Helping Provisionally Licensed Middle School Science Teachers

The New Science Teachers\u27 Support Network is a National Science Foundation-funded project that provides a multifaceted support system to provisionally licensed middle and high school science teachers.The teachers in this project were all hired to teach science, and had science degrees, but had little or no education coursework or background. Research is being conducted on the effectiveness of the support system we employed for these teachers, particularly on the factors that characterize the practice of new teachers, and on factors that lead to teacher success and teacher retention. In this paper, we describe the design of the study and the results from the one-year pilot study. We focus upon our observations and experiences with the middle school teachers in the group of participants; and, we close with preliminary recommendations for supporting provisionally licensed science teachers so they have the best chance of being successful and staying in the teaching profession

Escala de eficacia del profesorado de la diversidad en el aula (TESCD): un estudio de validación

The purpose of the present study was to validate the Teacher Efficacy Scale for Classroom Diversity (TESCD). This scale was developed to measure preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in their capability to teach students from diverse backgrounds. Four hundred and seventeen (N=417) preservice teachers participated in the study. Data analyses revealed that overall the TESCD has a good construct and concurrent validity and reliability. Recommendations are made for using this scale to examine preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs in teaching diverse student populations.El propósito del presente estudio fue validar la escala de la eficacia del profesor de la Diversidad en el aula. Esta escala fue desarrollada para medir futuros docentes sus creencias de autoeficacia para enseñar a estudiantes de diversas procedencias. Cuatrocientos diecisiete (N = 417) futuros docentes participaron en el estudio. El análisis de datos reveló que, en general, la TESCD tiene una buena validez de constructo y concurrente y fiabilidad. Se hacen recomendaciones para el uso de esta escala para examinar en futuros docentes sus creencias de eficacia respecto a la enseñanza de distintas poblaciones estudiantiles.Grupo FORCE (HUM-386). Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar de la Universidad de Granada

Assessing college student interest in math and/or computer science in a cross-national sample using classification and regression trees

  The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the relative importance of a number of variables in predicting students’ interest in math and/or computer science. Classification and regression trees (CART) were employed in the analysis of survey data collected from 276 college students enrolled in two U.S. and Greek universities. The results revealed that American students reporting high levels of barrier coping self-efficacy tended to show more interest in these fields. American students, however, with low barrier coping self-efficacy, low social or family influences, and low levels of self-efficacy for learning showed the least interest in math and/or computer science. In Greek students, the highest interest in math and/or computer science was observed among those whose parents had high expectations, expressed high barrier coping self-efficacy, and found mathematics to be useful. Overall, lower parental expectations and limited access to role models or mentors decreased their interest in these fields of study. Educational implications are discussed

Measuring the Success of Activity Based Costing within the Enterprise Resource Planning Environment in Greek Companies

Activity-based costing (ABC) is a strategic tool that can enhance all processes and functions of an organization once it is implemented successfully. This study aims to examine the ABC implementation success in Greek companies in major sectors of the economy. A web-based questionnaire was conducted between February 2020 to January 2021 and collected data from 102 companies found in major sectors of the Greek economy. ABC implementation success was assessed across five dimensions, namely, general attitude toward the implementation process, technical and technological characteristics, impact on organizational process, perceived usefulness in improving job performance, and perceive ease of use. Further, this study compared companies that fully implemented ABC to those that still practice traditional cost accounting (TCA), assessing factors that influence ABC success within Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Findings from this study show that a successful integration among ERP and ABC can minimize the operation costs and enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise. In particular, the findings indicated that the degree of ABC within ERP implementation success positively motivates the extent of its use, enhances user performance, increases productivity, and increases user satisfaction with the system. This study contributes to the existing literature since there has been limited research on measuring the success of ABC within ERP implementation in Greek companies. Further, it provides theoretical and practical insights about factors that might influence the success implementation of ABC within ERP that can be applied to other countries. Overall, entities with ABC implementation have improved outcomes relative to those with TCA

Using Microanalysis to Examine how Elementary Students Self-regulate in Math: A Case Study

AbstractThe purpose of this descriptive study was to examine how high, average, and low achieving elementary students engage in self-regulation in math. Participants were nine elementary students and their teachers from three different public schools who incorporated the International Baccalaureate Curriculum. Using a microanalytic methodology, students were asked a series of forethought, performance, and self-reflection process items about specific math problem solving. It was hypothesized that high achievers would display more self-regulated learning processes than either average or low achieving students. To provide a more detailed picture of self-regulatory functioning among the different math achievers, a case study of fifth grade students from each achievement level is also presented. Students’ reports of self-regulation were also compared with teacher ratings. Results also revealed that high achievers surpassed average achievers, who in turn surpassed the low achieving student in self-regulation. The results were discussed in terms of Zimmerman's social cognitive model of self-regulation. Implications, limitations, and future research are presented

The Assessment of Mathematics and Science Teacher Quality

The purpose of this study was to examine the types of instruments being used to document mathematics and science teacher quality characteristics in 48 nationally funded mathematics and science education awards. Each of the 48 projects operationalized teacher quality and determined how to assess it. The main research questions examined the instruments awardees used to gather data on mathematics and science teacher quality, and the main characteristics of teachers examined by awardees. Results showed that awardees most frequently used surveys or questionnaires to assess characteristics of mathematics and science teacher quality. The most common teacher characteristics examined by awardees\u27 included teacher behaviors, practices, and beliefs, followed by the assessment of subject and pedagogical knowledge, and the documentation of mathematics and science teachers\u27 certification. A few new instruments were under development and in use to assess characteristics of teacher quality. Detailed information on the development and psychometric properties of the instruments used for these examinations was not available from the reports. Because awardees were at different stages in their funded activities and data collection efforts were ongoing at the time of this analysis, this study offers a preliminary and formative review of the use of assessments to document mathematics and science teacher quality characteristics among these awards

Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health

Background: Surveillance of disparities in healthcare insurance, services and quality of care among children are critical for properly serving the medical/healthcare needs of underserved populations. The purpose of this study was to assess racial/ethnic differences in children’s (0 to 17 years old) health insurance adequacy and consistency (child has insurance coverage for the last 12 months). Design and methods: We used data from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (n=79,474). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the distribution and influence of several sociodemographic/family related factors on insurance adequacy and consistency across different racial/ethnic groups. Results: Stratified analyses by race/ethnicity revealed that white and black children living in households at or below 299% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) were approximately 29 to 42% less likely to have adequate insurance compared to children living in families of higher income levels. Regardless of race/ethnicity, we found that children with public health insurance were more likely to have adequate insurance than their privately insured counterparts, while adolescents were at greater risk of inadequate coverage. Hispanic and black children were more likely to lack consistent insurance coverage. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that racial/ethnic differences in adequate and consistent health insurance exists with both white and minority children being affected adversely by poverty. Establishing outreach programs for low income families, and cross-cultural education for healthcare providers may help increase health insurance adequacy and consistency within certain underserved populations

Evaluación de la Autoeficacia Regulatoria: Una Perspectiva Social Cognitiva

Este artículo da un panorama general de la investigación de los constructos de autorregulación, autoeficacia y eficacia autorreguladora. Asimismo, examina como se han medido los mismos hasta la actualidad. También se describe el Inventario de Autoeficacia para el Aprendizaje (Self-Efficacy for Learning Form, SELF), una nueva escala diseñada para evaluar las creencias de autoeficacia de los estudiantes en relación a la utilización de procesos específicos autorregulatorios en una variedad de áreas de funcionamiento académico, tales como estudiar, tomar apuntes, realizar exámenes, leer y escribir. Seencontró que esta medida de la eficacia autorregulatoria desempeña un papel mediador entre el compromiso de los estudiantes en sus tareas escolares y el rendimiento académico. Finalmente se discuten algunas consecuencias pedagógicas que derivan de la investigación sobre la autoeficacia académica