Abstract
This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explores the perceptions of academic and administrative managers responsible for teacher training at a public university in Colombia, as well as their views on improving such training after learning about the performance of teachers student teachers in the 2019 Saber Pro test, the differences in their test scores, and the relationships and statistical correlations between these outcomes and the students’ personal, family, socioeconomic and academic characteristics. Our findings show significant differences in the student teachers’ mean scores and performance when data are grouped according to personal, socioeconomic and academic conditions; a significant relationship between performance and student teacher characteristics; and correlations between critical reading scores and the other competencies assessed. Our data also highlight the lack of knowledge among academic and administrative managers about students’ life circumstances and the diversity of factors that may impact their performance; the importance of correlational data; the difference between expected and true outcomes; the inequity under which students seem to pursue their education; the limitations in access to resources; the training required for teachers to be able to analyze quantitative data and use specific software; the impact of teachers’ critical reading skills on student outcomes; the importance of data-driven decision-making; and the need for teachers to engage in quantitative research practices.
Highlights
In what is commonly known as the Coleman Report, renowned sociologist JamesColeman argued that sociodemographic factors could account for differences in students’scores and that school resources and teachers’ education do not have a noticeable effect on student performance
Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, this study explores the perceptions of academic and administrative managers responsible for teacher training at a public university, as well as their initial ideas for improving such training after learning about the performance of student teachers in the 2019 Saber Pro test, the differences in their test scores, and the relationships and statistical correlations between these outcomes and the students’ personal, family, socioeconomic and academic characteristics
We identified statistically significant differences in the mean scores in the assessed competencies by grouping students according to their personal, family, socioeconomic and academic characteristics (RQ1)
Summary
In what is commonly known as the Coleman Report, renowned sociologist JamesColeman argued that sociodemographic factors could account for differences in students’scores and that school resources and teachers’ education do not have a noticeable effect on student performance. Since the Coleman Report was published in 1966, researchers have debated the impact of education policies and the school system on student performance, in addition to other environmental and sociodemographic effects [1]. Rica; that a student’s neighborhood has the greatest impact on educational performance; that the quality of services such as electricity and telecommunications is strongly related to student performance in Costa Rica; that information and communication technologies have a positive effect on educational quality in Mexico; that individual and family variables are more closely linked to academic performance than school variables; and that social development has a positive effect on students’ scores [2,3,4,5,6]. Exploring the relationship between quality and equity in education and identifying factors that can reduce the impact of students’ backgrounds on learning outcomes are important issues for research, policy development and teaching practices, especially when the focus is on enhancing educational quality [12]
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