Teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of Individual Education Plans (IEP)

Since 1997 federal special education policy mandated that all classroom teachers take part in planning and implementation of Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for students with disabilities. This legislation has given teachers new responsibilities because it requires greater participation in the IEP process. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of Individualized Education Plans (IEP). ^ Eighty seven certified Miami-Dade County Public School teachers, 60 general education teachers and 27 special education teachers were surveyed using an updated version of Rheams' (1989) The Teacher Perceptions of the Usefulness of IEPs. Subjects completed a survey form containing a demographic cover page, 18 Likert-scale statements and 3 open ended questions. This study looked at differences in perceptions by teacher group affiliation (general and special), grade level taught (elementary and secondary), and years of experience (<=5 and >5 years). The dependent variables were teacher preparedness; feasibility of IEP implementation; relevancy of IP to classroom instruction; and legal, professional and personal accountability with regard to the IEP. ^ Results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed that (a) special education teachers held a more positive perception of overall IEP usefulness than general education teachers, (b) special educators held more positive perceptions concerning issues of feasibility and preparedness, (c) elementary level teachers viewed the IEP more positively than secondary level teachers, specifically in the areas of preparedness and feasibility. ^ Findings of this study indicate that general and secondary educators have not embraced the legislation and incorporated it into their planning and instruction. These findings provide policymakers, institutions of higher education, and school administrators with insight as to how to better translate policy into classroom instructional practice. Consideration should be given to implementing (a) honest communication and shared decision making with regard to IEP directed curriculum and instruction, (b) updated pre and in-service IEP development and implementation training, and (c) opportunities for collaboration and increased plan time, especially on the secondary level. ^

Reading comprehension and mathematical concept acquisition through the use of math stories with bilingual children

Math storybooks are picture books in which the understanding of mathematical concepts is central to the comprehension of the story. Math stories have provided useful opportunities for children to expand their skills in the language arts area and to talk about mathematical factors that are related to their real lives. The purpose of this study was to examine bilingual children's reading and math comprehension of the math storybooks. ^ The participants were randomly selected from two Korean schools and two public elementary schools in Miami, Florida. The sample consisted of 63 Hispanic American and 43 Korean American children from ages five to seven. A 2 x 3 x (2) mixed-model design with two between- and one within-subjects variable was used to conduct this study. The two between-subjects variables were ethnicity and age, and the within-subjects variable was the subject area of comprehension. Subjects were read the three math stories individually, and then they were asked questions related to reading and math comprehension. ^ The overall ANOVA using multivariate tests was conducted to evaluate the factor of subject area for age and ethnicity. As follow-up tests for a significant main effect and a significant interaction effect, pairwise comparisons and simple main effect tests were conducted, respectively. ^ The results showed that there were significant ethnicity and age differences in total comprehension scores. There were also age differences in reading and math comprehension, but no significant differences were found in reading and math by ethnicity. Korean American children had higher scores in total comprehension than those of Hispanic American children, and they showed greater changes in their comprehension skills at the younger ages, from five to six, whereas Hispanic American children showed greater changes at the older ages, from six to seven. Children at ages five and six showed higher scores in reading than in math, but no significant differences between math and reading comprehension scores were found at age seven. ^ Through schooling with integrated instruction, young bilingual children can move into higher levels of abstraction and concepts. This study highlighted bilingual children's general nature of thinking and showed how they developed reading and mathematics comprehension in an integrated process. ^

Nursing faculty intention to use service learning as pedagogy in higher education

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that motivate nursing faculty to use service learning. The study was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which implies that the target behavior of intention to use service learning in higher education is influenced by the predictor variables of behavior beliefs (attitude), normative beliefs (peer influence), and control beliefs (confidence and resources). External variables were also considered (years of teaching experience, tenure status, and the type of curriculum). ^ Group interviews and a pilot test were conducted to create the instrument for the study, and Cronbach alpha were calculated for survey item reliability. The participants were full time undergraduate nursing faculty members ( n = 160) in the Southeastern United States who taught in universities with accredited nurse education programs. Demographic data as well as scores on scaled survey responses were used to evaluate the intention of nursing faculty to use service learning in their classes. ^ Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and path analysis were applied to the data. The correlation findings indicated that there were statistically significant relationships between behavior beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs and nursing faculty intention to use service learning. The path analysis also indicated that behavior beliefs and normative beliefs were significant, while control beliefs were not a strong influence on intention to use service learning. Normative beliefs showed the strongest direct influence. The use of a community based curriculum also had a positive influence on intention, and faculty with tenure status were more likely to have positive behavior beliefs (attitude) towards service learning. Finally, as teaching experience increased, positive attitudes towards the intention to use service learning decreased. Seventy-nine percent of the variation in the intention to use service learning was explained by the theory of planned behavior, the type of curriculum, teaching experience, and tenure status. These results will assist nursing administration and faculty to design strategies to facilitate the implementation of service learning pedagogy, as well as a community based curriculum which will help meet the 21st century goals set forth from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. ^

A study of indicators discriminating between the recipients and non -recipients of the International Baccalaureate Diploma

This study examined relationships among variables in the Pre-International Baccalaureate (Pre-IB) Program admissions criteria and the Pre-IB Program course grades to discriminate between recipient and non recipient groups of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma award. The study involved a multiracial sample of 142 IB Diploma graduates between the years 1992 and 1996 from one IB magnet school. The IB school is located within an urban high school of a predominantly Black student enrollment. A discriminant function analysis found that the highest correlations between predictors and the discriminant function were 9th- and 10th-grade mathematics and 10th-grade science course grades. Ninth-grade course grades of science, 9th-grade and 10th-grade course grades of English, foreign language, and social studies, and 7th-grade Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Reading Comprehension scores were also highly correlated to the discriminant function. The ITBS Battery and subscores of Vocabulary, Total Language, Total Work-Study, and Total Mathematics subscores in seventh grade and a grade point average from language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics in seventh grade were not highly correlated to the discriminant function. Recommendations were presented in the areas of curriculum and instruction, guidance services, student mentoring, and decision-making processes which would parallel the IB examination procedure and thereby enhance the alignment of the IB Program enabling more students to become recipients of the IB Diploma award. ^

A comparison of academic achievement of Montessori and non -Montessori students in a public school setting

Relationships between academic achievement and type of curriculum delivery system, Montessori or traditional, in a diverse group of learners from a public school district were examined in this study. In a repeated measures, within subjects design, students from an elementary Montessori program were paired with agemates from a traditional group on the basis of similar Stanford Achievement Test Scores in reading or math during the baseline year. Two subsequent administrations of the Stanford were observed for each subject to elucidate possible differences which might emerge based on program affiliation over the three year duration of the study. ^ Mathematics scores for both groups were not observed to be significantly different, although following the initial observation, the Montessori group continued to produce higher mean scores than did the traditional students. Marginal significance between the groups suggests that the data analysis should continue in an effort to elucidate a possible trend toward significance at the .05 level. ^ Reading scores for the groups demonstrated marginally significant differences by one analytical method, and significant differences when analyzed with a second method. In the second and third years of the study, Montessori students produced means which consistently outperformed the traditional group. ^ Recommendations included tracking subsequent administrations of the Stanford Achievement Test for all pairs of subjects in order to evaluate emerging trends in both subject areas. ^

Self -regulated learning: The role of a journal in the learning process for students and teachers

A fundamental goal of education is to equip students with self-regulatory capabilities that enable them to educate themselves. Self directedness not only contributes to success in formal instruction but also promotes lifelong learning (Bandura, 1997). The area of research on self-regulated learning is well grounded within the framework of psychological literature attributed to motivation, metacognition, strategy use and learning. This study explored past research and established the purpose of teaching students to self-regulate their learning and highlighted the fact that teachers are expected to assume a major role in the learning process. A student reflective writing journal activity was sustained for a period of two semesters in two fourth-grade mathematics classrooms. The reflective writing journal was analyzed in search of identifying strategies reported by students. Research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequency counts, cross-tabs and chi-square analyses. ^ Results based on student-use of the journals and teacher interviews indicated that the use of a reflective writing journal does promote self-regulated learning strategies to the extent which the student is engaged in the journaling process. Those students identified as highly self-regulated learners on the basis of their strategy use, were shown to consistently claim to learn math “as well or better than planned” on a weekly basis. Furthermore, good self-regulators were able to recognize specific strategies that helped them do well and change their strategies across time based on the planned learning objectives. The perspectives of the participating teachers were examined in order to establish the context in which the students were working. The effect of “planned change” and/or the resistance to change as established in previous research, from the teachers point of view, was also explored. The analysis of the journal data did establish a significant difference between students who utilized homework as a strategy. ^ Based on the journals and interviews, this study finds that the systematic use of metacognitive, motivational and/or learning strategies can have a positive effect on student's responsiveness to their learning environment. Furthermore, it reflects that teaching students “how to learn” can be a vital part of the effectiveness of any curriculum. ^

Waking the sleeping giant: Beliefs of Brazilian and *American teachers concerning liberation curriculum

The school curriculum is a matter mandated by the educational system rather than determined by the school stakeholders of a community, as Freire (1993) suggests. At the present time, one significant vision of school is challenging the current order of curriculum practice. It focuses on school as a liberating agency grounded on the belief that the abilities to access information and to think critically about it will educate an individual capable of making independent decisions. This dissertation investigates teacher's beliefs concerning curriculum. It was assumed that there is a discrepancy between what has been the position proposed by critical theorists including Freire (1998a, 1993); Apple (1979); Giroux (1998), and the position on curriculum which school systems are typically advancing. ^ There were four purposes of this study. The major purpose of this study was to determine whether or not Brazilian and American Teachers believe that a school curriculum based on Freirean principles could be implemented in the schools in which they worked. Also, this study sought to determine the differences found between teachers' beliefs in the Brazilian and American contexts. Another purpose was to determine how Brazilian and American teachers justify their beliefs and actions when these may represent conflicting values. Finally, this study sought to determine if these teachers believe that the curriculum is in need of change or if they accept the current curriculum as adequate. This study consisted of quantitative and qualitative data collection through multiple methods involving surveys and interviews. The study involved 171 teachers (88 Brazilian and 83 American) from multiple settings with the majority working for public systems. Overall, it seems that Brazilian and American teachers believe that a curriculum based on Freirean principles of education can be implemented in their schools, if ongoing education is provided. The majority of Brazilian teachers believe a curriculum change is necessary while half of the American teachers believe a curriculum change is needed and the other half seems to believe curriculum is adequate. Teachers explain that it is hard to implement a curriculum they believe to be most appropriate for students because the current curriculum is mandated by the school system or by national guidelines. The majority of Brazilian teachers and those American teachers who believed a curriculum change is necessary explained their rationale for change in terms of social justice, problem-solving, collective work, student-centered and context-based curriculum. American teachers, who believed that the curriculum is adequate, explained that they are satisfied with their student's achievements. They stated that their students are doing well on tests and are learning what is required. ^

Assessing the effects of professionals' career decision -making on their participation reasons in continuing education in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between working professionals' Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy beliefs (CDMSE beliefs) and their reasons for participating in in-service master's level programs in Taiwan. ^ The data collection instruments used were Grotelueschen's (1985) Participation Reasons Scale (PRS), and Betz, Klein, and Taylor's (1996) Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy-Short Form (CDMSE-SF), and a Demographic Data Form (DDF) developed specifically for this study. ^ Surveys were administered to 800 working professionals who participated in inservice master's level programs at 22 Taiwanese universities. The survey was conducted in May 2004. Data were analyzed by simple descriptive statistics, principal component factor analysis, and multiple regression. Four factors of participation reasons were found and five components of CDMSE beliefs were scored. ^ Five components of CDMSE beliefs are structured into the CDMSE-SF instrument: Self-Appraisal, Occupational Information, Goal-Selection, Planning, and Problem Solving. The reasons for participation found in this study were: Professional Improvement and Development, Professional Service, Personal Benefit and Job Security, and Professional Competence and Collegial Interaction. Pearson-product moment correlations revealed significant positive correlations between the five CDMSE subscales and the four factors of participation reasons. Multiple regression analysis revealed that participants' beliefs in their abilities to obtain information about occupations accounted for the preponderance of variance of scores on the Participation Reasons Scale (PRS). ^ This study concluded that professionals who believed that they were efficacious in obtaining information about occupations or professions tended to believe that the four reasons for participation represented by the factors of the PRS were important to them in making the decision to participate in continuing education. Additionally, it was noted that the reasons for participations for professionals who did not feel confident in their abilities to find such information could not be determined. ^ Recommendations are offered to assist those individuals responsible for developing recruiting programs in continuing education for professionals in Taiwan. These recommendations focus only on strategies intended to attract this target population of professionals who believe that they are efficacious in obtaining information about occupations. ^

The efficacy of an interactive computer system for teaching developmental mathematics to college students

Many students are entering colleges and universities in the United States underprepared in mathematics. National statistics indicate that only approximately one-third of students in developmental mathematics courses pass. When underprepared students repeatedly enroll in courses that do not count toward their degree, it costs them money and delays graduation. This study investigated a possible solution to this problem: Whether using a particular computer assisted learning strategy combined with using mastery learning techniques improved the overall performance of students in a developmental mathematics course. Participants received one of three teaching strategies: (a) group A was taught using traditional instruction with mastery learning supplemented with computer assisted instruction, (b) group B was taught using traditional instruction supplemented with computer assisted instruction in the absence of mastery learning and, (c) group C was taught using traditional instruction without mastery learning or computer assisted instruction. Participants were students in MAT1033, a developmental mathematics course at a large public 4-year college. An analysis of covariance using participants' pretest scores as the covariate tested the null hypothesis that there was no significant difference in the adjusted mean final examination scores among the three groups. Group A participants had significantly higher adjusted mean posttest score than did group C participants. A chi-square test tested the null hypothesis that there were no significant differences in the proportions of students who passed MAT1033 among the treatment groups. It was found that there was a significant difference in the proportion of students who passed among all three groups, with those in group A having the highest pass rate and those in group C the lowest. A discriminant factor analysis revealed that time on task correctly predicted the passing status of 89% of the participants. ^ It was concluded that the most efficacious strategy for teaching developmental mathematics was through the use of mastery learning supplemented by computer-assisted instruction. In addition, it was noted that time on task was a strong predictor of academic success over and above the predictive ability of a measure of previous knowledge of mathematics.^

English Language Learners: A Correlational Study of the Relationship Between A Proficiency Level Assessment and End of Course Test Scores at one Georgia High School

Understanding the language of one’s cultural environment is important for effective communication and function. As such, students entering U.S. schools from foreign countries are given access to English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs and they are referred to as English Language Learner (ELL) students. This dissertation examined the correlation of ELL ACCESS Composite Performance Level (CPL) score to the End of Course tests (EOCTs) and the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGTs) in the four content courses (language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies). A premise of this study was that English language proficiency is critical in meeting or exceeding state and county assessment standards. A quantitative descriptive research design was conducted using Cross-sectional archival data from a secondary source. There were 148 participants from school years 2011-2012 to 2013- 2014 from Grades 9-12. A Pearson product moment correlation was run to assess the relationship between the ACCESS CPL (independent variable) and the EOCT scores and the GHSGT scores (dependent variables). The findings showed that there was a positive correlation between ACCESS CPL scores and the EOCT scores where language arts showed a strong positive correlation and mathematics showed a positive weak correlation. Also, there was a positive correlation between ACCESS CPL scores and GHSGT scores where language arts showed a weak positive correlation. The results of this study indicated that that there is a relationship between the stated variables, ACCESS CPL, EOCT and GHSGT. Also, the results of this study showed that there were positive correlations at varying degrees for each grade levels. While the null hypothesis for Research Question 1 and Research Question 2 were rejected, there was a slight relationship between the variables.

Foreign Language Education in Colombia: A Qualitative Study of Escuela Nueva

Since 2004 the Colombian Ministry of Education has been implementing the Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo (PNB) with the goal of having bilingual high school graduates in English and Spanish by 2019. However, implementation of the PNB has been criticized by English Language Teaching (ELT) specialists in the country who say, among other things, that the PNB introduced a discourse associated exclusively with bilingualism in English and Spanish. This study analyzed interviews with 15 participants of a public school of the Colombian Escuela Nueva, a successful model of community-based education that has begun a process of internationalization, regarding the participants’ perceptions of foreign language education and the policies of the PNB. Six students, five teachers, and four administrators were each interviewed twice using semi-structured interviews. To offer a critique of the PNB, this study tried to determine to what extent the school implemented the elements of Responsible ELT, a model developed by the researcher incorporating the concepts of hegemony of English, critical language-policy research, and resistance in ELT. Findings included the following: (a) students and teachers saw English as the universal language whereas most administrators saw English imposed due to political and economic reasons; (b) some teachers misinterpreted the 1994 General Law of Education mandating the teaching of a foreign language as a law mandating English; and (c) some teachers and administrators saw the PNB’s adoption of competence standards based on the Common European Framework of Reference for languages as beneficial whereas others saw it as arbitrary. Conclusions derived from this study of this Escuela Nueva school were: (a) most participants found the goal of the PNB unrealistic; (b) most teachers and administrators saw the policies of the PNB as top-down policies without assessment or continuity; and (c) teachers and administrators mentioned a disarticulation between elementary and high school ELT policies that may be discouraging students in public schools from learning English. Thus, this study suggests that the policies of the PNB may be contributing to English becoming a gatekeeper for higher education and employment thereby becoming a tool for sustaining inequality in Colombia.

The effect of mastery learning on a course in accounting information system (AIS): A comparison within public and private universities in Taiwan

The Accounting Information System (AIS) is an important course in the Department of Accounting (DoAc) of universities in Taiwan. This course is required for seniors not only because it meets the needs of the profession, but also because it provides continual study for the department's students.^ The scores of The National College and University Joint Entrance Examination (NUEE) show that students with high learning ability are admitted to public universities with high scores, while those with low learning ability are admitted only to private universities. The same situation has been found by the researcher while teaching an AIS course in DoAc of The Public Chun Shin University (CSU) and The Private Chinese Culture University (CCU).^ The purpose of this study was to determine whether low ability students enrolled in private universities in Taiwan in a mastery learning program could attain the same level as high ability students from public universities enrolled in a traditional program. An experimental design was used. The mastery learning method was used to teach three groups of seniors with low learning ability studying in the DoAc at CCU. The traditional method was used to teach the control group which consisted of senior students of DoAc of CSU with high learning ability. As a part of the mastery learning strategy, a formative test, quizzes, and homework were completed by the experimental group only, while the mid-term examination was completed by both groups as part of the course. The dependent variable was the summative test, the final examination. It was completed by both groups upon the course's completion.^ As predicted, there were significant differences between the two groups' results on the pretest. There were no significant differences between the two groups' results on the posttest. These findings support the hypothesis of the study and reveal the effectiveness of mastery learning strategies with low learning ability students. ^

Instructional change through collaboration and reflection

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Facilitator-Collaborative-Reflective Model, a strategic plan for changing teachers' practices and beliefs, on a selected group of middle school teachers. This model of staff development training was based on Corey's (1953) Cooperative-Action-Research Model and Anders and Richardson (1994) Collaborative-Reflective Model. It supports the notion that earning a teachers' commitment to change by focusing on collaboration, reflection and the normative-re-educative process aids in altering teachers' beliefs and practices especially crucial to the change process. The year-long training provided for reflection, inquiry, and learning that was useful to teachers as they pursued their goals with their students. The lead teacher, as a change agent and transformational leader, assisted in this commitment to change by improving the teachers' self-concepts as they slowly changed. The collaborative and receptive environment of the staff development fostered acceptance and stimulation of ideas.^ Given the collaborative nature of the change process, qualitative research methods were used in the investigation. The research process was based on Stufflebeam's Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) Evaluation Model (Madaus, Scriven & Stufflebeam, 1983). This allowed for all three factors of the staff development model to be evaluated. The case studies and focus group were effective in discerning any actual change in practices or beliefs.^ The findings of the qualitative evaluation, consisting of a baseline survey, case studies, questionnaire and modified focus group interviews, concluded that all of the teachers were strongly influenced by the intervention model which was the subject of this study. From this evaluation, three distinct indicators were looked at to determine if any change in the teachers' practices and beliefs emerged: (1) change in practice and belief, (2) reflective feedback and (3) collaborative reflection. These indicators were common throughout the teacher responses thus substantiating the infusion of the Facilitator-Collaborative-Reflective Model at the school level for effective staff development. ^

Characteristics of effective clinical and theory instructors as perceived by LPN to RN versus generic students in an associate degree nursing program

The purpose of this study was to compare the characteristics of effective clinical and theory instructors as perceived by LPN/RN versus generic students in an associate degree nursing program.^ Data were collected from 508 students during the 1996-7 academic year from three NLN accredited associate degree nursing programs. The researcher developed instrument consisted of three parts: (a) Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Clinical Instructor Rating Scale, (b) Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Theory Instructor Rating Scale, and (c) Demographic Data Sheet. The items were listed under five major categories identified in the review of the literature: (a) interpersonal relationships, (b) personality traits, (c) teaching practices, (d) knowledge and experience, and (e) evaluation procedures. The instrument was administered to LPN/RN students in their first semester and to generic students in the third semester of an associate degree nursing program.^ Data was analyzed using a one factor mutivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Further t tests were carried out to explore for possible differences between type of student and by group. Crosstabulations of the demographic data were analyzed.^ There were no significant differences found between the LPN/RN versus generic students on their perceptions of either effective theory or effective clinical instructor characteristics. There were significant differences between groups on several of the individual items. There was no significant interaction between group and ethnicity or group and age on the five major categories for either of the two instruments. There was a significant main effect of ethnicity on several of the individual items.^ The differences between the means and standard deviations on both instruments were small, suggesting that all of the characteristics listed for effective theory and clinical instructors were important to both groups of students. Effective teaching behaviors, as indicated on the survey instruments, should be taught to students in graduate teacher education programs. These behaviors should also be discussed by faculty coordinators supervising adjunct faculty. Nursing educators in associate degree nursing programs should understand theories of adult learning and implement instructional strategies to enhance minority student success. ^

An evaluation of English language instruction in universities/colleges in Taiwan

The purpose of this study is about to survey the effectiveness of English teaching in universities/colleges in Taiwan and provide suggestions to the educational authorities for upgrading or improving the English language teaching techniques or methods currently in use. On the one hand, the suggestions of English teachers in universities/colleges are the main concerns in this study. On the other hand, equal attention is given to the opinions and learning attitudes of the students, including the interaction between the teachers and the students.^ A social investigation methodology, consisting of questionnaire and data analysis, is devoted to this evaluation and analysis of teaching effectiveness. Among the significant findings reported in this study is the fact that both students and teachers consider evaluation of teaching effectiveness as a very important aspect of English Language programs at the university/college level. Another significant finding is that students are less concerned about the grades earned or awarded in English Language courses and more concerned about how much they learned in these classes.^ The analysis and suggestions based on the results for English teaching evaluation of universities/colleges in this dissertation can help teachers modify their teaching techniques and methods, the students to adjust their learning attitudes, and the authorities to schematize the English teaching plan that can facilitate the teaching goals to be realized. ^