Showing papers in "Asia-pacific Journal of Teacher Education in 2013"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate teachers' core competencies in relation to their innovative teaching performance and find that teachers' educational competency, social competency and technological competency are positively related to their teaching performance.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' core competencies in relation to their innovative teaching performance. Based on the literature and previous studies in this field, four competencies (learning competency, educational competency, social competency and technological competency) are theorised as core competencies for teachers' innovative teaching. A questionnaire on teachers' core competencies and innovative teaching performance was developed and tested. The findings indicate that teachers' educational competency, social competency and technological competency were positively related to their innovative teaching performance. The study also shows that a supportive relationship with colleagues is important for teachers' innovative teaching performance. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
103 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the lived experiences of a group of pre-service English language teachers during a teaching practicum in Hong Kong and found that a critical perspective, grounded in an identity-theoretic understanding of preservice teachers' practicum experiences, is needed to reveal and then overcome antagonistic relations that might threaten the identity work of trainee teachers.
Abstract: This paper reports on a qualitative study that investigated the lived experiences of a group of pre-service English language teachers during a teaching practicum in Hong Kong. Multiple, in-depth interviews with student teachers were conducted during a 6-week practicum to understand the students’ experiences of becoming teachers. A contribution of this study is to use the analytic lens of teacher identity to understand the challenges, one group of pre-service teachers confronted as they positioned themselves, and were positioned by others, as particular types of teachers during their practicum. The results of this study suggest that a critical perspective, grounded in an identity-theoretic understanding of pre-service teachers’ practicum experiences, is needed to reveal and then overcome antagonistic relations that might threaten the identity work of trainee teachers. Endorsing calls to rethink the practicum, the types of support that might be offered to pre-service teachers are critically examined and sug...
97 citations
TL;DR: The authors reported on the challenges experienced by a group of first-year pre-service teachers engaging in a process of reflection and critique with peers, as they participated in a program focused on the development of core practices of teaching.
Abstract: Teaching has been described as an emerging community of practice. Within such professional communities, the processes of reflection and collaborative dialogue, or critical transformative dialogue, are central to the maintenance and improvement of professional practice for individuals, and the field. This paper reports on the challenges experienced by a group of first-year pre-service teachers engaging in a process of reflection and critique with peers, as they participated in a program focused on the development of core practices of teaching. These pre-service teachers' responses indicated their growing understanding of the importance of engaging in ongoing critical dialogue, as part of the “unnatural” aspects of teaching. The paper concludes with a reflection on the value of feedback from the earliest stages of professional learning.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present case studies of how principals in three different schools in Shanghai shaped teacher development activities which built teacher understanding and capacity to meet the requirements of the curriculum reform.
Abstract: On-going curriculum reform in China demands that teachers and principals shift their norms of practice to facilitate student learning. Principals are expected to take a more hands-on approach and work more collaboratively with teachers towards curriculum change. This paper presents case studies of how principals in three different schools in Shanghai shaped teacher development activities which built teacher understanding and capacity to meet the requirements of the curriculum reform. The analysis provides insights into how principals proactively promoted teacher development and identifies some of possible gaps in their strategies. Implications are drawn about the relationships between curriculum reform, school leadership and teacher development.
83 citations
TL;DR: This article provided empirical evidence about how teachers sustain their sense of resilience and commitment in the context of persistent top-down neoliberal reforms in China's educational system and argued that being a resilient teacher means more than "bouncing back" from difficulties.
Abstract: To teach, and to teach at one's best over time, has always required resilience and commitment Drawing upon findings of a questionnaire survey of 568 primary and secondary school teachers in Beijing and in-depth semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of six teachers with different years of experience, the paper provides empirical evidence about how teachers sustain their sense of resilience and commitment in the context of persistent top-down neoliberal reforms in China's educational system It argues that being a resilient teacher means more than “bouncing back” from difficulties Rather, it is influenced by the nature of the contexts in which teachers' work and lives are embedded and driven by their vocational commitment to serve the learning and achievement of the children on an everyday basis and also, over the course of their professional lives
79 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the continuing professional learning of teachers in a range of Australian schools and found that three major influences on teachers' engagement with professional learning and the quality of that learning were isolation, cost, and the professional and personal life stages of teachers.
Abstract: This interpretative study of teachers as learners explored the continuing professional learning of teachers in a range of Australian schools. While teacher learning is regarded as a cornerstone of school reform, knowledge of how and why teachers engage in ongoing learning is scant. Research participants completed an open-ended questionnaire about their professional learning experiences and participated in semi-structured interviews in which they shared their learning narratives. The study found three sets of major influences on teachers’ engagement with professional learning and the quality of that learning. These influences were isolation (both geographic and professional), cost (both educational and emotional), and the professional and personal life stages of teachers. A new descriptive framework through which to understand the intricate interconnections between teacher-learners, professional learning and learning contexts across teaching careers is proposed.
64 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of a language teacher in a Chinese secondary school was used to explore the features of the teacher's belief system and how interactions between different components of the teachers' belief system contribute to complex features of their beliefs.
Abstract: Research on teachers' beliefs has provided useful insights into understanding processes of teaching. However, no research has explored teachers' beliefs as a system nor have researchers investigated the substance of interactions between teachers' beliefs, practices and context. Therefore, the author adopts complexity theory to explore the features of the teachers' belief system and how interactions between different components of the teachers' belief system contribute to complex features of their beliefs. The author illustrates this application by using a case study example of a language teacher in a Chinese secondary school. The study used the methods of semi-structured interviews, observations and stimulated recall interviews. It revealed the co-existence of different types of beliefs. The interaction of these beliefs determined the relationship between the teacher's beliefs and practice. Moreover, the practices of “token adoption” and eclectic approach were noted as the non-linear features of the teach...
55 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the teaching development of a group of 24 preservice teachers from a regional university on a placement in Beijing and examined the ways they make explicit connections between their learning on overseas practicum and their teaching in Australia.
Abstract: International practicum is disappearing from teacher education programs with the increasing pressures for ‘local experience’. International practicum is seen as too different from local contexts to develop preservice teachers to meet professional standards. This study explores the teaching development of a group of 24 preservice teachers from a regional university on a placement in Beijing and examines the ways they make explicit connections between their learning on overseas practicum and their teaching in Australia. The findings indicate that it is precisely the difference in teaching contexts that enables professional development in key areas of professional standards. The study challenges perceptions of overseas practicum as ‘cultural tourism’ and also the presumption of conflict between preparing teachers for both global and local contexts.
51 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of students' perceptions of OBE and validation of understanding these perceptions are lacking is presented, where the authors report on the validation of an OBE-specific instrument and resulting preliminary findings.
Abstract: Outcome-based education (OBE) is a current initiative in Hong Kong universities, with widespread backing by governments and standards bodies. However, study of students’ perceptions of OBE and validation of understanding these perceptions are lacking. This paper reports on the validation of an OBE-specific instrument and resulting preliminary findings. Instrument responses (n = 89) were analysed using Rasch and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses. Both approaches identified two dimensions (i.e. evaluation and comparison). Challenges and modifications to the instrument items and their relationships to constructs are discussed. Preliminary findings suggest students did not perceive significant differences between OBE and traditionally organised courses. Lack of explicit discussion of OBE with the students may have denied students the ability to make fully informed evaluations of OBE innovations. Implications for instrument validation and evaluation of initiatives in an OBE context are discussed as is t...
50 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on some of the factors that contribute to an effective partnership between an urban Australian university and a State Department of Education, which is currently in its third year of implementation and entails as a key purpose the development of school Centres of Excellence which contribute to the preparation of pre-service teachers.
Abstract: This paper reports on some of the factors that contribute to an effective partnership between an urban Australian university and a State Department of Education. The partnership, currently in its third year of implementation, entails as a key purpose the development of school Centres of Excellence which contribute to the preparation of pre-service teachers. The foundational aims of the partnership include addressing the gap between theory and practice, facilitating pre-service teacher recruitment and providing a guarantee of future employment for identified Faculty of Education students through the provision of pre-service teacher scholarships. Data for the study were collected via two program reviews, conducted at the end of the first and third years of the program. Findings point to ways in which the partnership has enhanced pre-service teacher engagement and learning and also indicate ways in which partners in both institutions might further strengthen the partnership.
49 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the changing professional identities of teachers and their emotional experiences during curriculum reform in Shenzhen in the southern part of China, and found that teachers display several teaching behaviours and diverse emotions ranging from pain and helplessness, fulfilment and anxiety, and other mixed emotions.
Abstract: This study explores the changing professional identities of teachers and their emotional experiences during curriculum reform in Shenzhen in the southern part of China. A qualitative approach to research was adopted. Findings reveal that the informants display several teaching behaviours and diverse emotions ranging from pain and helplessness, fulfilment and anxiety, and other mixed emotions. The three types of influential factors that influence teachers' professional identities are also discussed in this study.
TL;DR: This paper conducted an investigation into Australian primary school teachers' knowledge and confidence for mental health promotion and found that half to two thirds of teachers felt efficacious and knowledgeable about selected components of mental health prevention.
Abstract: This paper reports an investigation into Australian primary school teachers’ knowledge and confidence for mental health promotion. Questionnaires were delivered to 1397 teachers. In-depth interviews were held with 37 teachers. Quantitative results showed that half to two thirds of teachers felt efficacious and knowledgeable about selected components of mental health promotion. Independent judgments by staff about students’ mental health status concurred with students’ scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in about 75% of cases, indicating a good level of staff awareness about students’ mental health status. Exposure to the KidsMatter Primary mental health promotion initiative was associated with improvements in teachers’ efficacy, knowledge and pedagogy, with small to medium effect sizes. Qualitative analysis indicated that teachers’ subject-matter and pedagogical knowledge were heavily reliant on curriculum resources. Implications of the findings for the implementation of school-based me...
TL;DR: This paper explored reflexive practices in preparing pre-service teachers for their complex teaching roles in the twenty-first century and found that reflexive learning was a key mediating strategy in expanding the participants' consciousness.
Abstract: Today people from a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds are entering the teaching profession. The changing profile of pre-service teachers prompted inquiry into personal and professional influences in understanding diversity and inclusive practices. Two teacher educators collaborated across Australian universities to explore reflexive practices in preparing pre-service teachers for their complex teaching roles in the twenty-first century. Modes of delivery were an on-campus Inclusive Education unit with situated learning opportunities in community settings and a fully online Inclusive Education unit. Findings revealed that reflexive learning was a key mediating strategy in expanding the participants' consciousness. Participants engaged in confronting assumptions, raising awareness of diverse learning needs and critiquing social justice principles and equity issues. By creating a supportive learning environment, teacher educators were able to shift pre-service teachers from mere acceptance of diversity to a commitment to ethical decision-making and quality inclusive education.
TL;DR: In this article, a Bourdieuian perspective is used to understand the pre-service teacher education program inadequacies with a view to providing implications in relation to the constraints of the limited and limiting nature of practicum placements.
Abstract: As populations in contemporary Western societies grow increasingly diverse, preparing predominantly White middle-class pre-service teachers to better understand and work with difference productively has become increasingly critical. Historically, however, teacher education programs have aimed to address diversity with add-on or piecemeal approaches, with little success. This article illustrates and theorises change in two Australian teachers' dispositions towards social justice over time from a Bourdieuian perspective. It attempts to inform our understanding of current pre-service teacher education program inadequacies with a view to providing implications in relation to the constraints of the limited and limiting nature of practicum placements. Fundamentally, its goal is to improve the preparedness of pre-service teachers to cater for diversity in socially just ways.
TL;DR: The key findings indicate that these graduates are seeking ongoing support as they develop confidence in their canonical skills of teaching and argue that university-based programs are one way of providing professional learning and support for beginning teachers.
Abstract: For graduating teachers, the bridging period between formal teacher preparation and joining the profession is a time of high anxiety and great excitement. While this transition influences efficacy, job satisfaction, career length and future teaching quality, it is widely recognized to be inconsistent, poorly planned and resourced and largely unsupported (DEST, 2002; Herrington & Herrington, 2004). In Australia, the transition to teaching remains largely a school-based affair. However, individual schools may not have the resources to support a comprehensive and cohesive transition program. This paper discusses a pilot university program of extended teacher preparation. It reports on the perceived professional learning needs of a group of graduates as they transition to teaching. The key findings indicate that these graduates are seeking ongoing support as they develop confidence in their canonical skills of teaching. We argue that university-based programs are one way of providing professional learning and support for beginning teachers.
TL;DR: In this article, a hermeneutic view of the adjustment experiences of five international pre-service teachers who have volunteered to be tutors in schools and unpaid helpers within local community centres is presented.
Abstract: Anecdotal evidence suggests that pre-service teachers who have volunteered in schools demonstrate greater awareness of the general operational aspects of a school and, thus, are better prepared for the teaching practicum. However, there is little documented evidence about the cross-cultural challenges of international pre-service teachers volunteering in the host community. Drawing on the preliminary findings of a larger study, this paper offers a hermeneutic view of the adjustment experiences of five international pre-service teachers who have volunteered to be tutors in schools and unpaid helpers within local community centres. The findings highlight a range of cultural and personal dimensions associated with the process of pre-service teacher professional development and their intercultural engagement with members in the host society. Hence, adjustment through community service engagement is viewed as an opportunity to increase the intercultural and intracultural awareness of the international pre-serv...
TL;DR: This paper used Foucauldian archaeology to excavate the enunciative field of professionalism by digging through the academic and institutional (political) archive, and in doing so identified two key policy documents for further analysis.
Abstract: The nature and value of “professionalism” has long been contested by both producers and consumers of policy. Most recently, governments have rewritten and redefined professionalism as compliance with externally imposed “standards.” This has been achieved by silencing the voices of those who inhabit the professional field of education. This article uses Foucauldian archaeology to excavate the enunciative field of professionalism by digging through the academic and institutional (political) archive, and in doing so identifies two key policy documents for further analysis. The excavation shows that while the voices of (academic) authority speak of competing discourses emerging, with professional standards promulgated as the mechanism to enhance professionalism, an alternative regime of truth identifies the privileged use of (managerial) voices from outside the field of education to create a discourse of compliance. There has long been a mismatch between the voices of authority on discourses around profession...
TL;DR: The authors examines the impact of reform policies on the work of Chinese teachers and argues that teachers' anxiety stems from the incongruence between their professional outlook, which is intimately linked to student academic achievement, and the dictates of state reform measures which seek to broaden the conception of education to include other areas of human development.
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of reform policies on the work of Chinese teachers. It explores the policy context in which a fragile teaching profession attempts to develop and discusses the dynamics of interacting societal forces that have created the dilemmas for the teachers. The authors argue that while the continual implementation of reform policies has fostered a new outlook in Chinese schools, calls for profound change in schooling have caused much anxiety among teachers. The teachers' anxiety stems from the incongruence between their professional outlook, which is intimately linked to student academic achievement, and the dictates of state reform measures, which seek to broaden the conception of education to include other areas of human development. Throughout the years of reform, teachers have had to stretch their professional capacity in order to satisfy competing demands engendered by reform measures and educational reality. It is in the tensions caused by the implementation of reform policies ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employ grounded theory analysis to examine the phenomenon of China's teacher honour system by analyzing documents, narrative stories of 11 award recipients and five non-recipients, and interviews with four government officials who manage the system.
Abstract: China's national teacher honour system, initiated in 1949, is designed to recognise the academic and pedagogical performance of individual teachers and professional collectives at national, provincial, municipal, and school-based levels. This study employs grounded theory analysis to examine the phenomenon of China's teacher honour system by analysing documents, narrative stories of 11 award recipients and five non-recipients, and interviews with four government officials who manage the system. The paper discusses sociocultural aspects of this honour system by exploring the impact of three types of professional honours on teacher professional development. This system aims to balance government leadership in conferring honour with individual pursuit of professional development in one's local setting. Contextualised in a Confucian culture, the teachers immersed in this honour system benefit from collegial support in engaging in professional growth activities. Challenges with this system include the need to ...
TL;DR: This paper conducted a survey-based research with Australian pre-service teachers to identify the classroom management strategies that they would employ, their confidence in employing them, and the effectiveness of the strategies.
Abstract: Survey-based research was conducted with Australian pre-service teachers to identify the classroom management strategies that they would employ, their confidence in employing them, and the effectiveness of the strategies. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify significant differences in these variables between pre-service teachers in the final year of a four-year teacher training course and pre-service teachers undertaking a one-year, stand-alone teaching program. The results of this study indicate that the most frequently reported strategies by all the Australian pre-service primary teachers surveyed were rewards and initial corrections. The pre-service teachers were selective in the type of corrective strategies they would employ, with a preference for relatively less intrusive reactive strategies. All of the pre-service teachers here found rewards and preventative strategies to be the most effective. The only significant differences found between the four-year trained and one-year trained pre-service...
TL;DR: The authors argue that teacher education could benefit from moving away from the ideological conditions that have produced the Global Financial Crisis and instead be informed by an approach to schooling around notions of social justice.
Abstract: In this discursive and wide-ranging paper I want to do two things: first, to interrogate the conditions that led to, and continue to wreak havoc as a result of, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and that underpin current policy approaches to teacher education in Australia and other western countries; and second, to move in the direction of puncturing the status quo by proffering an alternative orientation to teacher education deriving from some of my own research that is informed by what I am calling the Socially Just School My argument is that teacher education could benefit from moving away from the ideological conditions that have produced the GFC and instead be informed by an approach to schooling around notions of social justice
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore practice theories to identify common themes and principles that constitute a conceptual framework for the investigation of the lived experience of teaching and derive a methodological framework based on collaborative inquiry and post-modern emergence.
Abstract: In recent times there has been a cross-disciplinary amplification of interest in the concept of practice. In this context, there is a growing body of research considering how teaching and teacher education might be viewed using the conceptual lens of practice. In this article, I explore practice theories to identify common themes and principles that constitute a conceptual framework for the investigation of the lived experience of teaching. From this foundation, a methodological framework based on collaborative inquiry and postmodern emergence is derived. Examples are offered of the way the conceptual framework and methodological approach have been activated through the first stage of a research programme that collaboratively engages the dual voices of academic researcher and classroom practitioners as co-researchers. Analysis of qualitative data reveals the potential and limitations of this practice-based foundation as a way to know, understand and represent the complexity of teaching. In conclusion, the...
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative content analysis of essays using metaphors to describe learning and teaching written by 256 students at the beginning and end of an educational psychology course was used as the main research procedure.
Abstract: This study investigates changes in the conceptions of learning and teaching among undergraduate student teachers A qualitative content analysis of essays using metaphors to describe learning and teaching written by 256 students at the beginning and end of an educational psychology course was used as the main research procedure It was found that there was an increase in the share of students that see learning and teaching from a cognitive-constructivist perspective and a decrease in the share that see learning and teaching from a behaviourist perspective by the end of the course In addition, the study revealed that the coherence in the nature of the metaphors describing learning and teaching increased by the end of the course However, there was practically no increase in the number of essays describing learning from a socio-constructivist perspective, a fact that points to a need to pay more attention to the manifestations of learning in different communities of students, that is, to a relevant knowled
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive investigation of the complex policy process in China's national initiatives to nurture a world-class teaching force, with qualitative findings from a case study, is presented.
Abstract: Teacher education has been undergoing significant transformations worldwide in recent decades, and China has made continuous efforts in its quest for world-class teachers. This paper aims at a comprehensive investigation of the complex policy process in China's national initiatives to nurture a world-class teaching force, with qualitative findings from a case study. It focuses on policy initiatives in China's unique sociocultural context, system transformations and developmental challenges from a rational prospective. Meanwhile, the challenges of institutional change and the limitations to change are examined within two frames – the contextually less amenable to change and the institutionally remediable. Policy implications for teacher education reform in the future are illustrated within these two frames. Lastly, this paper concludes that, along with its rising status, in terms of excellence in educational performance and students' academic achievement as shown in PISA 2009, China provides an alternative...
TL;DR: The authors investigated how Taiwanese teachers of English as a Foreign Language turned experiences into critical reflections via journal writings and described how they gauged critical reflections as teaching inquiry, and found that critical reflection as a teaching inquiry helped the teachers deal with situations of uncertainty, instability, and value conflict in multiple contexts.
Abstract: The aims of this paper are twofold: to investigate how Taiwanese teachers of English as a Foreign Language turned experiences into critical reflections via journal writings and to describe how they gauged critical reflections as teaching inquiry. The participants were 12 Taiwanese in-service teachers enrolled in an elective course entitled ‘Doing Teacher Research in English Instruction’, meeting three hours a week for 17 weeks. Two types of data, journal entries and semi-structured oral interviews, were collected. Three levels of critical reflection – transitions, transformations, and problematics – were generated for further discussion. The results indicate that critical reflection as teaching inquiry helped the teachers deal with situations of uncertainty, instability, and value conflict in multiple contexts. Critical reflections enhanced teachers' understanding and brought about changes in their awareness of instructional effectiveness and teaching beliefs in their practice. For a variety of reasons, t...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program, using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections.
Abstract: This article reports the investigation of change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program. Using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections, data were obtained that indicate personal constructs of effective history teaching based around participants' map structures, curriculum understandings, knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of learners, knowledge of pedagogies, and pedagogical content knowledge. The purpose of this article is twofold: to present the findings of research exploring the growth in conceptual understandings of early career history teachers promoted through the use of concept maps, and to discuss the participants' response to tangible opportunities to reflect on their own conceptual understandings of history teaching.
TL;DR: The authors investigated the problems outlined in the literature surrounding the development of teaching games for understanding (TGfU) understanding among pre-service teachers and found that TGfU represents a challenge to their pedagogical paradigm.
Abstract: Previous studies have sought to ascertain Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) conception in pre-service teachers. This exploratory study investigated the problems outlined in the literature surrounding the development of TGfU understanding among pre-service teachers (n = 44) of the curriculum instruction model. Blog postings were analysed over an eight-week period to identify the varying levels of student conception of TGfU using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy in order to ascertain whether there are specific aspects of TGfU conception that prevent learning of deeper concepts. The study found that students move through at least two SOLO levels of metacognitive development. For pre-service teachers, TGfU represents a challenge to their pedagogical paradigm. This may limit their understanding of TGfU when they perceive that it is not antithetical to their existing paradigm but rather it represents a balanced approach to achieving the goals of skill-based instruction.
TL;DR: The authors have produced an empirically informed rich evidence base on why many teachers across the world come into teaching, what keeps them goin' into teaching and why they stay in teaching.
Abstract: Over the last three decades, research on teachers and teaching has produced an empirically informed rich evidence base on why many teachers across the world come into teaching, what keeps them goin...
TL;DR: The authors discuss the nature of teacher knowledge and what it is that teachers need to know and what they need to be trained to learn, and discuss the importance of knowledge in teacher preparation.
Abstract: Discussions about the nature of teacher knowledge and what it is that teachers need to know are not new. Such concerns have dominated teacher preparation for decades. However, in recent times teach...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that teacher effectiveness is the defining quality of a policy-making debate that at its core dispenses with broader considerations of possible influence thought to substantially affect the learning outcomes of public school students.
Abstract: This paper critiques specific forms of classroom teacher effectiveness research. In doing so, the paper suggests that education policy-making deems and employs teacher effectiveness research as a promising and capable contrivance for the identification of ineffective classroom teaching practice. The paper engages with this policy debate by using a specific policy example from the Australian state of Victoria, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) Blueprint for Government Schools (2003/2008). Moreover, the attention given to “teacher effectiveness” as the means by which school systems aim to reverse student under-achievement positions classroom teachers as the controlling authority over educational outcomes. Indeed, teacher effectiveness is the defining quality of a policy-making debate that at its core dispenses with broader considerations of possible influence thought to substantially affect the learning outcomes of public school students.