Improving Indicators of the Quality of Science and Mathematics Education in Grades K-12 (1988) / Chapter Skim
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6 Indicators of Teaching Quality
6 Indicators of Teaching Quality
Pages 90-118
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From page 90... ...
Yet a panel, set up under the committee's aegis to develop better models for estimating teacher demand and supply, is stressing "that satisfactory models of supply and demand for science and mathematics teachers must be specific regarding teacher qualifications" (Pane! on Statistics on Supply and Demand for Precollege Science and Mathematics Teachers, 1987:58~.
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From page 91... ...
In attempting to resolve this issue, the committee devoted considerable attention to the research literatures on the characteristics of effective teachers and on the determinants of effective teaching. We found strong research support for parents' conviction that teachers matter.
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From page 92... ...
While it is common to focus attention on positive findings, the dominant conclusion from input-output research is that the vast majority of the variables user] to depict teachers, including sex, race, possession of a master's degree, and whether the teacher was an education major as an undergraduate, are not consistently related to teaching effectiveness, whether measured by student gains on standardized achievement tests or by evaluative judgment (see, e.g., Schalock, 1979~.
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From page 93... ...
In summary, review of the research on the determinants of teaching electiveness led us to the conclusion that neither input-output studies nor process-product studies provide sure guidance for the development of indicators of the quality of mathematics and science instruction in school. In one sense this is discouraging, because it makes the task of developing reliable indicators of teaching effectiveness more difficult.
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From page 94... ...
The rest of the chapter is organized into three categories of information about professionalism in science and mathematics teaching: 1. What are the educational backgrounds and knowledge levels of individuals who teach science and mathematics?
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From page 95... ...
More than half the states also collect information on college courses in science and mathematics taken by newly hired teachers. At present, the Center for Education Statistics of the U.S.
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From page 96... ...
~ What proportion of elementary school students in particular grades and with particular characteristics are taught science by a teacher who has taken at least six college courses in science? What proportion are taught mathematics by a teacher who has taken at least six college courses in mathematics?
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From page 97... ...
Even if the relationship between subject-matter knowledge and effective teaching of a subject were better understood, there would still be problems with current tests analogous to those discussed in Chapter 4 with respect to tests of student learning. The committee suggests that the tests used to establish basic subject-matter competency of teachers should probe essentially the same domain as the tests used to assess students' mastery of science and mathematics.
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From page 98... ...
Unfortunately, not all mandated changes in curriculum or in skill emphasis are accompanied by adequate inservice programs for the teachers who are required to implement the new ideas. Future shortages of qualified mathematics and science teachers may continue to induce some school districts to staff science and mathematics courses with teachers with little preparation or knowledge in these subject areas.
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From page 99... ...
In addition, the subject-matter preparation and subject-matter knowledge of a sample of newly hired secondary school science and mathematics teachers should be assessed every two years, with a follow-up survey administered one year after the original survey to determine whether the new hires are still teaching and, if not, why they left teaching (see Table 6-1 for suggested survey scheduler. Newly hired teachers in this context are defined as those teachers employed to teach mathematics or science within the last year who did not teach mathematics or science in the year prior to this employment.
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From page 100... ...
whether the reserve pool is a greater source of supply of science and mathematics teachers in some parts of the country than others; ~ whether the significance of the reserve pool as a source of supply of science and mathematics teachers changes over time; whether the educational backgrounds and knowledge levels of the newly hired coming from the reserve pool differ from the educational backgrounds and skills of the newly hired coming directly from teacher education programs; and 0 whether the newly hired teachers coming from the reserve pool are more or less likely to remain in the classroom than those coming directly from teacher education programs.
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From page 101... ...
It would also be valuable to learn more about the roles that early home and school experiences play in determining the interest of elementary school teachers in science and the time they spend teaching science to their students. It would also be useful to learn whether early home and school experiences influence the decisions of college students to become science or mathematics teachers, and how long individuals who do start to teach science or mathematics remain in the teaching profession.
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From page 102... ...
Both current distribution and change over time are of interest; therefore, tests should be given every four years to a sample of all teachers and every two years to a sample of newly hired secondary school mathematics and science teachers. Supplementary Indicator: The committee recommends reorganization of the information currently being collected on teacher preparation (college courses in mathematics and science, majors and minors, advanced degrees)
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From page 103... ...
A second question related to time-use is whether school policies are changing the way in which teachers of mathematics and science at various levels are spending their time in school when not actually teaching in the classroom. Teachers who have no time to develop collegial relationships or to plan mathematics and science activities will be less able to exhibit characteristics of fully professional teachers (Rosenholtz, 1985~.
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From page 104... ...
Analogous research on teachers' use of time would be particularly valuable at a time when states and local school districts are engaging in myriad activities that change the incentives and constraints influencing teachers' behaviors salary increases, career-ladder plans, periodic testing of teachers' subjectmatter knowledge, and more intensive evaluations of teachers' incIass performance (Goertz et al., 1984; Goertz, 19863. There are many ways in which teachers could respond to these new incentives and constraints, and some of the responses could be quite different from those intended.
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From page 105... ...
It will be particularly important to observe whether changes take place over time in the reported distributions as state policies mandating greater attention to science instruction are put into place. The discussion here elaborating the recommendation in Chapter 5 with respect to minimal time is framed in terms of elementary school science instruction and puts less emphasis on time devoted to mathematics instruction because it is the committee's sense that mathematics is treated as a major subject by most elementary school teachers.
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From page 106... ...
For example, changes over time in the reported distributions will provide useful information about one important predictor of students' science and mathematics achievement. Clearly, how much science and mathematics students learn in school depends not only on the amount of time devoted to science and mathematics instruction and on the amount of homework assigned, completed, and corrected, but also on how classroom time devoted to science and mathematics is used.
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From page 107... ...
The research is needed, however, to understand how state and local curricular initiatives affect the quality of science and mathematics instruction provided to students. In the committee's view, there are two dimensions of teachers' use of time in the classroom that may merit significant research attention, possibly because they might one day lead to new indicators, but more significantly because they- might improve the quality of science and mathematics instruction.
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From page 108... ...
In either case, we consider them important indicators of the quality of science and mathematics education. IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE EDUCATION AGENCIES Up to this point, the emphasis in implementing teacher evaluation schemes in the various states has been on knowledge of the subject matter rather than on other characteristics.
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From page 109... ...
Tests for elementary teachers generally lack science content; typically, they are dominated by questions on general pedagogy. The low expectation for instruction in science at the elementary level may be a contributing factor, as may be the absence of any agreement as to what the science content of the elementary school curriculum should be, even when science is being taught.
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From page 110... ...
By themselves, the statistics on minutes spent per day or week on a curriculum area are almost meaningless; they can become indicators only in conjunction with information on other variables. For example, collecting information on whether pupils are asked weekly to write a Misword science laboratory report is quite superficial; it takes on meaning only when one also knows how often these same reports are actually read and critically evaluated, with the
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From page 111... ...
WORKING CONDITIONS FOR TEACHING SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Resources for Teaching Science and Mathematics Effective teaching is best sustained if schools are places where professional teachers like to work and places that provide support for activities that characterize effective teaching. Consequently, it is important to develop indicators of the extent to which the nation's schools are able to provide the resources and support needed to sustain fully professional teaching of science and mathematics for all , .
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From page 112... ...
In addition, as school district officials pointed out (see Appendix C) , a secondary school may have adequate laboratory facilities, but only students taking advanced science courses may have access to them.
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From page 113... ...
For the purpose of comparison, Figure 3 also displays data on average starting salaries for elementary and secondary school teachers expressed in 1967 dollars. In interpreting the teachers' starting salary data, which stem from surveys administered by the National Education Association (NEA)
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From page 115... ...
In fact, it is not possible to judge from comparisons of starting salaries at one point in time whether the schools are able to attract talented college graduates into teaching. One reason is that working conditions may differ between jobs in teaching and jobs in business or industry.
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From page 116... ...
s than starting salaries did because the teaching force became older during the decade, since relatively few new teachers were hired. Thus, average salaries do not necessarily reflect the attractiveness of teaching to college graduates who are making occupational choices.
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From page 117... ...
The U.S. Department of Labor also makes available biennial reports of starting salaries in private industry for college graduates with certain specialties.
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From page 118... ...
The information should include data on starting salaries and on salaries after 15 years of experience. These data should be reported in a manner that facilitates comparisons of salaries in teaching with salaries in other occupations for college graduates trained in particular sciences and mathematics.
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