scholarly journals Southern Rural Public Schools: A Study of Teacher Perspectives

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah McCoy
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Teacher Perspectives ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Deep South ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Qualitative Aspect ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Low Expectations ◽  
Teachers Perspectives ◽  
Cycle Of Poverty

This ethnography explores teachers’ perspectives of the cultural issues affecting academic performance in twelve public high schools in rural Mississippi and Louisiana. Fr om a thematic analysis of the tape-recorded interviews of forty-one mathematics teachers, five categories emerged, each comprising a qualitative aspect of teaching high school in an economically depressed area of the deep South: society, race, students, families, and schools. Each of these categories is discussed and explicated using exemplars from the interviews to show how each category emerged from the data. In addition, the relationships among these categories, which form a destructive cycle of poverty, low expectations, poor academic achievement, and inadequate opportunity, are discussed. Implications of this research for teachers and policy makers are explored.

scholarly journals Learning from ELLs’ Perspectives: Mismatch between ELL and Teacher Perspectives on ELL Learning Experiences

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Jenna Min Shim ◽  
Anna Mikhaylovna Shur
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Student Voice ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Teacher Perspectives ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Ell Students ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

Situated within Activity Theory, this study investigates and compares ELLs’ perspectives on their own learning and their teachers’ perspectives on their own learning experiences. The predilection carried by this study is that there is a significant value in attending to and understanding how ELL students make meaning of their learning circumstances and compare that to teachers’ perspectives on their students’ learning. This study also assumes that allowing student voice and perspective to be heard in school is a prerequisite for student-centered learning. The authors report that students’ perspectives on what they perceive as the limiting factors for their learning are sharply different from those of their teachers. Students’ perspectives in this study showed that their perspectives on, and attitudes toward, their learning are very much influenced by what teachers do and do not do.

Moving beyond Brown: Race and Education After Parents v. Seattle School District No. 1

2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamel K. Donnor
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School District ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Community Schools ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Educational Advancement ◽  
Quality Learning ◽  
The U.S

Background By a 5–4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the Supreme Court declared that the plaintiffs, Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS), had a valid claim of injury by asserting a interest in not being forced to compete for seats at certain high schools in a system that uses race as a deciding factor in many of its admissions decisions. Purpose The goal of the article is to discuss how conceptions of harm and fairness as articulated in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 privilege the self-interests of White students and families over the educational needs of students of color. Research Design This article is a document analysis. Conclusions By referencing the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954 (Brown I) to buttress its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that programmatic efforts to ensure students of color access to quality learning environments are inherently ominous. The dilemma moving forward for policy makers and scholars concerned with the educational advancement of students of color is not to develop new ways to integrate America's public schools or reconcile the gaps in the Supreme Court's logic, but rather to craft programs and policies for students of color around the human development and workforce needs of the global economy.

Democracy Now? Race, Education, and Black Self-Determination

2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 811-830
Author(s):  
Adrienne D. Dixson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Educational Equity ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Schools ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
School Assignment

Background/Context The Supreme Court's June 2007 decision on the Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.1 (PICS) provides an important context for school districts and educational policy makers as they consider the role of race in school assignment. The PICS decision has been described as essentially “undoing” the 1954 Supreme Court decision in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that ended de jure racial segregation. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Given the rhetoric that education in the United States is the “great equalizer,” this conceptual article considers how the PICS decisions impact notions of educational equity and self-determination for African Americans. Research Design This article provides a conceptual analysis of the PICS decision and educational equity. Conclusions/Recommendations The author recommends that despite the PICS decision, school administrators and policy makers continue to consider how race impacts school assignment to ensure that public schools are democratic institutions that are racially and educationally equitable.

Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority versus Measures of Effectiveness

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Boyd ◽  
Hamilton Lankford ◽  
Susanna Loeb ◽  
James Wyckoff
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Teacher Layoffs ◽  
Measures Of Effectiveness

School districts are confronting difficult choices in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Today, the financial imbalance in many school districts is so large that there may be few alternatives to teacher layoffs. In nearly all school districts, layoffs are currently determined by some version of teacher seniority. Yet, alternative approaches to personnel reductions may substantially reduce the harm to students from staff reductions relative to layoffs based on seniority. As a result, many school district leaders and other policy makers are raising important questions about whether~other criteria, such as measures of teacher effectiveness, should inform layoffs. This policy brief, a quick look at some aspects of the debate, illustrates the differences in New York City public schools that would result if layoffs were determined by seniority in comparison to a measure of teacher effectiveness.

Enabling Popular Music Teaching in the Secondary Classroom – Singapore Teachers' Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-319
Author(s):  
Hoon Hong Ng
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Traditional Music ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Music Pedagogy ◽  
Youth Cultures ◽  
Secondary Classroom ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

The pervasiveness of popular music and its associated practices in current youth cultures brings into question the relevance and effectiveness of more traditional music pedagogies, and propels a search for a more current and engaging music pedagogy informed by popular music practices. With this as the basis, this study seeks to explore factors that may enable the success and effectiveness of popular music programmes in public schools through the lenses of three Singapore secondary school teachers as they conducted their popular music lessons over seven to ten weeks. In the process, the study also describes how these teachers pragmatically negotiated the execution of these programmes within Singapore's unique educational context. The findings may serve to inform music teachers and school leaders keen to establish similar programmes as a matter of on-going dialogue.

Technology ethics in the public schools system : developing a technology ethics assessment tool through policy analysis at the secondary level

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jeremy Alsup
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technology Ethics ◽  
Ethics Assessment ◽  
Technology Policies ◽  
The University

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Technology ethics seeks to identify the ways in which individuals and organizations might develop and sustain optimal relationships with the various technologies in their personal and professional lives. Secondary public schools have considered technology primarily through only a few very important but rudimentary lenses. The problem of practice was grounded in the ability and willingness of public schools to respond to the changing technological landscape in a way that was timely and meaningful. This study followed an exploratory sequential design and was two pronged: first, it investigated the ways public high schools supported technology ethics through their technology policies at the district and building levels; second, it developed a technology ethics assessment tool.

scholarly journals Validation and application of a measurement scale on environmental practices for high school teachers in Patos, Paraíba

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
Edevaldo Silva ◽  
Delyane Lima Soares ◽  
Habyhabanne Maia Olveira ◽  
Humarah Danielle Guedes Vieira
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Environmental Practices ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Inadequate Knowledge

 The objective was to create, validate and apply a measurement scale on environmental practices for teachers of various educational areas (exact sciences, humanities, natural sciences and Portuguese), from six public high schools in the city of Patos, Paraíba. To that end, it was created a questionnaire related to the topic, consisting of 24 items in the Likert scale model, being statistically validated as its consistency and reliability by factor analysis and by the α-Cronbach’s test. The assessed measurement scale has been validated (n = 34) with the exclusion of five items, getting excellent α-Cronbach’s coefficient (0.95). In the application of the questionnaire (n = 68), most teachers had social and environmental practices little consistent with environmentally sustainable practices. The results suggest that the high school teachers of the surveyed public schools have inadequate knowledge and/or practices for teaching Environmental Education, revealing that, probably, the students are not receiving basic environmental knowledge for their critical and reflective thinking on the various environmental problems. 

scholarly journals Understanding frailty: a qualitative study of European healthcare policy-makers’ approaches to frailty screening and management

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e018653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Gwyther ◽  
Rachel Shaw ◽  
Eva-Amparo Jaime Dauden ◽  
Barbara D’Avanzo ◽  
Donata Kurpas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthcare Policy ◽  
Clinical Syndrome ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Adult Care ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Culture Shift ◽  
European Healthcare

ObjectiveTo elicit European healthcare policy-makers’ views, understanding and attitudes about the implementation of frailty screening and management strategies and responses to stakeholders’ views.DesignThematic analysis of semistructured qualitative interviews.SettingEuropean healthcare policy departments.ParticipantsSeven European healthcare policy-makers representing the European Union (n=2), UK (n=2), Italy (n=1), Spain (n=1) and Poland (n=1). Participants were sourced through professional networks and the European Commission Authentication Service website and were required to be in an active healthcare policy or decision-making role.ResultsSeven themes were identified. Our findings reveal a ‘knowledge gap’, around frailty andawareness of the malleability of frailty,which has resulted in restrictedownership of frailtyby specialists. Policy-makers emphasised the need to recognise frailty as a clinical syndrome but stressed that it should be managed via an integrated and interdisciplinary response to chronicity and ageing. That is, through social co-production. This would require aculture shift in carewith redeployment of existing resources to deliver frailty management and intervention services. Policy-makers proposedbarriers to a culture shift,indicating a need to be innovative with solutions to empower older adults to optimise their health and well-being, while still fully engaging in the social environment. Thecultural acceptance of an integrated care systemtheme described the complexities of institutional change management, as well as cultural issues relating to working democratically, while insignposting adult care, the need for a personal navigator to help older adults to access appropriate services was proposed. Policy-makers also believed thatscreening for frailtycould be an effective tool for frailty management.ConclusionsThere is potential for frailty to be managed in a more integrated and person-centred manner, overcoming the challenges associated with niche ownership within the healthcare system. There is also a need to raise its profile and develop a common understanding of its malleability among stakeholders, as well as consistency in how and when it is measured.

scholarly journals Theorizing Teachers’ Perspectives on an EFL Textbook for Public High Schools of Iran: A Grounded Theory

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyyed Ali Ostovar Namaghi ◽  
Mohammad Reza Saboor Moghaddam ◽  
Maryam Tajzad
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

Teacher quality gaps in U.S. public schools: Trends, sources, and implications

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (8) ◽  
pp. 14-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Goldhaber ◽  
Vanessa Quince ◽  
Roddy Theobald
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Teacher Quality ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Disadvantaged Students ◽  
Policy Makers

Empirical evidence shows that disadvantaged students tend to have less-qualified and less-effective teachers than their more-advantaged peers. These teacher quality gaps (TQGs), which have existed for decades and across many measures of student disadvantage and teacher quality, are an important factor explaining student achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Research by Dan Goldhaber, Vanessa Quince, and Roddy Theobald — focusing on the sources of TQGs across different states and measures of teacher quality — suggests that policy makers should consider both the setting and the type of gap they wish to prioritize when designing policies to address TQGs.

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