers. The researchers adapted the teacher sense of efficacy scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) for the study. The TSES has two parts (1) and (2) that contained 12 questions each. It was a validated instrument, with overall reliability indices of 0.92 and 0.95 respectively determined using Cronbach’s Alpha. The data obtained were analyzed with mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-test. The study found that the PDP improved the lecturers' understanding of modern technologies and self-efficacy in teaching (t (268) = 30.959, p = 0.000 ˂ 0.05). Also, the PDP improved the lecturers’ extent of utilisation of modern technologies and self-efficacy in teaching (t (268) = 28.510, p = .000 ˂ .05). The study also found that the lecturers’ understanding of modern technologies after the PDP was high, but their use of modern technologies in teaching was still low. The researchers recommended that science lecturers' participation in PDPs should be regular to improve their understanding and use of modern technologies in teaching for enhanced self-efficacy and sustainable science education in developing nations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 145-158
Author(s):  
Kenta Nagasawa

Purpose: This paper is a thematic literature review to examine the current state of research about Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in mathematics. The main themes are students’ perception, teacher education for pre-service teacher and professional development for teachers. Research methods/ approach: Literature was collected from Eric, which is a research engine of the education field. Also, Google Scholar is used to find articles of major scholars introduced by Dr. Rich Milner, who is the instructor of this course. Findings: Students faced microaggressions in mathematics class, which discouraged them to learn mathematics. The effect of teacher education was inconsistent in terms of the awareness of culturally responsive pedagogy and lesson plans. Research of professional development mentioned that mathematics was cultural. Implications for research and practice: It is more interesting to conduct long term or follow-up research to find the teacher’s practice after a taking professional development program. Also, it is critical to expand research scope besides African American and Latino students. Finally, evidence-based research is needed to change the political situation. Keywords: culturally responsive teaching, mathematics, teacher education, professional development, student’s perception


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