Quality Of Student Achievement Research Articles

Efekti delovanja kontekstualnih činilaca na kvalitet matematičkih postignuća učenika

Teaching is a complex process, which, in addition to an exceptional knowledge of the teaching process by the teacher, requires and implies a number of correlative relationships and factors that affect student achievement. The subject of this paper is the analysis of a broader network of potential contextual factors of action on student achievement in mathematics. Accordingly, the aim of the paper is focus on insight of resources of the educational system and the particular circumstances that influence the quality of achievement of students in mathematics. Three sections are considered by theoretical analysis: the impact of mathematics teachers 'professional education on the quality of student achievement, teachers and teaching strategies as a basis for building mathematical anxiety or student resilience, and the role of the school context and analysis of students' specific difficulties in mathematics. Vocational teacher education is one of the initial segments of developing quality in a teacher's vocation, while later professional development is an opportunity to influence not only teacher competences but also the outcomes of student learning. There is a tendency that the education of mathematics teachers and the education of teachers, also future teachers of mathematics, does not give sufficient support to all competencies required for practical work. Significant focuses are on construction and knowledge, while there is less focus on developing teaching competencies. For these reasons, a number of recommendations emerge to include the development of teaching skills in the initial education and training of mathematics teachers, with the aim of improving mathematics in practice and improving student outcomes. Teachers and teaching strategies are the factors that underpin mathematical resilience or anxiety in students, and thus represent variables with a direct impact on mathematics achievement. Mathematical failure can have a strong negative effect on the later life and work of individuals, while the teacher can influence the onset of mathematical anxiety, or through good programs and thoughtful activities can build mathematical resilience and enhance students' achievement in mathematics. The school context and the specific difficulties of the students in mathematics are part of the factors on which the success of the students in this subject depends, because an effectively organized school system causes the development of the maximum potential of students. The paper confirms the opinions of numerous authors that it is necessary to identify and correct specific difficulties in the school environment. Qualitative analyzes partially open the implications for school practice, which indicate the existence of students who are more difficult to master mathematics, but also the fact that the extra work of teachers with them significantly influences the elimination of existing difficulties. By considering the aforementioned aspects of classroom practice and their impact on students' achievement in mathematics, further research was opened that would more specifically address the contexts and modes of mathematics instruction, with particular attention to the existence of students with specific difficulties in mathematics and the key role of teachers in their recognition.

The Improvement Technique in Assessing Teaching Skills using Fuzzy Weighted Grading Method

The assessment of education is the process of providing the decision on the performance and quality of student achievement. Many cases indicate that the educational assessment involves many criteria of uncertain value, and therefore fuzzy assessment studies have grown rapidly in recent years. In this paper, a method is proposed to improve the assessment of the basic teaching skills of prospective teachers in a Micro-teaching course by using a fuzzy grading system. This method is also based on group decision-making (GDM) because it involves several decision makers who give preferences in the assessment process and negotiate to determine the criteria and sub-criteria for the assessment. The result of the method is a fuzzy value which is represented by a letter grade for the Micro-teaching course and letter grade for each of the basic teaching skills. By using this method, students may have the same final grade, but their mastering of teaching skills is very different.

Redesigning Assessment for Holistic Learning

This paper discusses the importance of holistic assessment in the teaching and learning process at all levels of education, both in schools and in higher education institutions. Redesigning classroom assessment for holistic learning to improve student learning is not a new idea. Educators conduct assessment for a variety of purposes such as determining the level of student academic achievement or identifying weaknesses and strengths of students. Educators need to be equipped with ways to maintain these processes to determine the quality of student achievement. Assessment should reflect the understanding that learning is a complex process by engaging a varied selection of techniques, comprising those that require real and authentic performance, utilising them over a period so as to disclose evolution, progress, and emergent steps of integration. The assessment should be continuous and balanced. Implementing holistic assessment benefits the students, teachers and stakeholders. Educators should develop courses with diversified teaching and learning materials that enrich students’ learning experiences with appropriate and authentic activities. Holistic assessment ensures that curriculum is developed to relate to the real world requirement of the tasks and setting that demand thought-provoking conditions to challenge the students. This paper focuses on applying various assessment methods that need to be mastered by educators to ensure students benefit in terms of their personal growth, strength and their learning process. It also offers some recommendations that could help in augmenting assessment, teaching and learning.

Kvalitet problemski orijentisane nastave i postignuće učenika

The paper analyses the possibilities and ways of implementing problem-oriented teachingin the classroom. The goal of the research was to expand the existing knowledge about the level of representation, quality of implementation, and the characteristics of the problem-oriented teaching, as well as about the effect of this form of teaching on the level and quality of student achievement in biology and mathematics. The research involved 97 mathematics teachers, 99 biology teachers, and a total of 1117 students. A descriptive-analytical method was used and the data was collected by using scaling, surveying, and testing techniques. The research results indicate that problem-oriented teaching is the most frequently used teaching approach in mathematics classroom, while it is used to a lesser extent in teaching biology. The students whose teachers frequently use problem-oriented teaching achieve better results than students who are rarely exposed to this type of teaching and learning. As far as the type of the problem is concerned, students mostly have to solve problems containing more information in the text, while the problems with several correct solutions are rarely used. Students generally realise that problem-solving process involves the activities pertaining to the problem-oriented teaching and learning. The analysis of the quality of implementation showed that students do not pay enough attention to initial activities in the problem-solving process and to the evaluation of the achieved results. Positive correlations were established between the analysed characteristics of the problems and student achievement, as well as between the frequency and quality of the problem-oriented teaching activities and student achievement. Problem-oriented teaching is mostly implemented at revision classes by using a dialogue method and individual interaction pattern in teaching mathematics, while frontal interaction pattern is mostly used in biology classes.

Validity and participation: implications for school comparison of Australia’s National Assessment Program

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australia is a series of literacy and numeracy tests that are used for purposes of school comparison. This paper argues that a key question for this use lies in whether or not this is a reasonable, or valid, use of the test data. Using Kane’s argumentative approach to validity, this paper argues that the comparisons of the quality of student achievement made available on the My School Website have low validity due to the lack of regard to rates of participation in schools. In bringing together the literature that addresses the ‘new governance’ of education through testing and an approach to validity that addresses the technical aspects of test score interpretation, with the ethics of how test scores are used and applied, this study identifies validity as an important consideration in comparative analyses of student achievement data. The identification of the need to consider participation in such comparisons through the application of the argumentative approach to validity highlights the contribution of this article not only to the testing field but also to critical policy literature.

A new international database on education quality: 1965–2010

The aim of this article is to propose a new database allowing a comparative evaluation of the relative performance of schooling systems around the world. We measure this performance through pupils’ achievement in standardized tests. We merge all existing regional and international student achievement tests by using a specific methodology. When compared with other existing databases, our approach innovates in several ways, especially by including regional student achievement tests and intertemporal comparable indicators. We provide a data set of indicators of quality of student achievement for 103 countries/areas in primary education and 111 countries/areas in secondary education between 1965 and 2010.

UNESCO „Švietimo visiems“ ugdymo kokybės gerinimo politikos aktualumas Lietuvoje

Nagrinėjamas UNESCO ugdymo kokybės imperatyvo ir su juo susijusių švietimo politikos rekomendacijų aktualumas ir galimos transformacijos Lietuvoje. Remiantis Lietuvos nacionalinių 2003, 2004 ir 2005 metų mokinių pasiekimų tyrimų duomenimis analizuojami veiksniai, nuo kurių priklauso bendrojo ugdymo kokybė. Šie veiksniai gretinami su UNESCO dokumentuose akcentuojamais ugdymo kokybės veiksniais - aukštu mokytojų profesionalumu, ugdymo individualizavimu, vertinimo kokybės kėlimu, fizinės ugdymo aplinkos gerinimu, mokinių skaičiaus klasėse mažinimu.