The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

This study examines teachers' beliefs about themselves as literate people and how those beliefs translate into classroom literary practice. Using a multi-method approach, it explores the private literate selves (via diary, survey, and interviews) of twelve K-12 teachers and establishes a foundational understanding of the influence of the social…

This paper examines how vocational teachers negotiate their professional identity in the context of a major externally imposed curriculum reform. The focus is on the teachers' orientations towards the reform in its initial stage. Sixteen Finnish vocational teachers were interviewed using open-ended narrative interviews. The data were analysed in…

Scope and method of study. This quantitative survey study examined teachers' understanding of assessment, their practices in assessing student learning and their use of assessment data to guide their teaching. Specifically, this study sought to determine if level of training had an impact on teachers' understanding of assessment, teachers'…

Academic personnel who were first-generation college students (FGS) are uniquely positioned to consider the questions these students often have about the college experience. Academia needs first-generation and working-class voices to diversify an academic culture that is often socially stratified. As more FGS enroll in colleges and universities,…

This dissertation examines the relationship between teacher educational background, teacher experience, and student achievement in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. The first essay of this dissertation, "Effects of Teacher Degree Level, Coursework, and Certification on Student Achievement in Math and Reading in Kindergarten,"…

The authors extend findings from qualitative research on the effects of action research by reporting two linked quantitative studies (N = 80 and 105). They found that teachers who participated in collaborative action research experienced statistically significant improvements in attitudes to educational research and teacher efficacy. The pre-post…

New K-12 science education standards emphasize teaching and learning grounded in authentic scientific practices. A first step toward supporting teachers' adoption of scientific practice-based pedagogies is to develop a clear picture of how teachers are currently teaching science, and what factors predict their pedagogical choices. A recently…

This study examines four Singapore teachers' reflections on issues and problems in their teaching practices. As an insider-outsider or educator-researcher seeking to understand the complexities of teaching, we interrogated the teachers' beliefs, dilemmas, biasness and prejudices embedded in their reflective narratives on experiences in curriculum…

This paper reports the results of a needs assessment survey that was conducted to find out pre-service teachers' background knowledge, experiences and perceptions about their preparation for technology integration at a university in the Middle East USA. A questionnaire with both closed and open-ended items was administered to a group of student…

This article draws from an action research case study undertaken by an African-born faculty member who speaks English with a foreign accent. The study employed co-teaching as an intervention method to (a) test the hypothesis that co-teaching with an instructor born in the United States from the dominant racial and linguistic group might reduce…

The purpose of this study was to advance educators' understanding of the role of teachers' culture on students' discipline. A key issue in education is disproportionate disciplinary representation of Black male students for cultural behaviors. National and Commonwealth of Virginia discipline data indicate that Black male students are most…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

Research has shown that there is no greater influence on a student's success than the quality of his or her teacher. This book presents the research findings which demonstrate the connection between teacher effectiveness and student achievement. We've always known, at least intuitively, that teachers matter, but this book proves that teachers are…

This study begins to address the questions of what beliefs Chinese teachers hold about teaching and learning, about different student groups, and how these beliefs and expectations mediate their daily instructional practices. A triangulated mixed methods design was used for this study. This is a type of design in which different but complementary…