Untitled Flashcards Set

What is Teaching Life Today?

Diversity

• 25% of children have one immigrant parent 

• 21% children live in poverty

  • More than 50% qualify for free or reduced price lunch

  • 7th highest rate 

• Wealth disparities across racial ethnic groups

• 18% of children have a developmental disability

  • Many of them primarily in general education 

• 23% had parents divorced or separated

  • Some had parents  with mental illness, drug problems, been in jail, blended families

Economic Disparities 

• Gaps among racial-ethnic groups( 18x wealth in white v hispanic houses, 20x higher than black)

Technology

• Students are also more tehcnologolgical savvy than their teachers 

  • Everyone is online (infants to early elementary school—2 hours a day; 9-12 year olds, teens 9-12 hours a day)

  • 92% of teens are online daily, 88% have mobile phone 

Population of teachers is growing less diverse

• % of white increasing (91%)

• % of black teachers decreasing (7%)

Why does this matter?

• Teacher’s sense of efficacy

• a teacher’s belief that he or she can reach even difficult students to help them

• learn (work harder, persist longer)

• predicts student achievement

• grows from real success with students

• experience and training are essential

External Forces

• No Child left behind 

  • Unfair

    • Every state set their own test

    • Left teachers solely responsible for students success

  • All students grades 3-8 took annual achievement tests in reading and math

  • Must demonstrates AYP (progress) 

    • Students with disabilities

    • Minorities 

    • Students in poverty

    • EL students 

  • Public report cards (compare with school and districts)

    • data made schools more transparent

  • School choice (only to schools with room in same district)

Assessment 

• State Level assessments

  • In GA, CRCT< EOCT, HS grad test

  • How students are doing relative to other students and curricular goals in GA only

• May states and schools opt to use national achievement test– like the Iowa tests of basic skills– to gauge students compared to others, given to 3,5, 

• Only national assessment we have, used to track kids over time 

Review 

• What are schools/teaching like today?

  • Diversity (more than just race-ethnicity): language, SES, culture, martial status, blended families, disabilities/special education, etc

  • SES is going to come up a lot – associations with achievement/student outcomes/racial-ethnic

  • group differences (schools use “FRL” as a rough indicator/ zip codes-property taxes more refined)

  • Where do we get data? (or at least reliable data) – National Center for Education Statistics (condition of education reports, longitudinal datasets, international comparisons, etc.). State Department of Education

  • External influences: Technology, legislation – NCLB (1965 ESEA.... NCLB, now ESSA)

  • NCLB: drastically increased achievement testing – each state has own test/standards for “passing”, focused on closing gaps, all students

ESSA

• SImilar but focus is a little different

• Less punitive, returned more control to districts and states 

• Test scores still count but also graduation rates and at least one measure of school climate/safety, engagement

• Focus is on college and career ready

• In GA, we have Colleges and career readiness performance index (CRPI)

Do Teachers Matter?

• Some says its mostly SES so teachers/school don't matter

  • NCLB/ESSA hold teachers solely accountable

  • Be careful with this type of characterization

  • Differentiate between structural variables and process variables 

• Teacher- Student relationship

  • Quality of relationship always matter 

  • Early relationships of particular importance 

    • Quality of relationships in KDG predicts outcomes through middle school

    • Positive teach-student relationships predict engagement at every grade–most important for those who are at risk and older students 

      • Other studies, students perceptions that a teacher cares about you, put forth effort

• Poor teaching=poor outcome

  • Students with highly effective teachers in 3rd,4th, and 5th grade=higher achievement

  • Students with poor teachers the saem years had much lower achievement 

  • Better teaching at a later grade may partially make up for poor earlier teaching but effects are cumulative (can’t be totally erased

What is good Teaching?

• Art or Science?

  • Both 

  • Teachers must be:

    • Able to have a range of strategies 

    • Flexible and inventive 

    • knowledgeable about their students 

• Beginning teachers 

  • Gap between preparation and job

    • Advice: get real work experience as you can and take advantage of mentoring opportunities

• Frameworks 

  • Planning and preparing for instruction

  • Classroom environment 

  • Professional responsibilities 

Beginning teachers 

• Concerns

  • Classroom management 

  • Motivating students

  • Accommodating students with difference 

  • Evaluating student work

  • Dealing with parents

  • Getting along with students 

• New teacher “how am I doing” vs experienced teachers “how are the students doing”

• Educational psychology foundation 

Role of Educational Psychology 

• Early On

  • Educators and psychologists observing childrens in classrooms 

• Today

  • Research on tehacing and learning, assessment, child/adolscent development, motivation. Etc

• Is it common sense? Not exactly

  • Principle result from rigorous research

  • Common sense response may not be best for students

    • Learning styles 

    • Skipping grades

  • Education; psychology is a field dedicated to the study of teaching and learning 

    • At uga, EPSY faculty study peer relationships, academic interventions, ethnic identity and substance use in adolescence, autism, motivation  ETC

Role of Research 

• Educational Psychology: discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems, and techniques

• Descriptive studies 

  • surveys , interviews samples of classroom activities (video, audio etc)

• Common type of descriptive study

  • Correlation Studies (what is the relation between 2 variables)

  • Correlation is a number that indicates both the strength and direction of relationship

  • between two events or measurements

  • Positive correlation = two factors increase or decrease together (height and weight)

  • Negative correlation = increases in one, decreases in another

  • Correlation does not equal causation

Correlation between

• Time on task and achievement

  • Absences and course grades

• Height and weight (book example

• Smoking and lung cancer 

  • Positive variable (both increase/decreases)

  • Negative variable (one increases one decreases)

Experimental studies 

• Cause and effect

• Induce changes and note results

• Create groups 

  • Randomly assign (equal change)

  • Quasi experimental 

    • Frequently used in educations 

    • Results of each group then compared 

Kellam, Baltimore Schools

• Students randomly assingged to 1st grade teachers, then classroom was the unit of analysis

• Classroom observed during the first 9 weeks, high rates 

• CHECK PPT

• Aggression and disruptive behavior continued in control classrooms

• Marked reduction in experimentqal condition

• Experiential classrooms had higher academic productivity and achievement

• Aggressive students in both conditions followed through 6th grade and first grade classroom effects persisted

• First grade experience sets academic and behavioral trajectory

Experimental studies 

• Cause and effect

• Induce changes and note results 

• Create groups 

  • Randomly assigned (equal chances) 

  • Quasi experimental 

    • Frequency used in education 

  • Results of each group then compare 

Single-subject Experimental Design 

• Determine effects of a particular therapy, teaching method, or other intervention 

• Baseline (A) 

• Intervention (B)

• Return to baseline(A)

• Reintroduce intevention (B)

• In the additional AB phase (not just AB but ABAB) can be used to show cause and effect

  • Not used in schools, more used in research

Clinical interviews and case studies 

• Piaget used clinical interviews to understand children's thinking 

• Open ended questions

• Case studies 

• One person or situation in depth

Ethnography

• Studying naturally occurring events in the life of a group to understand the meaning to those involved

  • Also a variation where a participant does it– participation observation

Longitudinal Studies

• Studying objects over a period of time (monthes, years)

• But time consuming and expensive

• Perry Preschool Project

  • Students living in a higher risk conditions were randomly assigned CHECK

  • Specific outcomes

    • Significantly higher monthly earning at 27 

    • Higher percentage of home ownership

    • Higher level of schooling complete

    • Lower percent needing social services 

Cross sectional studies 

• Single point in time, several ages 

• All students CHECK 

• Checking demographics of school in one point in time 

Quant vs Qual 

• Qualitative studies (case studies, ethnographic studies) interviews, observations, transcripts, explore situations or people in depth, cant be complete objective 

• Qualitative studies (correlative, experimental) numbers, measurements, stats to examine relationships and differences between groups. Objectivity is point– look to gernalice to other ppl, setting etc

• CHECK

Scientific Based Research- Evidence Based 

• NCLB: educational programs and pracitces recieving federal fund must be based on “scientific research”

  • Systemic observation or experiments

  • Rigorous data analysis procedures

  • Clearly described and repeatable 

  • Must be peer reviewed

• Many studies over time=principle 

  • Established relationship between 2 or more factors 

  • Help you with specfifc problems 

• Research Cycle 

  • Questions and hypothesis

  • Gathering and alayzing data

  • Modifying and improving theories based on results

  • Formulation of new and better research

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