Teachers’ Psychological Characteristics: Do They Matter for Teacher Effectiveness, Teachers’ Well-being, Retention, and Interpersonal Relations? An Integrative Review

This integrative review aims to render a systematic account of the role that teachers’ psychological characteristics, such as their motivation and personality, play for critical outcomes in terms of teacher effectiveness, teachers’ well-being, retention, and positive interpersonal relations with multiple stakeholders (e.g., students, parents, principals, colleagues). We first summarize and evaluate the available evidence on relations between psychological characteristics and these outcomes derived in existing research syntheses (meta-analyses, systematic reviews). We then discuss implications of the findings regarding the eight identified psychological characteristics—self-efficacy, causal attributions, expectations, personality, enthusiasm, emotional intelligence, emotional labor, and mindfulness—for research and educational practice. In terms of practical recommendations, we focus on teacher selection and the design of future professional development activities as areas that particularly profit from a profound understanding of the relative importance of different psychological teacher characteristics in facilitating adaptive outcomes.

Union Reform, Performance Pay, and New Teacher Supply: Evidence from Wisconsin's Act 10

This study examines the impact of performance pay on teacher selection. I exploit a shift toward performance pay in Wisconsin induced by the enactment of Act 10, which gave school districts autonomy to redesign their compensation schemes. Following the law, half of Wisconsin school districts eliminated salary schedules and started negotiating pay with individual teachers based on performance. Comparing the quantity of teaching degrees in Wisconsin institutions before and after Act 10, and relative to those in similar states, I find that Act 10 led to a 20 percent increase in teaching degrees. This effect was entirely driven by selective universities.

Teachers’ Preferences for Proximity and the Implications for Staffing Schools: Evidence from Peru

This paper uses the 2015 Peruvian national teacher selection process to explore candidates’ rank-ordered preferences for public schools. We show that, in seeking a permanent position, candidates prefer schools that are closer to where they attended their Teacher Education Program (TEP) and that are located in urban areas. These preferences vary by candidates’ attributes: urban location seem to be particularly important for females and higher-performing candidates. Preferences for proximity to previous workplace are weaker for younger candidates and stronger for high performers. Candidates also prefer larger schools located in low-poverty districts, with one teacher per classroom (vs. non-single-teacher/multigrade), Spanish language instruction (vs. non-bilingual), and access to basic services. A greater understanding of which school characteristics are most valued by teachers can help to design effective policies for attracting candidates to hard-to-staff schools.

Co-production of two whole-school sexual health interventions for English secondary schools: positive choices and project respect

Background Whole-school interventions represent promising approaches to promoting adolescent sexual health, but they have not been rigorously trialled in the UK and it is unclear if such interventions are feasible for delivery in English secondary schools. The importance of involving intended beneficiaries, implementers and other key stakeholders in the co-production of such complex interventions prior to costly implementation and evaluation studies is widely recognised. However, practical accounts of such processes remain scarce. We report on co-production with specialist providers, students, school staff, and other practice and policy professionals of two new whole-school sexual heath interventions for implementation in English secondary schools. Methods Formative qualitative inquiry involving 75 students aged 13–15 and 23 school staff. A group of young people trained to advise on public health research were consulted on three occasions. Twenty-three practitioners and policy-makers shared their views at a stakeholder event. Detailed written summaries of workshops and events were prepared and key themes identified to inform the design of each intervention. Results Data confirmed acceptability of addressing unintended teenage pregnancy, sexual health and dating and relationships violence via multi-component whole-school interventions and of curriculum delivery by teachers (providing appropriate teacher selection). The need to enable flexibility for the timetabling of lessons and mode of parent communication; ensure content reflected the reality of young people’s lives; and develop prescriptive teaching materials and robust school engagement strategies to reflect shrinking capacity for schools to implement public-health interventions were also highlighted and informed intervention refinements. Our research further points to some of the challenges and tensions involved in co-production where stakeholder capacity may be limited or their input may conflict with the logic of interventions or what is practicable within the constraints of a trial. Conclusions Multi-component, whole-school approaches to addressing sexual health that involve teacher delivered curriculum may be feasible for implementation in English secondary schools. They must be adaptable to individual school settings; involve careful teacher selection; limit additional burden on staff; and accurately reflect the realities of young people’s lives. Co-production can reduce research waste and may be particularly useful for developing complex interventions, like whole-school sexual health interventions, that must be adaptable to varying institutional contexts and address needs that change rapidly. When co-producing, potential limitations in relation to the representativeness of participants, the ‘depth’ of engagement necessary as well as the burden on participants and how they will be recompensed must be carefully considered. Having well-defined, transparent procedures for incorporating stakeholder input from the outset are also essential. Formal feasibility testing of both co-produced interventions in English secondary schools via cluster RCT is warranted. Trial registration Project Respect: ISRCTN12524938. Positive Choices: ISRCTN65324176

Aplikasi Perbandingan Pemilihan Guru Private Homeschooling menggunakan Algoritma Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) dan Weight Product Berbasis Web

This study aims to compare the selection of private homeschool teachers using the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and Weight Product (WP) algorithms, the criteria that have been taken by the author to calculate their weight in selecting private teachers who excel and provide convenience with an assessment based on criteria. In this effort, the authors can build a private teacher selection system with the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) algorithm to find the total weights of the teacher performance rating for each alternative on all attributes and compare it to the Weight Product (WP) algorithm using the multiplication technique to link the attribute rating. where the attribute type rating must be ranked first with the associated weight attribute. From the results of this study, the authors have described how the design and application of SAW and WP in making a Decision Support System in selecting private homeschooling teachers.Keywords:Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Weight Product (WP), Decision Support Systems, Teacher Selection, Homeschooling.