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Eric.ed.gov – Planning Science Instruction for Critical Thinking: Two Urban Elementary Teachers’ Responses to a State Science Assessment

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Science education reform standards have shifted focus from exploration and experimentation to evidence-based explanation and argumentation to prepare students with knowledge for a changing workforce and critical thinking skills to evaluate issues requiring increasing scientific literacy. However, in urban schools serving poor, diverse populations, where the priority is on students’ assessment results in reading and math, students may not receive reform-based science. The rationale for this qualitative study was to examine how two elementary teachers from high-poverty urban schools planned for reform-based science in response to a quality state science assessment in conjunction with their training and resources. Their state assessment included an inquiry task requiring students to construct responses to questions based on their investigation data. From evaluating evidence using Zembal-Saul’s continuum for teaching science as… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Uses of Mathematics Textbooks for Grade (4-8) as per Basic Concepts and Questions Levels in TIMSS Test: A Study Conducted in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study tried to explore the degree of representation of math textbooks for grades (4-8) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia concerning the key concepts, shape, and levels of questions used in the TIMSS test. The study population of this study includes both students and teachers from fourth grade to eighth grade. The goal of this study was associated with six key concepts including numbers and their operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics and probability, and a pro-rata. The researcher analyzed the questions and exercises used in the math textbooks to identify their effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, the researcher also calculated the percentages, the levels, and the shape for each key concept. The results of the study were organized in frequency tables. In the light of those… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Socioeconomic Inequality and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Twenty Years of TIMSS. IEA Research for Education. Volume 5

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s (IEA) mission is to enhance knowledge about education systems worldwide and to provide high-quality data that will support education reform and lead to better teaching and learning in schools. In pursuit of this aim, it conducts and reports on major studies of student achievement in literacy, mathematics, science, citizenship, and digital literacy. IEA studies, most notably Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), and International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), have set the benchmark for international comparative studies in education. These well-established studies have generated vast datasets encompassing student achievement, disaggregated in a variety of ways, along with a wealth of contextual… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – How Classroom Assessment Affects Science and Mathematics Achievement?: Findings from TIMSS 2015

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of classroom assessment on science and mathematics achievements. For this purpose, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is performed using variables of like learning science/maths, engage teaching in science/maths, confidence in science/maths, and home resources for learning variables at the student level, and experience, education level, homework, and assessment at the teacher level. The sample of the study consists of 4th grade students who participated in TIMSS 2015 in Turkey. According to the findings; 36% of variance in science achievement, and 40% of variance in mathematics achievement are due to variability between classes. In a random coefficient model, all student variables were found to be statistically significant predictors of science and mathematics achievement. Among these variables, the greatest effect… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Role of Teacher Quality in Fourth-Grade Mathematics Instruction: Evidence from TIMSS 2015. Policy Brief No. 16

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Does teacher quality differ within and between countries, and how are measures of teacher quality related to instructional alignment and instructional time in mathematics? Fourth-grade classroom data from the IEA’s Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 revealed that although measures of teacher quality were only weakly related to one another, countries with more variation along one dimension (for example, experience) also have high variation along other dimensions (such as education, or readiness to teach math topics). Measures of teacher quality were not strong or consistent predictors of instructional alignment or time, suggesting that primary school teachers’ preparation to teach mathematics may have limited influence on classroom opportunity to learn. Crucially, in many countries, disadvantaged students have (by some measures) higher quality teachers. Teacher collaboration and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher and Teaching Effects on Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research has focused predominantly on how teachers affect students’ achievement on standardized tests despite evidence that a broad range of attitudes and behaviors are equally important to their long-term success. We find that upper-elementary teachers have large effects on self-reported measures of students’ self-efficacy in math, and happiness and behavior in class. Students’ attitudes and behaviors are predicted by teaching practices most proximal to these measures, including teachers’ emotional support and classroom organization. However, teachers who are effective at improving test scores often are not equally effective at improving students’ attitudes and behaviors. These findings lend empirical evidence to well-established theory on the multidimensional nature of teaching and the need to identify strategies for improving the full range of teachers’ skills. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – What’s in a Teacher Test? Assessing the Relationship between Teacher Licensure Test Scores and Student STEM Achievement and Course-Taking. Working Paper 158

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: We investigate the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student test achievement and high school course-taking. We focus on three subject/grade combinations–middle school math, ninth-grade algebra and geometry, and ninth-grade biology–and find evidence that a teacher’s basic skills test scores are modestly predictive of student achievement in middle and high school math and highly predictive of student achievement in high school biology. A teacher’s subject-specific licensure test scores are a consistent and statistically significant predictor of student achievement only in high school biology. Finally, we find little evidence that students assigned to middle school teachers with higher basic-skills test scores are more likely to take advanced math and science courses in high school. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Can UTeach? Assessing the Relative Effectiveness of STEM Teachers. Working Paper 173

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: UTeach is a well-known, university-based program designed to increase the number of high-quality science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers in the workforce. The UTeach program was originally developed by faculty at the University of Texas at Austin but has rapidly spread and is now available at 44 universities in 21 states; it is expected to produce more than 9,000 math and science teachers by 2020. Despite substantial investment and rapid program diffusion, there is little evidence to date about the effectiveness of UTeach graduates. Using administrative data from the state of Texas, we measure UTeach impacts on student test scores in math and science in middle schools and high schools. We find that students taught by UTeach teachers perform significantly better on end-of-grade tests in math… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Role of Teacher Morale and Motivation on Students’ Science and Math Achievement: Findings from Singapore, Japan, Finland and Turkey

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Teacher motivation is one of the factors that affect the realization of the teaching objectives, motivation and academic achievement of student. This study aimed to answer to the question “How is the relation between the students’ academic (sciences and mathematics) achievement and teachers’ morale/motivation in Singapore, Japan, Finland and Turkey?” by using PISA 2012 data and TIMSS 2011 data. The researchers used descriptive statistics and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) in order to study the effects of the morale and motivation qualities of the sciences and mathematics teachers on students’ academic achievement. Moreover, comparisons were made in this field according to the obtained results. The results showed that the teacher factor was more effective in countries with different income balance while the teacher morale and motivation generally has… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher Incentive Fund STEM Grant in Houston ISD: A Matched-Comparison Analysis of Math and Science STAAR Scores. Research Educational Program Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since established by an Appropriations Act in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) competitive grant program in the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has supported human capital strategies “to ensure that students attending high-poverty schools have better access to effective teachers and principals, especially in hard-to-staff subject areas” such as science and math. Responding to the national agenda to improve STEM education, in 2012, the fourth cohort of the Teacher Incentive Fund federal grant competition (TIF4) included special consideration for projects designed to improve STEM education by identifying, developing, and utilizing master teachers as leaders of broader improvements (OESE, 2012a). A human capital approach to strengthening STEM education addressed the TIF4 project schools’ need for high-quality supports for student learning, and the systemic challenges to teacher retention,… Continue Reading