Instructional Improvement Research Articles

Centring Teacher Voices in School-Wide Improvement: Possibilities and Challenges of Introducing Change in Complex Systems

ABSTRACTThis study aims to unveil the complexity of introducing and sustaining instructional improvement at a school site by documenting successes and challenges encountered by a research-practice partnership among university researchers, school and district leaders, and a mathematics coordinator from the county office of education. The study answers two questions: How did a research-practice partnership attend to teachers’ voices and craft coherence around a school’s mathematics teaching improvement goals? What characterised the complexity of sustaining the improvement efforts? Data included meeting fieldnotes, teacher survey responses, and transcripts of interviews with teachers, school and district leaders, and the county coordinator. Qualitative thematic analyses revealed several ways in which the team attended to teacher voices and crafted coherence dynamically through interactions supported by tools and activities aimed at surfacing complexity and creating a shared vision. Points of convergence included a focus on adult learning and collaboration. Analyses also unveiled challenges, including the emotional work entailed in instructional change and the necessity to buffer the school from conflicting external demands. Conclusions highlight the importance of deliberate negotiation of tensions and crafting of coherence so that stakeholders can more easily build a shared vision for high-quality classroom teaching and high-quality teacher learning.

Proficiency Level and Challenges in Economics of Grade 10 Students in Selected Public Schools in Central Philippines

Aims: This paper assessed the level of proficiency in Economics of Grade 10 students in selected public schools in the Philippines during the school year 2022 in the areas of basic concepts of Economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and sectors of the economy and its policies when taken as a whole and grouped according to sex and grades. It also identified the challenges encountered by students in learning Economics. Lastly, it determined the difference in their proficiency level in Economics when grouped into demographics.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted among Grade 10 junior high school students in Central Philippines during 2022.
 Study Design: The study utilized the quantitative design, particularly the descriptive-comparative approach.
 Methodology: The study was responded to by 304 stratified randomly sampled students using a validated and reliability-tested researcher-made test questionnaire and checklist. In assessing the study, it utilized the scale in ascending order: beginning, developing, approaching proficiency, proficiency, and advanced. In data analysis, mean, standard deviation, frequency count, percentage, rank, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis were used.
 Results: Generally, the student's proficiency level in Economics (M=24.25; SD=6.43) was rated as approaching proficiency. The low areas with approaching proficiency ratings that need improvement are microeconomics (M=5.33; SD=2.02), macroeconomics (M=7.58; SD=2.84), and sectors of the economy and its policies (M=3.82; SD=1.71). Regarding the demographics, according to sex, the Economics proficiency of female (M=25.18; SD=6.11) and male (M=23.22; SD=6.64) students was approaching proficiency. Meanwhile, the student's proficiency level with a grade of 90-100 (M=27.02; SD=5.82) was proficient compared to other grades, 85-90 (M= 23.18; SD=6.64), 80-84 (M= 22.05; SD= 5.58), and 75-79 (M=22.17; SD= 3.66) which were approaching proficiency. On the one hand, the findings showed a significant difference in their proficiency level in Economics when grouped according to sex [U=9547.5, p=0.010] and grades in Economics [χ2(3) =31.377, p=0.000]. Lastly, grade 10 students encountered challenges in learning Economics regarding teacher, student, learner environment, resources, facilities, and subject factors.
 Conclusion: The findings imply a continuous improvement in instruction and the importance of programs and activities that encourage acquiring and developing proficiency in Economics. With the sustainable improvement in instruction intact, the student's proficiency in Economics is ensured.

교육평등을 위한 수학 교수법

In this paper, we sought for instructional methods to guarantee equitable access to successful mathematics learning for students with a low economic status. For the purpose, we analyzed the PISA2012 data to investigate the effect of diversity-inclusive instruction and teacher-student relationship on mathematics achievement of Korean students with a low economic status. The analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between diversity-inclusive instruction and the mathematics achievement of the students. In addition, it indicated a partial mediating effect of teacher-student relationship between diversity-inclusive instruction and the mathematics achievement of the students. Further analysis is necessary to examine the effect of diversity-inclusive instruction on the achievement of students from deprived backgrounds. Based on the results, we discuss the implications for the improvement of mathematics instruction to guarantee educational equity for all students.

How am i doing? Using self-mentoring practices to improve a tenure-track faculty’s online instructional strategies

ABSTRACT Junior faculty members face pressure to excel in the threefold mission of their assignment (teaching, research, and service) because the tenure process is complex and requires one to balance many diverse and competing demands. This qualitative study analyzed the self-mentoring practices of a tenure-track faculty who strove to improve his instructional practices in online courses. The study used online surveys and collected data from 363 graduate students. The findings indicated that students appreciated the instructor’s instructional techniques for connecting with learners, creating classroom interaction, providing constructive feedback, and remaining approachable and caring. Given the stressful nature of untenured faculty’s challenges inherent to online graduate courses, this study suggests self-mentoring is an effective reflective practice for new faculty to enhance their instructional practices. The study further recommends the development of faculty social-emotional competencies, the promotion of faculty self-reflective practices, and the use of faculty self-designed mid-term evaluation for instructional improvement.

Examining whether and how instructional coordination occurs within introductory undergraduate STEM courses

Instructors’ interactions can foster knowledge sharing around teaching and the use of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS). Coordinated teaching presents an impetus for instructors’ interactions and creates opportunities for instructional improvement but also potentially limits an instructor’s autonomy. In this study, we sought to characterize the extent of coordination present in introductory undergraduate courses and to understand how departments and instructors implement and experience course coordination. We examined survey data from 3,641 chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors at three institution types and conducted follow-up interviews with a subset of 24 survey respondents to determine what types of coordination existed, what factors led to coordination, how coordination constrained instruction, and how instructors maintained autonomy within coordinated contexts. We classified three approaches to coordination at both the overall course and course component levels: independent (i.e., not coordinated), collaborative (decision-making by instructor and others), controlled (decision-making by others, not instructor). Two course components, content coverage and textbooks, were highly coordinated. These curricular components were often decided through formal or informal committees, but these decisions were seldom revisited. This limited the ability for instructors to participate in the decision-making process, the level of interactions between instructors, and the pedagogical growth that could have occurred through these conversations. Decision-making around the other two course components, instructional methods and exams, was more likely to be independently determined by the instructors, who valued this autonomy. Participants in the study identified various ways in which collaborative coordination of courses can promote but also inhibit pedagogical growth. Our findings indicate that the benefits of collaborative course coordination can be realized when departments develop coordinated approaches that value each instructor’s autonomy, incorporate shared and ongoing decision-making, and facilitate collaborative interactions and knowledge sharing among instructors.

Lesson Study for school leaders

This paper will outline the role of school leaders in the implementation process of Lesson Study as a tool for staff, team and organisational development based on a systematic literature analysis. Furthermore, it will explore the question of how the Lesson Study method can be anchored in the school culture by promoting organisational learning. In order to underpin the findings of the systematic literature review, an additional quantitative study was conducted in which European school leaders were interviewed about their experience and the use of Lesson Study at their school sites.
 Research has shown, that a “school that is or strives to become a learning organisation makes lessons learned – whether good or bad – available to all staff in order to learn from these.” (OECD, 2018). In this context, it is of research interest to identify arguments for the beneficial use of Lesson Study for continuous instructional and school development, Lesson Study is presented as a tool for sustainable professionalisation of teachers while strengthening team orientation at the school site.
 This paper will also outline how school leaders can integrate Lesson Study into existing structures as an approach to organisational learning. The article is intended to encourage school leaders to use Lesson Study, in addition to continuous instructional improvement, as a proven human resource development tool to promote and support staff in their personal and professional development. The findings of this research may be used to develop a suitable concept for the introduction of Lesson Study tailored to the school site in the context of a school development project and to later integrate it as a process into existing structures.

Redesigning a Course Evaluation Instrument: Experience, Practical Guidance, and Lessons Learned

Course evaluation instruments (CEIs) are widespread, influential components of faculty professional development and evaluation processes. Given their importance to continuous instructional improvement and their weight in promotion, tenure, and other evaluation processes, it is critical that business schools and higher education institutions more broadly ensure a well-designed instrument. While the literature covering course evaluation instruments is extensive, coverage of the CEI revision process is virtually nonexistent. This article seeks to fill that gap, providing a case study of a successful CEI change process at an AACSB accredited business school. We offer practical recommendations for a revision process, including a sample timeline, revised instrument, and lessons learned from experience.

“Are You Saying That We’re Racist?”: Comparing Normative, Political, and Technical Dimensions of Instructional and Disciplinary Policies

Background: In recent years, school districts have experienced a complex policy environment with myriad reforms aimed at addressing longstanding and historically entrenched disparities in opportunities and outcomes between racially minoritized students and White students. One such reform is standards-based accountability, with its emphasis on documenting and addressing racial disparities in testing outcomes. Recently, educators and lawmakers have sought to address persistent racial disproportionality in disciplinary actions. New behavioral policies may be seen as a response to national attention and outrage regarding the “school-to-prison pipeline,” which indicates that school discipline practices contribute to the over-representation of Black men in the criminal justice system. In recent years, local leaders have been tasked with implementing new disciplinary reforms alongside their ongoing efforts at instructional improvement. Purpose: As districts face an increasingly complex policy environment and constrained resources, researchers must understand how district leaders make sense of and manage the varied policies they are tasked with implementing. This study contributes to the knowledge base on K–12 policy implementation by examining how school district leaders manage multiple policies—particularly when some new practices engage beliefs around racial discrimination or structural racism. We contribute to the gap in the literature by asking: What differences emerged in the early implementation processes of an instructional policy and a discipline policy in the Elmwood school district, and what might explain those differences? Research Design: To answer this question, we employ a comparative, embedded case study design and examine extensive qualitative data from a single school district. Oakes’s (1992) framework of technical, normative, and political dimensions of policy change guided the analysis and was applied to rich interview data. Conclusions: Overall, our findings highlight significant differences in how Elmwood leadership implemented the two policies. Our study indicates that though both instructional and disciplinary reforms purport to address racial outcome gaps, district leaders may view discipline in a racialized way that they do not view instructional policy. The perceived racialized nature of discipline policy may significantly influence implementation practices. Ultimately, the data suggests that racialized normative beliefs and values, along with political and technical investments, greatly influence the implementation process and raise larger questions about the role of racism in education reform.

Supervision to Support Reflective Practices

There is immense pressure on school leaders to show evidence of continual school improvement. To drive these improvement efforts, there are essential considerations when planning for implementation, specifically the development of a system that supports reflective practices to increase teacher autonomy and improved student outcomes. The research presented in this article explores the attitudes and beliefs that teachers and administrators have for reflective practices through the supervisory actions of administrators in a rural Northern state. The findings from this study include, 1) the importance of a formal leadership role and the lens used when considering evaluative and non-evaluative feedback; 2) the use of reflective practices to drive changes to instructional practices; and, 3) the connection of reflective practices to school culture, professional development, and student engagement. These findings are important in that they are practical to schools and inform how the United States (US) education system might shift policies to support more formative practices that target instructional improvement.

Leading for Justice, Leading for Learning: Conceptualizing Urban School Leadership for Antiracist Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Urban school leaders can support mathematics instruction that acknowledges and sustains students’ racialized and cultured ways of knowing and being. Yet, leadership for racial justice is often discussed separately from instructional improvement. In this conceptual inquiry, we investigate how leadership can integrate antiracist practices into teaching and learning. We synthesize justice-focused leadership and antiracist mathematics literatures to present a framework of interconnected leadership practices and elaborate on this vision through an example drawn from our collaboration with practitioners. This manuscript and framework provide precise descriptions of leadership actions to support practitioners and researchers seeking to support antiracist, ambitious mathematics instruction.

Expert Teams in Instructional Leadership Practices Based on Collaboration and Their Transference to Local Teaching Improvement Networks

This article shows the research results of implementing a professional learning model based on instructional leadership practices and structured teacher collaboration. The primary purpose was to promote a collaboration model focused on developing communities of practice, formed by school leaders and teachers, focusing on instructional improvement in 8th grade Math and English. The model consists of a cycle with 4 iterative practices: planning, classroom observation, feedback, and refinement and three guiding principles: deprivatisation, collaboration, focus on learning. The methodological approach was a design-based research model, with school teams (within-school level) and collaboration networks (between schools-level) that included principals and teachers. 22 schools in two districts in Chile, 44 school leaders, 74 teachers, 49 non-participating teachers as a control group, and at least 1,000 students in 40 classes were part of the study sample that participated in the research between 2019 and 2020. Mixed methods were used for data analysis. The research team conducted a five-scale questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with participants and non-participants teachers as the control group. The main progress was the deprivatisation of pedagogical practice and joint decision-making for teaching improvement. The practical implications of the model, adjusted for local characteristics, are that it facilitates professional development at three levels: individual, within school teams, and allows professional exchange between schools. It enabled the enactment of peer collaboration practices, and the role of instructional leadership shared between teachers and the school leadership team members were bolstered.

The initial impact of per-capita school funding on teaching students with special educational needs in Kazakhstan

  This article examines the impact of per-capita school funding in Kazakhstan on the improvement of instruction of students with SEN. It offers an extensive literature review on inclusive education funding models internationally and interprets Kazakhstan’s experience in this context. Data in this article comes from a survey of almost 500 urban general day school directors in Kazakhstan’s regions. The article answers three research questions. First, how do urban day schools differ in terms of presence of students with SEN? Second, how do urban day schools that teach students with SEN differ in their policies and practices towards this group of students, and whether they differ by the type of funding that they receive? Third, how do schools that receive PCF assess the impact of this funding on the improvement of instruction of students with SEN? This research finds that factors that determine whether students with SEN are enrolled at the school are the selectiveness of admission to school, the language of instruction, the presence of school-level policy towards students with SEN, and additional staff hired for students with SEN.  It shows that schools, which receive PCF, controlled for the size of the urban location, are two times more likely to have students with SEN in general education classrooms compared to schools that do not receive PCF. Schools that have home-schooled students with SEN are less likely to include these students in general education classes. Further research should examine what is the role of schools in maintaining students with SEN in homeschooling. Findings in this research indicate that teacher professional capacity, the quality of school infrastructure, and the decision-making freedom of school principals form important bases for the effectiveness of per-capita school funding to enable the development of inclusive education in Kazakhstan. Keywords: Per-capita funding, throughput funding, outcomes-based funding, school finance, students with special needs, inclusive education, policy analysis.

Teachers and school administrators' experiences with professional development feedback: The classroom strategies assessment system implementation.

To support teachers' evaluation and professional development valid assessments that measure teachers' classroom practices and capture teachers' strengths and areas in need of improvement are needed. The current study examined school administrators' and teachers' experiences of Professional Development (PD), with the use of the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), a classroom observational assessment that measures universal classroom instructional and behavioral practices, and their perceptions of the usability of CSAS for supporting PD. The study also examined school administrators' ratings of elementary school teachers' use of evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices, as an illustrative example of how performance feedback was implemented. Three school administrators observed 31 elementary school teachers three times each using the CSAS Greek version. Following each observation, teachers received brief performance feedback based on CSAS scores from their school administrator. School administrators and teachers completed the System Usability Scale to assess the usability of the CSAS administration. Semi-structured interviews with 19 of the participating teachers were conducted to further explore teachers' professional development experiences. Overall, teacher interviews expressed their need for professional development in the areas of instructional and behavior management practices and perceived CSAS feedback helpful for instructional improvement. Findings also suggest some improvements in the frequency and quality of teacher instructional and behavior management practices as measured by the CSAS. Implications for practices and research are discussed.

Teachers’ Views of the Mathematical Capabilities of Students With Disabilities: A Mixed Methods Study

Background/Context: Most students with disabilities receive the majority of their instruction in general education classrooms. Yet, general education teachers persistently describe feeling unprepared to academically support students with disabilities in those spaces. Because disabled students are typically excluded from mathematics education research, and because special education researchers typically describe mathematics teaching and learning in ways that are incongruent with ambitious mathematics instruction, there is arguably a lack of guidance for these teachers. In the absence of clear guidance, teachers may turn to the well-established mathematical ability hierarchy, which positions disabled students (among others) as less capable. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this study was to uncover teachers’ talk about the mathematical capabilities of students with (and without) disabilities. Existing coding schemes (perhaps inadvertently) treat teachers’ views as uniform across students despite evidence that teachers hold different views of different students, in part because of the multiple and varied identities that students bring to the classroom. By using an adapted interview protocol, which yielded more (and more nuanced) analytic categories, I foregrounded students’ disability status as a factor that could relate to differences in teachers’ conceptions of who they view as mathematically capable. Research Design: I interviewed general education mathematics teachers ( N = 20) about their students ( n = 407) using an adapted version of Jackson et al.’s (2017) semi-structured protocol that focused on uncovering teachers’ usages of diagnostic and prognostic frames. I used open and concept coding to develop an expanded version of Jackson et al.’s coding scheme and then applied the new coding framework to the entire data set. I used student demographic data to compare within-group percentages, noticing to what degree students with disabilities were represented within particular qualitative categories in relation to their representation within the entire data set. I also used transformed data to estimate two multinomial logistic regressions: one that used diagnostic frames as the outcome variable, and one that used prognostic frames as the outcome variable. Both models used students’ disability status and teacher dummy codes as predictor variables. Conclusions/Recommendations: The majority of teachers in this sample explained mathematical struggle in unproductive terms and said they would aim instructional adjustment at unproductive outcomes for students with and without disabilities. However, students with disabilities were overrepresented in unproductive categories and underrepresented in productive categories in relation to both diagnostic and prognostic frames. Regression analyses indicated that a student was statistically less likely to get a productive diagnostic or prognostic frame if they had a disability label. Findings from this study highlight the necessity of including teachers’ views of their students’ mathematical capabilities in instructional improvement efforts. Second, they indicate that student-level factors, such as disability status, relate to qualitatively and quantitatively meaningful differences in teachers’ views of their students, suggesting the importance of attending to broader narratives around constructs that may be associated with teachers’ views, and the subsequent enactment of those views, in mathematics instruction.

Principals’ implementation of teacher evaluation and its relationship to intended purpose, perceived benefits, training and background variables

ABSTRACT Teacher evaluation has evolved from a task used for administrative decisions to an activity whose main goal is the enhancement of student learning and well-being through the improvement of instruction. The actual implementation of teacher evaluation by school principals will determine greatly the extent to which it can achieve this goal. An attempt was made to examine how principals’ implementation of teacher evaluation was related to their reasons for evaluating (formative or summative), their perceptions of its benefits, their preparation for the evaluator role, and several background variables. Data were gathered by questionnaire from 219 school principals in Israel. Findings indicated that evaluating for improvement rather than for administrative reasons, believing teacher evaluation to benefit school functioning, and feeling adequately trained for the task significantly predicted fuller implementation of the teacher evaluation model. Implications of the findings for preparing and supporting school principals in their role as evaluators is discussed.

Implementing a District-Wide, Multi-Tiered Instructional Improvement System to Address Persistent Student Learning Performance Gaps through Developing Teachers’ Authentic Data Teaming Capacities

Implementing a District-Wide, Multi-Tiered Instructional Improvement System to Address Persistent Student Learning Performance Gaps through Developing Teachers’ Authentic Data Teaming Capacities

Provision of Professional Development Opportunities by the Head Teachers and its Influence on Teachers’ Work Performance in Public Primary Schools in Nakuru County, Kenya

The effectiveness of school systems and learners’ academic performance in Kenya relies heavily on head teachers’ instructional leadership practices and teachers’ work performance, raising the need for suitable instructional leadership practices to achieve the desired quality of education outlined in Vision 2030 and the fourth Sustainable Development Goal. However, recent reports highlight concerns about teachers’ work performance, especially regarding their classroom pedagogical knowledge, skills, and practices. The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of provision of professional development opportunities by the head teachers on teachers’ work performance in public primary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. Hallinger and Murphy’s (1985) Model of Instructional Leadership and Campbell et al.’s (1993) Theory of Job Performance informed the study. The study employed a mixed methods approach with the convergent parallel design, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from 466 respondents in 68 primary schools. The sample included 60 pupils, 329 teachers, 68 head teachers, and 9 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs). Data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis. Statistical analyses in SPSS version 25 included descriptive statistics, percentages, Spearman rank correlation, and regression analysis. The results show that the provision of professional development by head teachers had no significant influence on teachers’ work performance in public primary schools in Nakuru County.The study concluded that teachers’ work performance was critical for the overall school outcomes. The study recommends that head teachers should implement internal professional development programs, considering key procedures like identifying teachers’ training needs for instructional improvement, encouraging in-service training, providing guidance on performance gaps, organizing peer coaching, and promoting further studies for career advancement.

Identifying and Negotiating Productive Instructional Improvement Goals in One-on-One Mathematics Coaching

A major affordance of one-on-one mathematics coaching is its potential to provide individualized, contextualized support for mathematics teachers’ learning. Coaches can adjust their work to individual teachers by focusing on instructional improvement goals that take account of teachers’ current knowledge, practice, and classroom contexts. It is, however, essential that coaches and teachers work to attain productive instructional improvement goals that are both feasible for teachers to attain and likely to result in immediate improvements in students’ learning, if attained. In this article, we describe how coaches can identify productive goals for individual teachers and then, on that basis, negotiate goals successfully with teachers, thereby supporting teachers in seeing productive goals as worthwhile. By describing these two processes, we further clarify the forms of coaching-specific expertise central to effective one-on-one mathematics coaching.

Big Waves on the Rocky Shore: A Discussion of Reading Policy, Infrastructure, and Implementation in the Era of Science of Reading

AbstractTeachers, leaders, reformers, policymakers, and advocates all comprehend the weightiness of reading instruction, experiences, and outcomes for society, schools, and children. There have been numerous waves of reading reform, with federal, state, and local policies addressing numerous aspects of reading instruction. Currently, there are numerous policies reflecting the Science of Reading. In this article, we synthesize policy concepts and illustrate policies associated with the infrastructure for reading instructional improvement. We elevate how policy messages are repeatedly framed and interpreted by people positioned at different levels of the education system. We also explain the variability in responses to reading policy. The article concludes with considerations for designing and implementing policy instruments that support and sustain educators as they sail toward improving reading instruction and providing robust learning opportunities for every child.

An Empirical Research on Schema Theory Based Teaching of the Continuation Task for Chinese Senior High School Students

The continuation task, a novel type of source-based writing task which requires students to read and accomplish an unfinished source text, has gained growing popularity in English writing tests, particularly in China. This study employed schema theory in the teaching of senior high school continuation tasks and delved into its resultant effects on learners’ overall writing ability, lexical richness, syntactic complexity, and semantic coherence. Theoretically, it serves as an extension of the Schema theory, Practically, it contributes to the improvement of the continuation task instruction and offers a realistic method to achieving better writing from the perspectives of linguistic schema, content schema, and formal schema. This research revolves around such questions: What effects do schema theory-based Continuation task instructions have on students’ overall writing competence; lexical richness; syntactic complexity and semantic coherence? During the research, two groups of EFL students (N=110) from Chinese senior high schools participated in the trial for fourteen weeks. One group was randomly selected as Control Class where the teacher adopted traditional teaching approaches. At the same time, the other was set up as the Experimental Class guided by schema theory. The participants writing performance were evaluated through the lexical richness, syntactic complexity and semantic coherence. Sample T-test and paired T-test found statistically significant differences between the Control class and the Experimental class. These findings suggest that the schema theory-based approach, such as providing a semantic map or outlining the story to participants, was proven effective in honing the students’ overall writing capability, lexical richness, syntactic complexity, and semantic coherence. Because of the chosen research approach, its efficacy is limited concerning language and discourse.