Pronouns and Preferred Names: When Public School Teachers’ Religious Beliefs Conflict With School Directives

Educational Researcher ◽

10.3102/0013189x20943198 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 0013189X2094319

Author(s):

Suzanne E. Eckes

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

School Teacher ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Public School Teacher ◽

Important Policy ◽

Transgender Students ◽

K 12

A 2020 lawsuit involves a public school teacher who refused to address transgender students by their preferred names because of his religious beliefs. This case is particularly significant because it is the first K–12 decision that analyzes this matter. This issue has important policy implications for schools and students.

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Public School Teachers' Gender, Years of Teaching Experience, Knowledge, and Perceptions as Predictors of Their Implementation of Brain-Based Learning Practices in K-12 Classrooms

10.32597/dissertations/1689 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Emmanuel Oduro-Bediako

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Learning Practices ◽

Years Of Teaching Experience ◽

Brain Based Learning ◽

K 12

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A Statistic’s Five Years: A Story of Teacher Attrition

Qualitative Inquiry ◽

10.1177/1077800417729849 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (8) ◽

pp. 583-591

Author(s):

Rebecca Raine Raab

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Public School ◽

Teacher Attrition ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Department Of Education ◽

First Year ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

K 12

The author is one of the almost 50% of beginning U.S. public school teachers who leave the profession within 5 years (Ingersol, 2003; Scherff, 2008). The first year she left teaching, 2012-2013, she became part of the 7% who exited the profession that year (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Teacher educators use attrition statistics often without knowing the stories behind the numbers. Rebecca is a statistic, and this is her story in five poems, which span 5 years teaching in public schools. She uses poetry to explore her statistical meaning, following the footsteps of others who use poetry and narrative to explore their own stories (Limes-Taylor, 2014; Pelias, 2011; Spry, 2011). She also writes this for those teachers, like herself, who loved their students, but could no longer remain within the K-12 system.

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Teaching Mathematics at High School: A Comparison of Public and Private School Teachers’ Practices

Global Social Sciences Review ◽

10.31703/gssr.2018(iii-iv).09 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol III (IV) ◽

pp. 127-141

Author(s):

Gulnaz Hameed ◽

Intzar Hussain Butt

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Public Schools ◽

Public School ◽

Private School ◽

Teaching Practices ◽

School Teacher ◽

Public High School ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Text Book

This paper compares the mathematics teaching practices of private and public high school teachers in Punjab. Two hundred public and 180 private school teachers were selected by using random sampling technique from district Sahiwal. The quantitative data was collected by using a Likert type 58 questionnaire items. The questionnaire consisted of six parts: mathematic teaching practices, mathematic effective students’ instruction, mathematic resources availability, use of mathematic resources, use of instructional techniques and evaluation techniques used by the teachers. The study indicated that private school teacher teach in cooperative environment, individual concentration, small group discussion and encourage students in mathematic classrooms as compared to public school teachers. They write equations to represent concept and then engage students in problem solving and practice computational skill as compared to public school teachers. Public school teachers highly believe that text book is primary instructional tool for teaching. They practice difficult problem by drill in their classes. Although Public school teachers are well trained, qualified and experienced yet they emphasize rote learning which is a big hurdle in conceptual understanding. Provision of material resources in public schools is high. Mathematic curriculum document, manipulative, measuring devices, and spreadsheets, worksheet calculators, teacher guide and computers as teaching resources are available in public schools. Whereas, helping books and calculators’ availability is better in private schools.

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Understanding of Evolution Law among K–12 Public School Teachers

The American Biology Teacher ◽

10.1525/abt.2020.82.2.86 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 82 (2) ◽

pp. 86-92

Author(s):

Ronald S. Hermann ◽

Joseph W. Shane ◽

Lee Meadows ◽

Ian C. Binns

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Case Law ◽

Science And Religion ◽

Legal Issues ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Teaching Evolution ◽

Grade Levels ◽

Original Survey ◽

K 12

Despite frequent litigious interactions between science and religion, when it comes to the teaching of evolution, relatively little is known about public school teachers' understanding of the associated legal issues. The present study expands on Moore's (2004) survey by obtaining more information about respondents, surveying teachers from multiple states, including teachers of all grade levels, and including “I don't know” as an option on the original survey developed by Moore. The survey was completed by 208 teachers from 42 states. Findings include a detailed portrait of teachers' understanding of evolution-related laws and the time they devote to teaching evolution. Our results indicate that the majority of surveyed teachers devote >13 hours of instruction per class semester to evolution and teach evolution either as a unifying theme throughout the class or as a unit of instruction. The responses indicate that a majority of the teachers surveyed possess a sufficient understanding of legal issues but lack a sufficient understanding of the more nuanced aspects of evolution case law. The findings indicate the need for improved preservice and inservice instruction that addresses evolution case law, emphasizing the legal parameters that teachers should adhere to when teaching evolution.

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The Personal Orientation Inventory: A Study of Internal Consistency

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1977.40.3.1000 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 1000-1002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

George W. Wise

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Personal Orientation Inventory ◽

Northeastern State ◽

The Stability ◽

K 12 ◽

Personal Orientation

To assess the internal consistency of the Personal Orientation Inventory, 218 public school teachers (K—12) from a northeastern state were administered the inventory. Using the K-R 20 and the split-half methods, values and ranges were comparable to those previously reported. Prior estimates of the stability and internal consistency of the inventory are presented for comparison. The Inner Direction scale, in particular, is stable and internally consistent in all studies.

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Statute and Implementation: How Phantom Policies Affect Tenure Value and Support

Educational Policy ◽

10.1177/0895904818773917 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 350-376

Author(s):

Dayna Jean DeFeo ◽

Matthew Berman ◽

Diane Hirshberg

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Cost Savings ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

Perceived Effectiveness ◽

School Teachers ◽

Survey Responses

Using survey responses from public school teachers and principals in Alaska, this article describes their understanding of tenure statute, and how that understanding affected support, perceived effectiveness, and valuation of tenure. Teachers and principals who inflated tenure protections were more likely to support it; the more teachers inflated tenure protections, the higher dollar value they placed on it. The article discusses the fiscal and policy implications of tenure inflation, noting that this garners the most criticism from education reformers, but concomitantly constitutes cost savings for taxpayers.

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For teachers, a better kind of pension plan

Phi Delta Kappan ◽

10.1177/0031721717734187 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 99 (2) ◽

pp. 32-36

Author(s):

Marcus A. Winters

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

School Teacher ◽

Pension Plan ◽

Defined Benefit ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

Neutral Solution ◽

School Teachers ◽

Pension Systems ◽

Defined Benefit Plans ◽

Retirement Wealth

Public school teachers deserve a compensation system that puts them on a secure path toward retirement. The severely backloaded structure of today’s public school teacher pension systems benefit only a small proportion of entering teachers while putting the rest on an insecure retirement path. But there is a cost-neutral solution to this problem that would benefit most teachers entering public school classrooms today without removing any of the protections from the stock market with which teachers have become accustomed. Teacher pensions could be restructured so that teachers earn retirement wealth in relatively equal intervals throughout their careers. The author calls these Smooth Accrual Defined Benefit plans.

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Examining the Relationship Between Beliefs About Mind-Set, Beliefs About Knowledge, and Cultural Proficiency Development for K-12 Public School Teachers

Education and Urban Society ◽

10.1177/0013124519835593 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 (2) ◽

pp. 257-283

Author(s):

Joseph F. Spiess ◽

Robyn Cooper

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Public Schools ◽

Public School ◽

School Districts ◽

Cultural Proficiency ◽

Demographic Variables ◽

Public School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Mind Set ◽

K 12

As the 4-year high school graduation rate of African American and Latino/a students in U.S. public schools continues to lag behind their White peers, cultural proficiency development has become an increasingly significant focus of school districts. While substantial resources have been committed in school districts across the country to improve professional development and hiring practices, measurable gains have ranged from inconsistent to negligible. Given the improved understanding of the importance of cultural proficiency development for K-12 public school teachers, developing more effective ways to predict and support cultural proficiency development is a necessary step to take in efforts to improve outcomes for all students. In this study, we used a hierarchical regression analysis to determine the extent to which mind-set and beliefs about knowledge predicted cultural proficiency. Participants were 853 K-12 public school educators. In addition to demographic variables, five constructs were identified via factor analysis—mind-set of self, mind-set of others, simple knowledge, certain knowledge, and source of knowledge. Results indicated all five constructs, including the demographic variables of gender and age, were statistically significant predictors of cultural proficiency. Implications for professional development and human resource practices are discussed as well as topics for future research.

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