Teachers In High Poverty Schools Research Articles

Gender, teacher, and school characteristics as predictors of advanced placement physics performance

AbstractAdvanced placement (AP) physics performance is an important metric for examining precollege student preparation for post‐secondary study. The present study examined potential predictors of AP Physics 1 performance including gender, teacher, and school‐level characteristics. A theoretical framework proposed teacher preparation and experiential variables are predictive of student outcomes, in addition to contextual variables that include demographics and academic offerings. Data showed that AP Physics 1 participants varied statistically from the overall high school population in terms of gender and ethnicity, with more women, White, and Asian students enrolled. AP Physics 1 teachers tended to be more experienced than other physics teachers. A multivariable linear regression model indicated significant negative predictors included female gender and socioeconomic status; the sole positive academic predictor was whether the school offered AP Chemistry. Notably, physics performance was not predicted by physics teacher characteristics including gender, certification type, years of experience, course load in physics, and isolation. Physics performance was also unrelated to school size, AP Physics enrollment, and access to AP Biology and Calculus. Results suggest that targeted resources should be identified to support teachers in high poverty schools, and training them to enact strategies that diminish gender achievement gaps.

Disparities in Teachers’ Access to Schools’ Collective Social Assets Based on Role, Race, and Poverty

A schools’ collective social assets (i.e., school culture, administrative support, and satisfied colleagues) are especially important for beginning teachers at higher risk of attrition, including special educators, teachers of color, teachers in high-poverty schools, and teachers in schools serving predominantly students of color. These teachers often report experiencing less social support than general educators, White teachers, teachers in low-poverty schools, and teachers serving predominantly White students, respectively; we labeled this inequitable access to schools’ collective social assets intersectional professional vulnerability. Using data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and structural equation modeling, we examined how beginning teachers’ race/ethnicity and their students’ race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and disability status related to perceptions of their U.S. schools’ collective social assets and how those perceptions shaped intent to continue teaching. We found significant differences in access to collective social assets based on their race/ethnicity, role as special versus general educators, and students served within their school.

"There is Something to be Said for Actually Being There:" Experiences of Elementary General Music Teachers in High-Poverty Schools

"There is Something to be Said for Actually Being There:" Experiences of Elementary General Music Teachers in High-Poverty Schools

Do Low-Income Students Have Equal Access to Effective Teachers?

We examine access to effective teachers for low-income students in 26 geographically dispersed school districts over a 5-year period. We measure teacher effectiveness using a value-added model that accounts for measurement error in prior test scores and peer effects. Differences between the average value added of teachers of high- and low-income students are 0.005 standard deviations in English/language arts and 0.004 standard deviations in math. Differences between teachers of Black, Hispanic, and White students are also small. Rearranging teachers to obtain perfect equity would do little to narrow the sizable student achievement gap between low- and high-income students. We also show that a higher proportion of novice teachers in high-poverty schools contributes negligibly to differences in access to effective teachers.

Why they remain: factors influencing teaching sustainability in high-poverty schools

ABSTRACT Background With teachers in high-poverty schools facing increased stress, decreased motivation, and job satisfaction, it is imperative to identify educators that can thrive and sustain over time and intend to remain teaching in high-poverty schools despite these concerns. Identifying individual characteristics of teacher sustainability related to one’s intention to remain teaching can help offset teacher attrition and turnover through intervention and support of teachers. This study explored the constructs of teaching sustainability (psychological flexibility (PF), resilience (tRES), and sense of purpose (SOP)) as they relate to a group of physical education teachers working in high-poverty schools. Research design This study utilized an interpretivist philosophy. The interviewees volunteered after completing a national survey (N = 538) of PE teachers related to teacher sustainability. Randomly selected teachers (n = 26) participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their perceptions, definitions, and significance of teaching sustainability in high-poverty schools. Findings Results from the inductive thematic analysis produced three general dimensions related to teaching sustainability in high-poverty schools: sustaining through career frustrations, awareness and acceptance, and values-driven behavior. Although external factors such as financial discrepancies were real stressors in these teacher’s lives that led to many questioning whether to leave or stay in the profession, the ability to regulate emotions while maintaining a strong internalized meaning and purpose may have helped their efficient management of stressors and sustainability in high-poverty schools over time. Conclusion Although this study provides insight into teaching sustainability in high-poverty schools, much is still unknown. The teachers possessed strong individual dispositions that facilitated elevated levels of PF, tRES, and SOP. School administrators in high-poverty schools must establish a strong culture of support to facilitate the teacher sustainability constructs and intentionally recruit teachers with the capacity for possessing strong teacher sustainability dispositions. Identifying ways to increase the constructs of teacher sustainability of physical education teachers can decrease the concerns surrounding teacher attrition and increase job satisfaction for teachers working in high-poverty schools.

Selective retention bonuses for highly effective teachers in high poverty schools: Evidence from Tennessee

Research has established that racially isolated schools with high concentrations of low-income students disproportionately struggle to recruit and retain highly effective teachers, limiting disadvantaged students’ exposure to high-quality instruction and driving institutional and community instability. This study estimates the effect of selective retention bonuses (SRB) for highly effective teachers on low-performing, high poverty schools’ ability to elevate student performance by increasing access to effective instruction. The theory of action behind the bonus program is simple: SRBs result in greater numbers of highly effective teachers at participating schools, who subsequently drive larger student gains than the teachers who would otherwise fill their positions. To examine whether students in high poverty schools benefit from retention of highly effective teachers, we use differences in eligibility for schools to offer bonuses and the discrete timing of the program in a matched sample, difference-in-differences framework. Results indicate that schools who offered SRBs saw greater test score gains in subsequent years, especially on state reading exams.

Do bonuses affect teacher staffing and student achievement in high poverty schools? Evidence from an incentive for national board certified teachers in Washington State

We study a teacher incentive policy in Washington State that awards a financial bonus to National Board certified teachers in high poverty schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the bonus policy increased the proportion of certified teachers in bonus-eligible schools by improving hiring, increasing certification rates of incumbent teachers, and reducing turnover. Depending on the method, we estimate that the proportion of NBCTs in treated schools increased by about four to eight percentage points over the first five years of eligibility. However, the improvement in certification rates corresponds to a change of about 0.2–0.3% of a standard deviation in teacher quality per year and we do not find evidence that the bonus resulted in detectible effects on student test achievement.

‘It’s not about punitive’: exploring how early-career teachers in high-poverty schools respond to critical incidents

ABSTRACTThis article explores how early-career teachers working in high-poverty schools in Australia account for their decision-making during critical classroom incidents. Classroom management solutions are problematized by investigating how two teachers take up particular positions, make decisions, and enact what they believe to be ‘quality teaching’ in context. Through a combination of interviews and observations of teachers ‘in situ’, we examine what these teachers do, why they do it, what informs their decisions, and how they reflect on their actions. The complexity of teachers’ work in schools located in high-poverty areas is highlighted. We argue that both early-career teachers prefer to position themselves within ‘pastoral’, in contrast to ‘disciplinarian’, discourses, as part of constituting the school as a site of possibility and teachers who advocate for youth growing up in poverty.

The Politics of Quality Teacher Discourses: Implications for Pre-service Teachers in High Poverty Schools

Improving the quality of education for young people growing up in high poverty and culturally diverse communities is an escalating problem in affluent nations with increasing gaps between the wealthy and the poor. Improving the quality of teachers and improving the quality of teaching are amongst the prominent solutions offered to redress the differences between student academic performances related to socio-economic family circumstances. This article examines the different discourses of ‘quality’ in relation to the preparation of pre-service teachers to work in high poverty schools such as graduates of the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools pre-service teacher education program. Key tenets of ‘quality teacher’ and ‘quality teaching’ solutions are summarized along with their critiques. An alternative approach starting from a position of social justice is considered. This approach situates the work of teaching within high poverty school communities and considers what pre-service teachers need to understand and learn to do with respect to context.

Novice Teachers’ Experiences in High-Poverty Schools: An Integrative Literature Review

Retaining teachers in high-poverty schools is essential for ensuring students who live in poverty have equitable educational opportunities. Understanding novices’ experiences can help school leaders improve novices’ retention in high-poverty schools throughout their careers. This integrative review of studies investigates novices’ experiences teaching in high-poverty schools. We identified common themes in extant studies, as well as several important areas of research that are, to date, under-studied; most notably, more research is needed to explore differences in novices’ experiences of their working conditions in high- versus low-poverty schools, and the implications of those differences for teacher development and retention.

A Review of Physical Education Teacher Resilience in Schools of Poverty Through the Lens of Occupational Teacher Socialization

The increase in teacher attrition has been substantial in U.S. public schools over the past three decades. The impact this trend has on student learning is pronounced, especially in high-poverty schools. Minimal research has focused on the resilient teachers who stay in these settings and the personal, professional, and biographical influences that guide that decision. This review of literature, guided by resilience theory, occupational socialization of physical education teachers, and research on poverty, attempts to demonstrate the importance of recruiting, training, and retaining resilient physical education teachers in high-poverty schools.

Primeros años de docencia en contextos de pobreza: preguntas que la evidencia desde EE.UU. sugiere para la conversación en Chile

In light of the lack of research in Chile about beginning teachers in high-poverty schools, this literature review examines 44 papers published in the United States about this topic over the past decade. Because the two countries are different in many ways, the conclusions from one cannot be extrapolated to the other; however, both share a neoliberal context, making this review valuable. Overall, studies suggested that the early years of teaching in high-poverty schools have become increasingly complex, due to economic, political, and cultural factors. The main research focus has been on teacher retention, and results indicate that monetary bonuses above an average teacher salary are not as relevant as other factors for attracting teachers to high-poverty schools. Research in the United States indicates the need to pay attention to working conditions, collaboration among colleagues, the pressure to achieve on standardized tests, and the lack of cultural relevance of what is taught in high-poverty schools. The review concludes by proposing six questions based on evidence from the United States to spark conversation in Chile.

Early Years of Teaching in Contexts of Poverty: Questions Based on Evidence from the U.S. to Spark Conversation in Chile

In light of the lack of research in Chile about beginning teachers in high-poverty schools, this literature review examines 44 papers published in the United States about this topic over the past decade. Because the two countries are different in many ways, the conclusions from one cannot be extrapolated to the other; however, both share a neoliberal context, making this review valuable. Overall, studies suggested that the early years of teaching in high-poverty schools have become increasingly complex, due to economic, political, and cultural factors. The main research focus has been on teacher retention, and results indicate that monetary bonuses above an average teacher salary are not as relevant as other factors for attracting teachers to high-poverty schools. Research in the United States indicates the need to pay attention to working conditions, collaboration among colleagues, the pressure to achieve on standardized tests, and the lack of cultural relevance of what is taught in high-poverty schools. The review concludes by proposing six questions based on evidence from the United States to spark conversation in Chile.

Teacher Satisfaction in High Poverty Schools: Searching for Policy Relevant Interventions in Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia

Provided the shared post-soviet context and the rapidly declining school age population, this comparative study of teachers in Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia can shed light on alternative approaches to increased teacher satisfaction for countries in similar contexts that are unable to make across the board increases in teacher salary. The focus on high poverty schools is essential in these countries as the changing demographics and present school funding mechanisms disproportionately affect rural schools which are often high poverty. This study addresses two pressing research questions, exploring each independently for Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia: 1) How does teacher satisfaction and other teacher characteristics differ by school poverty level? 2) What policy relevant factors are related to increased satisfaction for teachers in high poverty schools? Data from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) were used in this study. Given the dichotomous measures of the outcome variable (teacher satisfaction), hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) was the primary method of analysis. Although the policy implementation and internalization process is challenging, this study indicates that simplistic, externally driven policy solutions, such as introducing induction programs or changing the contract status of teachers, are not as effective in increasing teacher satisfaction as investments that contribute to a positive school climate where teachers feel valued and included as professionals.

Antecedents of Teachers’ Educational Beliefs about Mathematics and Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching among In-Service Teachers in High Poverty Urban Schools

This paper examines the antecedents of three types of educational beliefs about mathematics among 151 teachers predominantly working in high poverty schools. Studies across various countries have found that teachers in high poverty schools are less likely to enact instructional approaches that align with mathematics reform standards set by national and international organizations. Researchers contend that for instruction to change, educational beliefs about mathematics and teaching must change. Regression analyses indicated that mathematics-teaching experience was associated with teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching mathematics at the onset of professional development and the number of mathematics college courses teachers had taken moderated their change in self-efficacy beliefs through professional development. Findings also indicated that epistemic beliefs about mathematics, which became more availing through professional development, were the strongest predictor of their mathematical knowledge for teaching. Results may inform professional development programs in promoting adaptive educational beliefs among teachers in high poverty schools.

Show Them the Mission: A Comparison of Teacher Recruitment Incentives in High Need Communities

ObjectiveMost public organizations use both materialistic and idealistic appeals to attract valued employees, with the latter being particularly important for difficult jobs. Teaching in high poverty communities is one such job, though none have studied whether successful high poverty schools such as the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools make relatively greater use of public service appeals in teacher recruitment. In education, we identify these materialistic and idealistic appeals as teacher‐centered and student‐centered incentives. Teacher‐centered incentives are those that appeal to a teacher's desire for higher compensation or advancement opportunities, whereas student‐centered appeals attempt to attract teachers with a public service mission.MethodWe compare the use of teacher‐centered and student‐centered appeals in teacher recruitment by the universe of KIPP networks (n = 33) and neighboring traditional public school districts (n = 34), each serving disadvantaged populations. Coders record personnel website use of four teacher‐centered appeals (including salary and benefits) and four student‐centered appeals.ResultsChi‐square tests show that KIPP schools make less use of teacher‐centered appeals, especially monetary compensation, and more use of student‐centered appeals in teacher recruitment.ConclusionSupplemented by fieldwork, findings suggest that appeals to mission may work better than merit pay in recruiting effective teachers for high poverty schools.

Value added of teachers in high-poverty schools and lower poverty schools

Using student-level microdata from 2000–2001 to 2004–2005 from Florida and North Carolina, we compare the effectiveness of teachers in schools serving primarily students from low-income families (>70% free-and-reduced-price-lunch students) with teachers in schools serving more advantaged students. The results show that the average effectiveness of teachers in high poverty schools is in general less than teachers in other schools and there is significantly greater variation in teacher quality among high poverty schools. These differences are largely driven by less productive teachers at the bottom of the teacher effectiveness distribution in high-poverty schools. The bulk of the quality differential is due to differences in the unmeasured characteristics of teachers. We find that the gain in productivity to more experienced teachers from additional experience is much stronger in lower-poverty schools. The lower return to experience in high-poverty schools does not appear to be a result of differences in the quality of teachers who leave teaching or who switch schools, however. Our findings suggest that measures that induce highly effective teachers to move to high-poverty schools and which promote an environment in which teachers’ skills will improve over time are more likely to be successful.

Value Added of Teachers in High Poverty Schools and Lower Poverty Schools

Using student-level microdata from 2000-2001 to 2004-2005 from Florida and North Carolina, we compare the effectiveness of teachers in schools serving primarily students from low-income families (>70% free-and-reduced-price-lunch students) with teachers in schools serving more advantaged students. The results show that the average effectiveness of teachers in high poverty schools is in general less than teachers in other schools and there is significantly greater variation in teacher quality among high poverty schools. These differences are largely driven by less productive teachers at the bottom of the teacher effectiveness distribution in high poverty schools. The bulk of the quality differential is due to differences in the unmeasured characteristics of teachers. We find that the gain in productivity to more experienced teachers from additional experience is much stronger in lower-poverty schools. The lower return to experience in high-poverty schools does not appear to be a result of differences in the quality of teachers who leave teaching or who switch schools, however. Our findings suggest that measures that induce highly effective teachers to move to high-poverty schools and which promote an environment in which teachers’ skills will improve over time are more likely to be successful.

Teaching's Conscientious Objectors: Principled Leavers of High-Poverty Schools

Background/Context Most accounts of teacher attrition fall into one or both of the following categories: teacher life cycle and workplace conditions. Many educational researchers have described and analyzed teaching in moral and ethical terms. Despite the numerous articles and books that study the personal convictions of teachers, a sustained consideration of how moral and ethical factors may contribute to educators’ decisions to leave the profession is absent from nearly all the literature on teacher attrition and on the moral life of teaching. This article couples these two literatures to highlight the moral and ethical dimensions of teacher attrition through the experiences of 13 experienced and committed former teachers from high-poverty schools. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study asks: Why do experienced and committed teachers in high-poverty schools leave work they love? This article explores how the former teachers in this study weighed the competing calls to teach “right” and their responsibilities to society, the profession, their institutions, their students, and themselves. The participants’ principles, or core beliefs, are analyzed in light of John Dewey's description of a “moral situation.” Following Dewey, it is shown that in deliberating on their moral dilemmas, principled leavers ask not only, “What shall I do?” but also “What am I?” Population/Participants/Subjects The research participants are 13 former teachers from high-poverty schools with tenures ranging from 6 to 27 years of service. Research Design The study is a philosophical inquiry combined with qualitative analysis of “portraits” of former teachers. Conclusions/Recommendations This article introduces a category of teacher attrition that is rooted in the moral and ethical aspects of teaching: principled leavers. Akin to conscientious objectors who refuse to fight wars they deem unjust, principled leavers resign from teaching on grounds that they are being asked to engage in practices that they believe are antithetical to good teaching and harmful to students. The category of principled leaver enables teachers to call on a tradition of resigning for moral and ethical reasons rather than viewing their departures as personal failures and the result of individual weakness. Principled leaving, as a category of teacher attrition, provides a vocabulary for such resignations and may enable community to arise rather than isolation to prevail. Just as principles may motivate teachers to enter the profession, principles may provide justification for leaving, even for teachers who envisioned themselves as committed, long-term educators. When experienced teachers who expected to work in high-poverty schools for the “long haul” leave, it should command attention. Policy makers and educational leaders need to attend to the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching when developing pedagogically related policies and in crafting retention efforts.

Morale of Teachers in High Poverty Schools: A Post-NCLB Mixed Methods Analysis

This study tested how well Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action predicted the attitudes and morale of urban teachers in high poverty schools under the pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB forced local administrators to target schools that had not made adequately yearly progress (AYP) for two or more consecutive years. Teachers from 4 schools in an urban school district in Southern Illinois were surveyed under the scope of the theory of reasoned action. Quantitative and qualitative results were analyzed to determine that the pressure of NCLB adversely affected teachers’ morale.