Changes In Classroom Practice Research Articles

‘But You Are Changing Everything I know!’ Teachers’ Views of Pedagogical Change: A Case Study of a Literacy Intervention with Immigrant-Origin Latinx Students

ABSTRACT This qualitative study analyzes how teachers change their pedagogies in response to a reading and writing intervention designed specifically for Biliterate Latine English language learners. Through the analysis of structured interviews this paper examines teachers’ perceptions of and reactions to the intervention. Teachers responded to curricular change in three domains; surface, consensus, and mindful level changes. The level of change in classroom practice, we find, is dependent upon the level of a given teacher’s disposition to new knowledge that informs pedagogical practices. These findings highlight the ways that teachers working with Latinx students experience curricular change. This work is significant because it can help educational leaders understand why some professional development and interventions lead to change and why others don’t and the impact that it can have in bolstering literacy development for linguistically and culturally diverse students. This work provides an inside look as to how teachers experience new literacy interventions.

Effects of a professional development programme on teachers’ classroom practices in Colombia

ABSTRACT The professional development for teachers is an important component of the quality of education. However, few systems for monitoring and analysing the quality and impact of teacher professional development programmes have been created. In this article, we present the effects on classroom practices of a Colombian professional development programme for in-service secondary mathematics teachers. We compare the teachers’ classroom practices of planning, implementation, and assessment, before and after participating in the programme. We found that the professional development programme shows a statistically significant and positive effect on planning, implementing and assessment practices. These results serve as evidence of teacher training policy in terms of changes in classroom practices.

Changes experienced in primary education by teachers, autistic students and students' parents after a professional development intervention

AbstractWe aimed to explore the experiences of teachers, autistic students and students' parents, before and after professional development intervention for teachers in primary school. The main participants were five autistic students aged 7–11 years in three primary schools (intervention schools), their parents and teachers. Five school contexts were studied, with three interventions and two comparisons. Data collected included questionnaires, student evaluations and recorded follow‐up conversations. The results showed statistically significant changes among teachers pre‐ to postintervention at all three intervention schools; no differences were found at control schools. However, analyses of the case studies showed that parents and students did not experience changes at the same levels as teachers. Identified barriers to change included a lack of physical space, time to focus on each child, and resources. Professional development is effective in changing teachers' understanding and attitudes, but not enough to change classroom practice in the views of students and parents.

Does It Matter Who Evaluates Teachers? Principal Versus Teacher-Led Evaluation and Teacher Motivation

Increasing job demands and continuing struggles to improve teacher evaluation practice raise the question of how peers might assist principals with teacher evaluation. Using a robust international sample (TALIS2013) of 36,411 teachers from 2,759 schools in 11 countries, we tested the hypothesis that teacher-led evaluation practices are associated with more teacher-reported positive changes in classroom practice, confidence, and motivation than principal-led evaluation practices in three areas evaluation: (1) classroom observations, (2) assessments of teacher content knowledge, and (3) analysis of student test score data. We found that teacher-led evaluation is associated with more positive feelings of motivation and change in practice for all three evaluation areas, but particularly for assessments of teacher content knowledge and test score data analysis. Further, principals’ reported use of extrinsic motivational tools to reward or punish teachers based upon their evaluation was also negatively associated with teachers’ motivation and reports of positive change in practice.

Do High School Teachers Alter Classroom Practice Due to Evaluation? Evidence From North Carolina’s Career Status and Teacher Evaluation Policies

The purpose of this study is to determine if teachers perceive evaluation as providing the motivation and feedback to change classroom practices in a context where teacher evaluation carries varied stakes for tenured versus untenured teachers. This mixed methods case study of four high schools in a single district in North Carolina uses survey and interview data collected from teachers in the 2016–2017 school year to explore teacher perceptions and examine differences between career (tenured) and probationary (untenured) teachers. A conceptual framework is developed utilizing research on how teachers changed practice based on other accountability initiatives. The overall sample of teachers did not perceive the evaluation policy to be high stakes or impacting their practice; however, there were statistically significant differences between the perceptions of tenured teachers and untenured teachers on the survey. Interview statements supported the quantitative findings. The results highlight a need for a better understanding of how evaluation policies may influence teacher practice, particularly among those who have limited career protections, including beginning teachers who lack tenure.

Investigating meaningful impact in adolescent writing achievement within a high‐stakes testing context

BackgroundThis case study examined the consequences of a literacy initiative designed to improve writing instruction for a high school under pressure to increase standardised test scores or face government oversight. Realities of underperforming schools, such as interruptions to instructional time, a focus on formulaic essay writing and decontextualised grammar skills, high teacher turnover, and a disproportionately large percentage of students with low ability levels, impact the implementation and sustainability of research‐based practices. Thus, we embarked on a school‐university partnership designed to overcome these barriers. We co‐constructed research to determine the effectiveness of an instructional framework designed by the school's instructional coach (a teacher educator hired by the school district responsible for enacting literacy reform and providing professional development) and her work with four ninth‐grade and tenth‐grade English teachers (Years 10 and 11) in the United States. This engaged scholarship process empowered teachers and the instructional coach to make changes in their approach to writing instruction.MethodsOur case study used the following data sources: teacher and student interviews, professional development and classroom observations, student writing attitude surveys and analyses of student writing. We utilised grounded theory to determine changes in classroom practice and students' academic growth.ResultsOur study revealed strengths of the professional development regarding classroom management and student writing dispositions. Yet it also illuminated problems such as continued emphasis on reading instruction, limited opportunities for student choice and lack of writing strategies that transferred to composing extended text.ConclusionThese results raised critical questions, which aided the instructional coach in refining professional development for writing instruction.

Assessment of Teachers’ Technological and Pedagogical Knowledge of Integrating ICT in teaching English in Secondary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to assess teachers’ technological and pedagogical knowledge of integrating ICT in teaching English in secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was guided by two frameworks: Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), and Teacher Cognition. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, and pragmatic world view as a philosophical orientation. The sample consisted of 20 secondary school teachers of English from Nairobi County. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used. Data was collected using an interview schedule and a teacher questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics: frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and presented in tables and short descriptions and content analysis procedures and presented in narrations based on thematic areas derived from the study variables. The findings revealed among other things that, 75% of the teachers of English sampled lacked TPACK to effectively integrate ICT in their teaching, the training required by teachers of English to integrate ICT in their teaching and the resources needed to deliver this were inadequate in many schools under study. The study concluded that: teachers of English needed sufficient technological pedagogical knowledge and adequate ICT skills to effectively integrate ICTs in their teaching, the aspirations of national educational authorities because of establishing ICT competencies does not automatically result in changes in classroom practices. The study recommended that teachers be provided with professional development as a continuous process on the integration of ICT in teaching; underscoring the importance of the continued teacher development in ICTs to enhance English language teaching. The study further challenges policymakers in the secondary school context to develop ....

Flexible Facilitation: Coaching and Modelling to Support Inclusive Education

The practices of education, such as separate and resource placements, pull-out services, scripted intervention programmes, an emphasis on diagnoses, and behaviorist discipline practices, are not conducive to the goals of inclusive education. This study demonstrates how one instructional coach worked to disrupt traditional special education practices and guide special educators towards the use of more effective research-based instructional strategies and collaborative practices to promote inclusion. Using Robert Stake’s intrinsic case study methodology, we explored the perceived roles of coaching and modelling to promote inclusion through the lens of one coach who modelled methods for the special education teachers in multiple general education classrooms. The following themes emerged from the multiphase analysis of data collected throughout the coaching project: coaching as flexible facilitation, coaching as recognition of existing good practice, coaching pedagogical decision-making, coaching instructional reflectivity, and coaching collaborative partnerships. Coaching and modelling for special educators are recommended for promoting inclusive education as they embrace the complexity of changing classroom practice and can enhance collaborative instructional practice.

Relationship Between Changes in Classroom Practice and Beliefs about Teaching of Novice Faculty

Relationship Between Changes in Classroom Practice and Beliefs about Teaching of Novice Faculty

Elaborating Multiliteracies through Multimodal Texts: Changing Classroom Practices and Developing Teacher Pedagogies

Reviewed by Jinyou Zhou and Lin CongSchool of Foreign Languages and Literature, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China

Introducing restorative practices into high schools’ multi-tiered systems of support: successes and challenges

ABSTRACT We report findings from a recent field test assessing the feasibility of training teachers in implementing restorative practices within a multi-tiered approach to supporting student behavior. First, we provide an overview of our training content, training delivery, and follow-up coaching. Second, we present overall outcomes from our field test with three non-traditional high schools. Results indicated improvements in overall school-wide implementation of restorative consequences, and gains in teacher use of existing discipline approaches as well as restorative practices. Results also indicated increases in early adopters’ confidence level with motivating students and engaging them in appropriate behavior across the duration of the study. Challenges associated with implementation included aligning administrative commitments to restorative practices with individual teachers' willingness to change classroom practices, allocating sufficient time to change policies and practices and overcoming logistical challenges to maximize coaching benefits. Finally, we discuss our field test findings within the current recommendations for advancing the evidence-based supporting restorative practices in schools.

The contribution of personal epistemological beliefs to uptake in in-service professional development: a case-study

ABSTRACT Formal in-service professional development programmes may help novice teachers or those new to a school adapt to targeted teaching approaches in their new workplace. However, the extent to which their practice changes in response to in-service learning may depend on prior beliefs. This longitudinal case study explored in-depth the personal epistemological beliefs of four pre-sessional English language teachers, international and national, in an English-medium university context in Turkey during a year-long, formal in-service teacher education course, and for 6 months after the course. It investigated changes in classroom practice and beliefs about knowledge and knowing, teaching and learning, and professional learning as a result of in-service learning. Interviews, classroom observations and reflective journals underpinned a hermeneutic analysis which compared informants’ beliefs and classroom practice over time using an existing theoretical model. Underlying patterns of change in epistemological beliefs show belief type, depth, and sophistication, as well as context, as major factors in the uptake and sustainability of targeted teaching approaches in this context. In-service educators’ knowledge of a teacher’s epistemological beliefs profile can lead to more effective and sustainable uptake in formal in-service professional learning through differentiated, practice-based interventions.

Towards a research base for textbooks as teacher support: the case of engaging students in active knowledge organization in the KOSIMA project

Engaging students in processes of mathematizing and active knowledge organization (instead of telling and rehearsing ready-made mathematics) is a key demand for high quality mathematics instruction. Although many mathematically rich context problems have been designed and published in textbooks, their impact on regular mathematics classrooms remains limited, as teachers face challenges in shaping and enacting the important phase of knowledge organization. The 15-year project KOSIMA presented in this paper was aimed at supporting teachers in really enhancing these processes by means of a textbook for Grades 5–10. The paper provides an overview of different studies conducted during the project in order to show how the project developed a research base for the support of teachers. The paper also shows that different research approaches need to be combined to establish an appropriate research base: In iterative design research cycles of topic-specific didactical design research, learning environments were designed and investigated with the aim of understanding the obstacles encountered in implementing the desired processes. In this paper, we focus on an example of one particular obstacle, namely, teachers’ need of support in engaging students in processes of active knowledge organization. This obstacle was overcome by developing new types of tasks for active knowledge organization. The theoretical outcome of the design research resulted in two hypotheses for improving relevant features of the design of these tasks, which were tested in two controlled trials. Finally, a longitudinal field study of 312 students gave first indications that the classes that worked with the textbook had significantly higher learning gains than classes using other textbooks. In sum, we can show that textbooks can support changes in classroom practices when the obstacles that occur for both teachers and students are carefully investigated and treated.

Changes in the use of and reflections on formative assessment: From student teacher to beginning mathematics teacher—a case study

In this case study, we follow the career of one student teacher (Ellen) from her pre-service training to her first year as a mathematics teacher. As part of a research project about what it means to become a mathematics teacher, the aim of the study was to gain insight into the development of formative assessment competence. To accomplish this, we used data from video-recorded lessons and audio-recorded conversations to depict changes in classroom practice and reflections on that practice during the study. Our findings show that Ellen made incremental changes in her classroom practice and that these had an impact on classroom interaction, formative assessment processes, and student involvement in those processes. Corresponding changes were identified in Ellen’s reflections, which also indicated that she increased her insight into formative assessment. We discuss our findings in relation both to what it means to become a mathematics teacher and to the development of formative assessment competence.

Visible mathematics pedagogy: A model for transforming classroom practice

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the development of a model of research and professional development which aims to bring about transformations in classroom practice in situations that have previously proved resistant to change. We explore reasons why conventional models have failed to address one such situation, the continuing predominance of teacher-centred pedagogies in mathematics classrooms. We draw on findings from the Visible Mathematics Pedagogy research project to highlight how a critical model of participatory action research can be refined to enhance its potential to bring about changes in classroom practice. We report on research tools and processes that were developed, distinct from those commonly used in research, including the organisation of research team meetings around participatory principles, the active involvement of teachers in designing and employing data collection tools, and in generating protocols associated with video-stimulated reflection. We demonstrate how these research tools and processes enhanced collaboration and teacher agency, the trustworthiness of the research findings and teachers’ critical reflection on existing practice. We argue that our refined model of participatory action research can inform and support teachers and researchers wishing to transform classroom practice, especially in situations analogous to many mathematics classrooms, in which conventional models have had limited impact.

An Investigation of the Influence of Video Types and External Facilitation on PE Inservice Teachers’ Reflections and Their Perceptions of Learning: Findings From the AMPED Cluster Controlled Trial

Teacher professional development (TPD) programs are increasingly using video recordings of teaching practice to develop teacher capacity and foster student learning. However, consensus has yet to be reached about how to utilize video recordings in TPD for physical education (PE) teachers. We used semi-structured interviews and evaluations of PE teachers’ written reflective statements to investigate how they reacted as they engaged with different video material and external facilitators during a TPD program. Teachers believed video-based reflection on their own teaching, rather than viewing others’ practice, was the most useful, even though both forms of analysis produced a similar depth of reflection. PE teachers also benefited from dialogue with external facilitators during the TPD program. These results highlight the importance of researchers, teachers, and facilitators delivering and participating in TPD collaboratively and focusing on strategies that may increase the depth of teacher reflection on their own practices, which is considered a first step toward changing classroom practice and improving student outcomes.

Eritrean teachers' perceptions of learner-centred interactive pedagogy

In most sub-Saharan African countries, mainstreaming learner-centred interactive pedagogy (LCIP) is defined as a policy priority. Similarly, Eritrea has adopted the same policy to seek a solution to its educational challenges. Rather than rote mastery of course content, the LCIP approach prioritises learners in constructing knowledge through interaction, active participation and controlling the learning process. This paper explores secondary school teachers' perceptions of LCIP and their challenges in implementing this pedagogical approach. Constructivism and sociocultural learning theory are considered conceptual frameworks to highlight LCIP as an approach for teaching and learning. Qualitative data from 12 teachers' interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis and inductive reasoning. The findings suggest that without laying the necessary foundation, the policy emphasis on LCIP, which is considered critical in addressing educational challenges, puts pressure on teachers to employ LCIP while it remains idealised. Furthermore, the findings indicate that diverse challenges should be addressed to generate change in classroom practices in Eritrean secondary schools by implementing the LCIP approach.

Perceived changes among second-stage agriculture teachers following a professional development experience in Ecuador

This qualitative case study sought to explore changes in the perceptions of second stage (years 4-10) school based agricultural education teachers (SBAE) following a professional development experience in Ecuador. Experiential learning was utilized as a theoretical lens and the model of teacher change as an operationalized conceptual framework. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted, and transcripts analyzed for thematic content. Findings elucidated three emergent themes: change in classroom practices; change in personal and professional pursuits; and change in perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. As a result of the experience, misconceptions were dispelled, new understandings of agriculture and natural resources were developed, confidence was increased, and a desire for more global engagement was communicated. Teachers expressed their desire to be more inclusive, encourage global engagement and citizenship among their students, and integrate more global concepts within their teaching practices. The findings have implications for the importance of holistic approaches to teacher development through international experiential learning, rather than just a focus on classroom teaching practices. To add to our findings, similar research with other teachers beyond second stage should be conducted. Also, research exploring the influence of international development activities on career commitment should be conducted.

Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom: A SWOT Analysis of a Multi-State Literacy Train-the-Trainer Program

Early childhood professionals attending in-depth literacy training have been shown to gain knowledge and change classroom practices. These early childhood professionals play an important role in children’s literacy development. In this multi-state study, the effectiveness and usability of the Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom training curriculum was evaluated using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Eleven early childhood trainers participated in a train-the-trainer program and taught the literacy series to 238 early childhood professionals in four states. Participants attending the training series demonstrated significant knowledge gains on concepts related to oral language, phonological awareness, reading and vocabulary, and emergent writing. Trainers provided insights on successes of the literacy training series and what could be changed to improve the implementation and delivery of the series. Strengths of the training series included ease of implementing the training and strong supporting materials such as videos and children’s books. Weaknesses of the series included program length and the need for concept clarity among some trainers. Opportunities included streamlining the training content and providing trainers with additional support prior to training implementation. Potential threats include the need to align the training curriculum to match different states’ standards and childcare training policies.

The magnitude and precision of estimates of change in formative teacher assessment.

Despite growing interest in formative assessment of teacher practices, research on rates of change in teachers' practices is sparse. This is the first study to examine the characteristics of observed change in classroom practices using the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS) across alternative schedules of data collection during instructional coaching. Our primary objectives included examining (a) the magnitude, variability, and precision of estimates of average rates of change in teacher practices and (b) the impact of data collection duration (i.e., number of weeks of data collection) and density (i.e., the number of classroom observations per week) on the precision of estimates of rates of change over time. A sample of teachers (N = 63) participating in instructional coaching was observed 14 times during coaching using the CSAS. Findings revealed a significant gradual improvement in strategy use, with significant between-teacher variation in rates of change. The frequency of observations was associated with the precision of estimates for average rates of change across teachers and for individual teachers, providing initial guidance on minimum number of observations required to monitor change in practice over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).