Attention to the beliefs of teachers and teacher candidates should be a focus of educational research and can inform educational practice in ways that prevailing research agendas have not and cannot. The difficulty in studying teachers’ beliefs has been caused by definitional problems, poor conceptualizations, and differing understandings of beliefs and belief structures. This article examines the meaning prominent researchers give to beliefs and how this meaning differs from that of knowledge, provides a definition of belief consistent with the best work in this area, explores the nature of belief structures as outlined by key researchers, and offers a synthesis of findings about the nature of beliefs. The article argues that teachers’ beliefs can and should become an important focus of educational inquiry but that this will require clear conceptualizations, careful examination of key assumptions, consistent understandings and adherence to precise meanings, and proper assessment and investigation of spec...

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Teachers’ Beliefs and Educational Research: Cleaning Up a Messy Construct:

Preface Chapter 1 The challenge Chapter 2 The nature of the evidence: A synthesis of meta-analyses Chapter 3 The argument: Visible teaching and visible learning Chapter 4: The contributions from the student Chapter 5 The contributions from the home Chapter 6 The contributions from the school Chapter 7 The contributions from the teacher Chapter 8 The contributions from the curricula Chapter 9 The contributions from teaching approaches - I Chapter 10 The contributions from teaching approaches - II Chapter 11: Bringing it all together Appendix A: The 800 meta-analyses Appendix B: The meta-analyses by rank order References

Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement

The authors provide a basic set of guidelines and recommendations for information that should be included in any manuscript that has confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling as the primary statistical analysis technique. The authors provide an introduction to both techniques, along with sample analyses, recommendations for reporting, evaluation of articles in The Journal of Educational Research using these techniques, and concluding remarks.

Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review

The power of feedback.

Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

Characteristics of entering teacher candidates, defined as students enrolled in their first education course, have been the focus of 44 studies located for this review. Four major categories of variables have been studied: (a) demographics and high-school background; (b) motivation to teach and career expectations; (c) confidence and optimism or anxiety and concerns about teaching; and (d) perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of teachers. Most of the research employed a survey methodology. This article presents a descriptive synthesis of findings from these studies. The principle of thematic consistency with empirical variability—that is, that the general conclusions of the studies have been similar even though the data have shown differences from study to study—is advanced to organize a discussion of what is known about entering teacher candidates and suggestions for future research in this field.

Characteristics of Entering Teacher Candidates

Dar buena retroalimentacion a los estudiantes en todos sus trabajos es uno de los desafios mas dificiles que enfrentan los docentes. Pero aqui hay una guia que ayuda a como entregar la correcta retroalimentacion para cualquier tipo de tarea, en todos los niveles educativos. La autora cada aspecto posible del topico, incluyendo: 1. Que tipos de retroalimentacion funcionan meyor dependiendo el area especifica de contenido; 2. Cuando y que tan seguido entregar retroalimentacion; 3. Cuantos puntos presentar en la retroalimentacion y cuanto en cada punto; 4. Si se debe y como hacer retroalimentacion oral, escrita o visual, y 5. Por que usar retroalimentacion individual, grupal, y a nivel de curso completo. Aprenda a como construir una retroalimentacion infalible, para que esta siempre 1. ayude a los estudiantes a entender donde estan en su aprendizaje, y que hacer a continuacion; 2. dar a los estudiantes la sensacion de que tienen el control sobre su propio aprendizaje, y 3. crear un ambiente de clases donde los estudiantes vean las criticas constructivas como algo bueno y entiendan que el aprendizaje no puede ocurrir sin practica.

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How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students

The 1990 Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students (AFT, NCME, & NEA, 1990) made a documentable contribution to the field. However, the Standards have become a bit dated, most notably in two ways: (1) the Standards do not consider current conceptions of formative assessment knowledge and skills, and (2) the Standards do not consider teacher knowledge and skills required to successfully work in the current accountability and “standards-based reform” context. This article briefly reviews the 1990 Standards and their influence, describes some other lists of assessment knowledge and skills that might be considered in updating them, and then proposes educational assessment knowledge and skills for teachers that reflect current teacher assessment needs. This set of competencies should help focus the work of teachers, teacher supervisors, professional developers, teacher educators, and others responsible for teachers’ assessment knowledge and skills.

Educational Assessment Knowledge and Skills for Teachers

Classroom teachers do not always follow recommended grading practices. Why not? It is possible to conceptualize this question as a validity issue and ask whether teachers' concerns over the many uses of grades outweigh concerns about the interpretation of grades. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning classroom teachers associate with grades, the value judgments they make when considering grades, and whether the meaning or values associated with grades differed by whether teachers had measurement instruction. A sample of 84 teachers, 40 with and 44 without measurement instruction, responded to classroom grading scenarios in two ways–with multiple-choice responses indicating what they would do and with written responses to the question, “Why did you make this choice?” A coding scheme based on Messick's (1989a, 1989b) progressive matrix of facets of validity was used for quantitative and qualitative analyses of written responses. The meaning of grades is closely related to the idea of student work; grades are pay students earn for activities they perform. The relationship of this notion to classroom management should be investigated. Teachers do make value judgments when assigning grades and are especially concerned about being fair. Teachers also are concerned about the consequences of grade use, especially for developing student self-esteem and good attitudes toward future school work. Measurement instruction made very little difference, although it did reduce the amount of self-referenced grading reported.

Teachers' Grading Practices: Meaning and Values.

In this book, assessment expert Susan M. Brookhart brings you up to speed on how to develop and use test questions and other assessments that reveal how well your students can analyze, reason, solve problems and think creatively. Discover how to make an assessment blueprint for any year level or subject that includes multiple-choice and constructed-response (essay) items plus performance assessment tasks. Whether you want to create formative or summative assessments, this book has what you need to create welldesigned assessments that can bring thinking out of your students’ heads and make it visible in their words and actions. Brookhart defines and describes aspects of higher order thinking according to the categories established in leading taxonomies, giving specific guidance on how to assess students in the following areas: analysis, evaluation and creation; logic and reasoning; judgement; problem solving; creativity and creative thinking.

Susan M. Brookhart

Papers

Characteristics of Entering Teacher Candidates

How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students

Educational Assessment Knowledge and Skills for Teachers

Teachers' Grading Practices: Meaning and Values.

How to Assess Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom