Teacher Quality

Debate about teacher supply, demand, retention, and attrition has been renewed in recent years by an increased concern about the reduced numbers of prospective teachers entering teacher education programs, the high attrition rate of beginning teachers, and the resulting teacher shortages. U.S. schools are experiencing teacher shortages, especially in low-income urban areas, because of increased school enrollment, teacher retirement, reduction in class size, teacher attrition, and turnover related to low salaries, job dissatisfaction, and lack of administrative support and influence over decision-making. Recently, the increased interest in teacher quality has been the topic of debate for policy-makers, the public, and the educational community. The purpose of this study was to determine if a nontraditional teacher preparation program, the Transition To Teaching program, was a viable way to ease the teacher shortages in a high poverty, urban U.S. school district, and at the same time, to evaluate the impact of teacher training on students' academic achievement. The results of this study afford evidence that the students taught by 1st-year, alternatively prepared teachers achieved as well as or better than their peers taught by traditionally certified 1st-year teachers, according to student achievement in mathematics, specifically Algebra I.

Since the middle of the twentieth century the issues of teacher quality and effectiveness have attracted the attention of the educational community. As a result a wide range of studies have focused on this issue and have approached the topic by establishing categories of teacher characteristics, viewed mainly from the perspective of adult-teachers, administrators, teachers educators and educational researchers. There are, however, a limited number of studies that focus on geography teacher effectiveness from the perspective of students. This qualitative research approached and interviewed 8 th grade Lower Secondary School students on Lesvos island, in order to explore their understanding of geography teacher effectiveness. Findings suggest that students concentrate on the issues of geography knowledge and pedagogy, while the more technical dimensions of geography teaching also attract their attention. Student perspectives, however, retain a humanistic vision of teaching and learning...

We examine teaching disruptions and their impact on student achievement using data on teachers and students in New York City. By disruption, we mean a period of time when a student's regularly assigned teacher is absent for an extended period of time or leaves their teaching position during the school year. These disruptions are uncommon; our analysis (focusing on teachers of math and English in grades 4 through 8) indicates that they affect less than three percent of classrooms per year. However, we find these disruptive events have significant negative effects, lowering student achievement by 0.06 and 0.03 standard deviations in math and English Language Arts, respectively. This suggests that policies which help maintain instructional quality during periods of teacher absence and disruption can have significant benefits to students. Additionally, we find evidence that teacher health can impact student achievement above and beyond any relationship it bears with disruptions and absences. Specifically, we find student achievement is significantly lower when teachers go on medical leave, go on maternity leave, or take additional absences for medical reasons after students have already been tested. All of these estimates are identified from variation within teachers, which suggests that strategies for measuring the causal impact of absences that assume static selection with regard to teacher quality may be biased.

This report examines effects of structural and process features of professional development programs on teachers' knowledge, practice and efficacy. It is based on four recent (2002)(2003) studies undertaken through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme, designed to enhance teacher quality. The total data set for the survey study includes 3,250 teachers who had participated in eighty individual professional development 1 activities within these studies. Teachers were surveyed at least three months after participating in an activity, which provided them with the opportunity to gauge the impact of programs on their practice. To investigate factors affecting impact, a theoretical model was developed based on recent research into the characteristics of effective professional development and tested using blockwise regression analysis. The model included contextual factors (e.g.

Teachers are the individuals that prepare the future work-force. High caliber teachers that conduct high-quality teaching by integrating their skills and knowledge into their instructional time are central to improving student outcomes. However, the key challenges start when teachers are asked to put theory and innovative ideas into practice without getting much guidance on how to do it. Thus, having a highquality teacher who can bring her/his professional attributes and skills into the classroom is not enough to achieve higher gains in student outcomes. Without a well-prepared instruction process and strong support, quality teaching is impossible to achieve. Teacher quality and quality teaching are highly interconnected, one without the other can do little for student success. Policy strategies should align with a clear vision for talented teacher recruitment, preparation, professional learning, and ongoing evaluation that can significantly improve system performance. This policy brief will provide background information on interconnection of teacher and teaching quality, discuss key challenges, and propose solutions to for higher outcomes.

The current debate about class size is not centered on whether smaller class sizes are desirable. Rather, the debate is whether the costs involved are the best ways to spend taxpayers' monies. This analysis addresses this question for the state of Florida. Using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as a measure of educational achievement, a state data set containing information on all elementary schools was used to examine which government-funded inputs were most cost effective. Using a three-step methodology leading to a cost effectiveness analysis, this article finds that reducing class sizes is the most expensive of state inputs that affect achievement scores. Varying the mix of school personnel (administrators, teachers, and teacher aides) and investments in teacher quality (training and experience) are shown to produce the same results (raising test scores) at a lower cost than the reduction of class sizes.

Il 10 gennaio 2020 si è tenuto presso la sala della Biblioteca «Aldo Visalberghi» dell'INVALSI un seminario dedicato alle competenze relazionali degli insegnanti: "Migliorare la scuola promuovendo le competenze relazionali degli insegnanti". Evidenze e prospettive da una sperimentazione controllata. Il seminario prevedeva la presentazione del progetto OpenTeQ 1, coordinato da Gianluca Argentin, ricercatore presso l'Università Milano Bicocca. Il seminario è stato aperto dai saluti iniziali del dott. Paolo Mazzoli, direttore generale INVALSI, che ha introdotto e moderato l'incontro promuovendo nel suo intervento le occasioni di pratiche di studio volte ad approfondire lo scambio delle competenze relazionali tra i docenti, al fine di migliorare le «micro-pratiche dal basso» degli insegnanti (prima fra tutte: il dialogo e la cooperazione); il perfezionamento di tali competenze non può che portare-ha poi ribadito-a migliorare i risultati dei test INVALSI. Gianluca Argentin, sociologo dell'educazione, ha così presentato il progetto OpenTeQ (Opening the Black Box of Teacher Quality), finanziato dal MIUR attraverso il bando SIR (Scientific Independence of Young Researchers). Tale progetto, realizzato con altri ricercatori nazionali e internazionali, aveva il compito di testare la rilevanza delle competenze relazionali degli insegnanti quale chiave per la loro efficacia didattica.

https://www.invalsi.it/biblioteca/doc/Report_seminario_Biblioteca_Invalsi_.pdf

This study demonstrated some of the great disparities that exist between LM and non-LM students that go beyond language differences including: 70% of LM students come from the lowest SES group versus 37% of their non-LM peers. Also, teachers of LM students had fewer years of experience and lower rates of certification than teachers of non-LM students. Finally, many teachers of LM students (as much as 50% in
first grade) reported feeling inadequately prepared to teach LEP (limited English proficient) students. These findings suggest the need for careful attention in the form of educational policies that acknowledge the disproportionate effect of poverty and low SES on LM students. The negative effects of limited resources and inadequate social capital overshadow limited English proficiency and their ability to overcome academic challenges. Furthermore, it is important for education decision-makers to recognize the role that inexperienced, uncertified teachers may play in the educational outcomes of LM students.

This study examines the process of change among grade 4 teachers (students aged 9–10 years) who participated in a yearlong Teacher Quality Grant innovation program. The concerns-based adoption model (CBAM), which informed the design and implementation of the program, was used to examine the process of change. Two questions guided the investigation: (1) How did teachers’ concerns about and levels of use of the innovation evolve during the course of the project? (2) What changes in teachers’ perceptions and practices arose as a result of the innovation? Results showed that several of the teachers’ concerns evolved from self/task toward impact. With continued support, several participants achieved routine levels of use, which they sustained beyond the project.

The study investigated several teacher characteristics, with a focus on two measures of teaching experience, and their association with second grade student achievement gains in low performing, high poverty schools in a Mid-Atlantic state. Value-added models using three-level hierarchical linear modeling were used to analyze the data from 1,544 students, 154 teachers, and 53 schools. Results indicated that traditional teacher qualification characteristics such as licensing status and educational attainment were not statistically significant in producing student achievement gains. Total years of teaching experience was also not a significant predictor but a more specific measure, years of teaching experience at a particular grade level, was significantly associated with increased student reading achievement. We caution researchers and policymakers when interpreting results from studies that have used only a general measure of teacher experience as effects are possibly underestimated. Policy implications are discussed.

The PISA 2006 Science Literacy Assessment results report Finland as the first ranked country out of the 30 developed nations that participated in the testing (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007). The United States was ranked 21st. Closer examination of school and student variables may help explain these outcomes. This article will use the PISA 2006 data to investigate how school resource indicators such as teacher qualifications, school resources, and school type, as well as student level indicators such as socioeconomic status and family resources affect science achievement. Comparisons will include the United States, Canada, and Finland. Due to the differences in the structure of educational systems and the makeup of student populations, findings have given an inaccurate impression that international competitiveness in science is not a viable option for the US (Ginsburg, Leinwand, & Pollock, 2007). Findings indicate school funding practices, teacher quality, school type, and family socioeconomic status impact student science achievement and have an effect on international school rankings.

Recent reports and reviews of teaching and education in Australia, have stressed the need for research to clarify relationships between teacher knowledge and teaching practice and student experience and learning in classrooms. Although findings of research over the past twenty - five years have consistently demonstrated effects of teacher quality on school-student outcomes, researchers are just beginning to develop approaches

The study aimed to develop a self-rating tool to determine the proficiency of Philippine Higher Education (PHE) STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Agri-Fisheries, Mathematics) Educators. This design and development research emphasized elaborations of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) in the tertiary STEAM education aligned with the Policies, Standards, and Guidelines (PSGs) of 46 STEAM programs (science-22, technology-7, engineering-10, agriculture-5, and mathematics-2). The crafted indicators went through expert and statistical validations and analyses to establish the indicators' content validity, construct validity, and reliability. The experts assessed the indicators' similarity and variance, appropriateness, phraseology, and ambiguity of items and found that most items from the first version (90 items) suit the criteria and the country's context. Principal axis factor (PAF) analysis showed that only 60 items represent the seven factor loadings generated from the analysis. These seven factors matched the seven TPCK dimensions: Factor 1 (TPACK [Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge]), Factor 2 (TPK [Technological Pedogogical Knowledge]), Factor 3 (TCK [Technological Content Knowledge]), Factor 4 (PCK [Pedagogical Content Knowledge]), Factor 5 (TK [Technological Knowledge]), Factor 6 (PK [Pedagogical Knowledge]), and Factor 7 (CK [Content Knowledge]). The first four factors with a majority of the generated 60 indicators already explained more than half of the variance as per PAF. Furthermore, all seven factors and the entire set of 60 indicators obtained above standard reliability indices as per Cronbach's alpha analysis, thus incurring valid and reliable 60 indicators of proficiency for PHE STEAM educators that may be utilized for reflective practice and policy inputs to Philippine STEAM Education.

The professional plans, satisfaction levels, demographic characteristics, perceptions and motivations of different teacher types distinguished by cluster analysis were investigated among graduate-entry primary and secondary teacher education candidates (N ¼ 510) from three Australian universities in an ongoing longitudinal study. Participants provided quantitative and qualitative survey data at two time-points: at their entry to teacher education, and immediately prior to completion of their qualification. Teacher types were classified via cluster analysis on the basis of their exit levels of planned effort and persistence within the teaching profession, and their professional development and leadership aspirations. Three distinct types were identified: ''highly engaged persisters'', ''highly engaged switchers'', and ''lower engaged desisters''. Differences in motivations for having chosen teaching as a career, perceptions about the profession, and career intentions were contrasted for the three types, and demographic characteristics compared.

This paper maps the current situation of teacher professional development and policy reforms in India, the teacher quality concerns in Indian schools, and the trends and challenges in professional development of teachers in India. It seeks to review the emergence of new technologies for teacher professional learning in India and what (if any) professional learning solutions have been developed to improve the quality of professional development in India. It presents the current contexts affecting the professional development of teachers in India and goes on to provide some examples of the emergent learning networks for teacher professional development in India. The paper suggests the need to explore the potential of learning networks to support teacher professional development and teacher quality in India.

The study examined the effect of teacher's qualification on the performance of Primary social studies. The purpose was to determine whether the qualifications of teacher have any impact on the performance of the students in social studies. The cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. The sample for the study consisted of 128 Senior Primary Schools social studies teachers in Eastern Uganda. The years' mock results of the pupils in the schools were rated and correlated with the bio-data of their respective social studies teachers. The data collated were analysed using inferential statistics. The hypothesis postulated stated that "there is no significant relationship between teachers' qualifications and pupils' academic performance in the sampled primary schools in eastern Uganda" and was tested at 0.05 significance level. The results revealed that students taught by teachers with higher qualifications performed better than those taught by teachers with lower qualifications. It was concluded that there is significant relationship between teachers' qualifications and pupils' academic performance in the primary schools in eastern Uganda. Based on the findings, it was recommended that experienced teachers with professional qualifications should teach Social Studies.

This chapter examines teacher recruitment, selection, and evaluation policies in South Korea and explores how teacher quality and effectiveness are understood, ensured, and assessed in the country. To show how the concepts are understood in Korea, the chapter starts with an analysis of the goals of education, of the kind of education perceived by the Korean government and citizens as high quality, and of the way effective teachers are defined by the goals they achieve. The analysis illustrates the historical, political, economic, and cultural backgrounds that have shaped Korean perspectives on the goals of education. Subsequently, the chapter describes policies and practices in the recruitment of teacher candidates, the selection of public school teachers, and the evaluation of in-service teachers' teaching quality and effectiveness. Lastly, it discusses the effectiveness of these policies and practices.

The dominance of the Western thoughts and cultures in our socioscapes can be seen in the historical accounts of the country. Western influences have created philosophical packages as if balikbayan boxes, luring the Filipino people to indulge and yield in the colonial dictates. This presents a valid point to consider the process of philosophical invasion that has relegated, if not enslaved, our indigenous knowledge, giving birth to the dominance of foreign ideologies. Consequently, we can hardly extricate our cultural identity from the Western image as it has been clothed with ideological mask that has been consciously and unconsciously worn since the inception of colonial rule in the country. Even Filipino thinkers fall under the spell of Western philosophies as they can hardly drift away from this captive consciousness, as Renato Constantino described it, if not to instrumentalize themselves to facilitate the reproduction of these philosophical thoughts.

This paper focuses on one potentially important contributor to the achievement gap between black and white students, differences in their exposure to novice teachers. We present a model that explores the pressures that may lead school administrators to distribute novice teachers unequally across or within schools. Using a rich micro-level data set provided by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, we find that novice teachers are distributed among schools and among classrooms within schools in a way that disadvantages black students. r

A. Introduction
The Education Working Group (EWG) and Save the Children (SC-UK) commissioned a review of the literature on Pakistani teachers and especially good teaching.  The review found that a ‘good’ teacher was the outcome of a combination of factors, including education and (to a lesser extent) training, competencies (personal, social and pedagogical), and supervision and support of head and colleagues.  The review noted that the perspective of children was missing in most studies, and interviews were the most common tool used to gather data. The group felt the need to explore good teaching from the children’s perspective, and to provide children with the opportunity to express themselves through more creative mediums.

The present study aimed to identify the concept of a good teacher from the perspectives of children particularly, parents, heads/colleagues and teachers themselves; identify the practices of outstanding teachers in and beyond the classroom/school; generate ideas for improving the teaching-learning process in Pakistani schools, particularly for low-income groups; and generate guidelines regarding identifying, recruiting and fostering good teachers and promoting self-sustaining teacher networks.

The study was conducted in Lahore and Peshawer city and rural Kasur and Haripur districts.  16 good teachers were identified from 14 government, one private and one NGO-run primary/elementary schools. Their teaching was assessed using a classroom observation checklist. Data was collected separately on the ‘ideal teacher’ and ‘bad teacher’, and the actual ‘good teacher’ in the school. The head/colleague of the school, selected pupils and their parents (57 in number) were interviewed, and children participated in focus group discussions, role plays, and drawing teachers.  Data of 518 children (281 boys, 237 girls, 251 urban, 267 rural) was collected through these methods. 

B. Key Findings
In presenting the findings the views of children have been highlighted using italics.

The ideal teacher is seen by almost all stakeholders as a soft, loving and courteous person who is neat, clean and well dressed, regular and punctual and upholds high ethical values.  The ideal teacher teaches well. S/he establishes a good rapport with children, plans her lesson, explains well, uses AV aids and activities to teach, gives and checks home work, and avoids punishing children to a large extent.

The general view of the bad teacher is that of a person who comes to school irregularly and late, teaches poorly or not at all, does not plan lesson, and ignores children’s needs and views. 

There is a remarkable similarity in the descriptions of the good teacher given by children, parents and colleagues of teachers, and observations by the researchers.  They present a strikingly positive image of the good teacher, including his/her personality, competence, teaching and class management skills. However, teachers were far more modest about themselves, particularly about their personality.

In the eyes of the different stakeholders the teacher identified as the best teacher in the school is soft, loving, courteous, tolerant, and considerate. S/he is regular and punctual, makes good use of time, is ethical, keeps in contact with parents and handles them well, and organizes co-curricular activities.  The teacher is competent in the subjects taught and covers the complete syllabus. S/he displays good teaching skills (plans and structures lesson, explains well, uses AV aids and activities to teach, assesses children in class, gives and checks homework).  The teacher also reinforces positive behavior and gives extra work to bright children.  It is evident from the foregoing that all the stakeholders were fully aware of the high commitment to teaching and the excellent teaching skills of the good teacher.

In the view of teachers and heads the key factors contributing to good teaching are a good working environment (school facilities), a respectful, cooperative and trusting attitude of the school administration (including involvement in decision making), cooperative colleagues, and refresher courses.  Parents and/or teachers served as role models, leading to imbibing humane values, while a conducive home environment helped teachers to dedicate themselves to their work. Teachers also continued to develop themselves continuously through reading and use of media. 

C. Analysis of the Findings
The study demonstrates that good teachers are primarily good human beings, with a loving personality, flexibility, patience, a quiet assertiveness, and a love for children and teaching.  They maintain a good balance between the needs of their job (ensuring learning) and those of the children (play, development of self-esteem).  Because of this they rarely need to use physical punishment to ensure learning. They fill the void experienced by most children in their homes. In many ways they represent the traditional model of teaching and learning, where the teacher is a member of the family, and learning is a holistic, integrated, continuous experience.

One of the striking aspects of the study is the detailed knowledge of pupils regarding their teachers, including personal information as well as their teaching skills and weaknesses.

D. Key Recommendations
The recommendations for the study are presented separately for the different stakeholders.

Children should:
• follow the teachings of good teachers in school and at home
• try to get knowledge from all possible sources (including books, media, etc.)
• participate in co-curricular and creative activities
• assist weak and shy children in their class/school
• assist the teacher in checking work, maintaining discipline, etc.
• keep parents informed about school matters

Good teachers should:
• encourage other teachers to observe their classes, learn from them, as well as provide feedback
• inform parents of the practices used by them with their children and their impact.

Parents should:
• participate in parent teacher meetings and take an active interest in school affairs
• dissuade poor teachers from negative practices and encourage them to adopt the practices of good teachers.
• follow the instructions of the good teacher in relation to their own children (e.g. doing home work, avoiding burden of household chores).

Heads should:
• appreciate and reward good teaching and classroom management practices and regularity and punctuality of teachers
• arrange classroom observation of good teaching by teachers and replication in their own classrooms
• organise workshops on good teaching and classroom management practices in the school in which good teachers and trainers/supervisors conduct sessions
• ensure that the complete syllabus is covered by teachers
• involve teachers as far as possible in making decisions affecting their own work
• encourage parents to take an active interest in school affairs, including financial contribution, learning about good teaching practices and their impact on children
• arrange for necessary teaching aids and other facilities
• organise co-curricular activities in school (including drawing competitions, role plays by children, etc.)
• interact with other schools and encourage the formation of teacher networks, including joint workshops, classroom observation, etc.

Colleagues of good teachers should:
• be sensitive to the needs of children
• observe and model the good practices of good teachers in and outside the school
• appreciate the good practices of the good teacher
• encourage good teachers and head to observe their teaching and provide feedback

Department officials should:
• recruit teachers who have basic communication skills and content knowledge and interest in children and teaching
• assess teachers on an on-going basis
• organise on-going training for teachers
• provide necessary facilities required for teaching
• have female teachers teach young children where good female teachers are available
• adapt and introduce the PEP-ILE train-and-visit model in other provinces.

Voluntary organisations should:
• disseminate the practices of good teachers
• organise training of their teachers
• assist in the formation of teacher networks

Donors should:
• provide funding to support and reward good teaching
• disseminate the practices of good teachers and the PEP-ILE model
• support the formation of teacher networks.

Whereas findings from recent research highlight the importance of teacher quality in improving students' academic performances and experiences of schooling, substantive and methodological issues surrounding the conceptualisation and evaluation of teacher quality are not well understood. Such deficiencies are particularly evident in claims for 'findings' derived from econometric research - especially from those studies that merely employ conceptualisations and proxy

Little is known about how the condition of school facilities affects academic outcomes. This study examines the role of school attendance as a mediator in the relationship between facilities in disrepair and student grades in city and state tests. Data on building condition and results from English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics (Math) standardized tests were analyzed using a sample of 95 elementary schools in New York City. Variables relevant to academic achievement such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, teacher quality, and school size were used as covariates. In run-down school facilities students attended less days on average and therefore had lower grades in ELA and Math standardized tests. Attendance was found to be a full mediator for grades in ELA and a partial mediator for grades in Math. This study provides empirical evidence of the effects of building quality on academic outcomes and considers the social justice issues related to this phenomenon. r

The present study mainly intended to find out the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats of B.Ed. Department, Gobardanga Hindu College under
West Bengal State University in West Bengal, India with respect to various aspects of
Teacher Educators. It also enquires about the attitude of Teacher Educators towards
the elementary two years Teacher Education Programme and the teaching aptitude of
student-teachers studying in this institution. Through the strengths, weakness,
opportunities, and threats (SWOT) method, this paper analyses the advantages and
disadvantages of Teacher Educators in rural Gobardanda, North Twenty Four
Parganas district at present as well as the existing opportunities and potential threats.
In this study classify the teaching experiences of in the Teacher Training College from
the academic year 2015-17, 2016-18, and 2017-19. The objective of the study is to
present a brief review of the Teacher Educator’s contribution, exercise, best practices
and focused on the significance of concerns, activities, and context. The methodology
of the study is a mixed type involving interpretative, analytical study of documents,
survey questionnaire, interview, observation and study secondary sources, like books,
articles, journals, thesis, university news, expert opinion, and websites, etc. Finally,
meaningful suggestions are offered.

- The classroom climate which is often times set by the
teacher is determined by the teacher’s attitude. Attitude as a
major determinant of a person’s behavior influences the way a
teacher relates with the students and thus affects students’
academic performance. The study examined teacher’s attitude as
a correlate of students’ academic performance in geography.
Descriptive survey design was adopted and a sample size of four
hundred selected from a population of nine hundred and sixtyeight
using the Taro Yamane sample size formula. Two research
questions and a research hypothesis were proposed in line with
the study objectives. Average Mean Score was used to analyze
responses for the research questions while Multiple Regression
Analysis was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings
show that attitude of teachers correlated positively and
significantly with students’ academic performance. Poor
government attitude to teachers, lack of job satisfaction, poor
remuneration and delayed salary, students’ learning interest and
absence of teaching materials/instructional aid were found to
influence the attitude of teachers. The paper strongly
recommends among others thatsalaries and remuneration of
teachers should be paid as at when due; teachers should go
beyond Instruction and focus on the interpersonal aspects of
teaching; constant in-service training should be provided for
teachers and also provision should be made for teachers to
attend educational conferences both locally and internationally
as this would help them grow on the job.

In this paper, it has been attempted to depict the teacher profile students most prefer, based on their views of teachers whom they have met throughout their educational life and consider them in their minds as being good and bad teachers. Data for the study, which has been designed within the survey model, has been compiled through view forms from 30 teacher candidates currently enrolled at Mugla Sitki Kocman University's Faculty of Education, Guidance and Psychological Counseling program. According to the findings attained from the study, students are more affected by their teachers' social behaviors in comparison to their instructional behaviors. Students prefer teachers who value them, establish effective communication with them, who are interested in their problems and have an equalitarian and democratic attitude, as well as teachers who use methods and techniques which are appropriate for their educational level and can increase their motivation, who love their jobs, carry out their duties in an enjoyable and principled manner and have a command of their areas.

A. Introduction
As a preparatory exercise for the World Teachers’ Day 2004 a study was carried out by the Institute of Social Sciences for UNESCO and UNICEF to answer the question “What makes a quality teacher?”  The study involved a review of the literature and a quick survey of the views of various stakeholder groups in 10 rural and urban locations in 3 provinces of Pakistan.  The key findings of the study and a summary of recommendations are presented in the following pages.

B. Key Findings from Literature Review
The following key findings emerge from the literature review:
 A quality teacher is a good human being, has good interpersonal skills and is an effective and dedicated teacher who enjoys teaching and being with children.
 The quality of a teacher is affected by the level and quality of his education, while the role of experience is less clear. Teacher competencies are critical to pupil learning.
 Pre-service training in government institutions is not improving teacher knowledge and skills because of a variety of reasons, while a number of non-government institutions are producing better results.
 There are a number of problems in both in-service training and especially the application of training in the classroom.  However, a number of innovative projects in the government and non-government sector have improved teaching quality through on-going training, closely linked to classroom practice, and good classroom support.
 Pupil learning is higher in non-government as compared to government schools, mainly due to better management and supervision of teachers.  Similar practices in government schools also produce good teaching and learning.
 Teachers help each other in academic work, and certain projects are employing mentors to provide on-going support to teachers.
 Physical facilities in schools are important, but do not in themselves improve learning.
 The government curriculum and textbooks are not based on the mental levels of pupils, creating problems in learning. 
 The examination system encourages rote learning and selective study, while other examination systems are producing better results.  A good government model of on-going pupil assessment has the potential for national replication.
 Education of family members and involvement in school affairs has a positive impact on child learning.
 Teaching is an attractive profession for women, and can be made more attractive to both men and women by removing restraining factors.

C. Key Findings from Survey
The survey identified the following as critical to producing quality teachers:
 personal qualities: basic human traits (commitment, focus on children, and tolerance); personal habits (punctuality, hard working and continuous learning); knowledge and skills (teaching skills and conceptual clarity), consider teaching a noble profession, enjoy teaching, and have a mission to spread knowledge
 teacher’s education: good content knowledge, positive attitudes and behaviours, good teaching and communication skills, use of teaching aids. 
 trainer characteristics: mastery of subject, pedagogical and communication skills, a role model, positive attitudes
 training: skill-oriented, based on psychology of student-teacher and latest curriculum/ research, upgrades content knowledge and professional skills
 training institutes: quality trainers, good library, latest equipment and materials, opportunity for supervised teaching practice
 management/head practices: provide incentives, classroom observation/feedback, coaching/guidance, assist in content knowledge, involve in decision making
 collegial behaviour: consult each other, share ideas, meet on academic issues, assist in teaching, encourage them, solve problems, mutual respect, regular feedback/support
 pupil behaviours: respect teacher, ready to learn, do work diligently, good achievement, regular and punctual
 school facilities: teaching aids, library, laboratory, basic facilities, appropriate class size, pleasant environment
 supervisory behaviours: incentives, interest in problems, guidance, feedback, regular/ complete supervision
 self-development: read educative materials and newspapers, learn from colleagues and experts, watch/hear educational programmes, conduct research, attend lectures/seminars, attend and apply training, assess themselves or ask others to assess them
 home environment: family support/encouragement, absence of financial/marital problems, atmosphere of reading and writing at home, familial love/respect for children, time for preparing lessons, parental role model
 parental behaviour: child-focused (interest in pupil progress, ensure homework,  punctuality/regularity, cleanliness of child); school-focused (regular contact, appreciate teacher performance, trust/respect teacher, attend programmes, give suggestions to teacher
 sustaining excellence: personal factors (desire for continuous learning, enjoy teaching/hard work, concern for quality and reputation persistence); school factors (good performance of children, supportive environment, on-going supervision, inspiring teachers/heads); system factors (incentives for good performance, on-going training, disincentives for bad performance, satisfactory economic support)

D. Key Recommendations for Stakeholders
Based on the findings of the literature review and the survey a set of actions were recommended for various stakeholders.  One of the key objectives of the study was to generate ideas to promote teacher support networks.  The report recommends that any effort in this direction should capitalize on the work of those teacher associations who are already playing a role in improving the quality of education in the country.  It is recommended that the findings of this study are presented to these associations, and the associations should themselves decide on the kind of actions they would like to take in response to the findings. Any external agency should only play a facilitative role in the process.  The approach should be evaluated after some time, and measures considered for improvement and replication.

This study examines one part of a validity argument for portfolio assessments of teaching practice used as an indicator of teaching quality to inform a licensure decision.  We investigate the relationship among portfolio assessment scores, a test of teacher knowledge (ETS’s Praxis I and II),  and changes in student achievement (on Touchstone’s Degrees of Reading Power Test [DRP]).  Key questions are the extent to which the assessment of teaching practice (a) predict gains in students’ achievement and (b) contribute unique information to this prediction beyond what is contributed by the tests of teacher knowledge.  The venue for our study is Connecticut State Department of Education’s (CSDE) support and licensure system for beginning teachers, the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program (as it was implemented at the time of our study). We investigated whether elementary teachers’ mean effects on their students’ reading achievement support the use of BEST elementary literacy portfolio scores as a measure of teaching quality for licensure, using a data set gathered from both State and two urban school district sources.  The HLM findings indicate that BEST portfolio scores do indeed distinguish among teachers who were more and less successful in enhancing their students’ achievement. An additional analysis indicated that the BEST portfolios add information that is not contained in the Praxis tests, and are more powerful predictors of teachers’ contributions to student achievement gains.

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the feasibility and implementation of the recently introduced vocational career pathway in Zambia's secondary education system. The study involved a review of literature from both Zambia and other countries that have vocationalized their secondary education systems. The analysis has shown that the implementation of the vocational track in Zambia's secondary schools is likely to be difficult. While this reform is meant to equip students with practical economic skills, evidence from the surveyed literature does not build a strong case for its implementation —partly due to its huge cost. The study ends by arguing for a possible reversal of the policy until such a time when the country has adequate resources to implement it. It further urges the government to consider pursuing a partial-vocationalization policy, whereby a few vocational subjects are taught within the existing academic track and made compulsory to all students.

Kvalitet rada nastavnika postao je važno društveno-političko pitanje, budući da se nastavnici posmatraju kao ključni činioci uspeha učenika, te i razvoja sistema obrazovanja i društva u celini. Savremeni  momenat politike i prakse regulisanja ovog pitanja u mnogim zemljama, pa i kod nas, ogleda se u nastojanjima da se definišu uniformne mere kvaliteta (standardi i/ili indikatori) i da se rad nastavnika stavi pod spoljašnju kontrolu, u čemu evaluacija ima važnu ulogu. Kako su sami nastavnici često isključeni iz procesa odlučivanja o pitanjima koja se tiču kvaliteta rada, u istraživanju koje smo organizovali nastojali smo da dođemo do nastavničkih ideja za promene u praksi kada je u pitanju način na koji se pristupa kvalitetu njihovog rada. Organizovane su 3 fokus grupe sa predmetnim nastavnicima iz različitih vrsta škola u Beogradu i Nišu, a dobijeni podaci analizirani su tehnikama tematske i evaluativne analize sadržaja. Analize pokazuju da se kao najbolja strategija za negovanje kvaliteta rada nastavnika u praksi kod nastavnika pozicionira razvijanje podržavajuće i podsticajne klime u školskoj zajednici. Evaluaciju nastavnici ne vide kao značajan proces za razvijanje kvaliteta rada, već kao procedure koje služe spoljašnjoj kontroli rada nastavnika. Ovo ukazuje na značaj zapitanosti o svrsi evaluacije rada nastavnika pri koncipiranju strategija usmerenih na promene u načinu na koji se pristupa kvalitetu rada nastavnika u praksi, ukoliko nam je cilj da se evaluacija ne doživljava kao birokratski namet od strane nastavnika, već kao oruđe razumevanja i razvijanja prakse.

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Much of the blame for the apparent failure of remote education is attributed to poor teachers and teaching. Teachers are said to be young inexperienced, they only come to remote places because they can’t get a job elsewhere, and they leave after only a short time (the oft quoted time is 7 months). But research conducted by the CRC for Remote Economic Participation’s Remote Education Systems project tells a different story. The findings suggest that what matters in remote schools is not as much about the qualifications or experience of the teacher, as it is about the qualities the teacher brings to the context. That is, the data suggest that a non-local teacher’s ability to form strong relationships with local educators, other staff, parents and students is critical to their success. Their capacity for creativity, innovation, learning, adaptation, commitment, their dedication and their care for the students they teach, and their willingness to learn a local language all matter a lot to locals. While some of these qualities line up with Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, there is a lot more to a successful remote school teacher than their qualification level and their years of experience.
If this is so, the issues this lecture ultimately addresses, is 1) how universities can best prepare pre-service teachers for remote schools; and 2) how systems can better recruit and retain the kind of quality teachers that are required for the remote context.

Özet Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı'na (MEB) bağlı devlet okullarında yönetici olabilmenin koşulları, 10 Haziran 2014'te yayınlanan MEB'e Bağlı Eğitim Kurumlarına Yönetici Görevlendirilmesine Dair Yönetmelikle büyük oranda değişince on bine yakın okul müdürü ve on binlerce müdür yardımcısı yöneticilik görevini bırakıp öğretmenliğe dönmek zorunda kalmışlardır. Bu araştırmanın amacı, bu öğretmenlerin yönetici atama yönetmeliğiyle ilgili görüşlerini ve öğretmen rolündeki deneyimlerini ortaya koymaktır. Nitel araştırma yaklaşımı ve fenomonolojik desenle yürütülen çalışmaya farklı sendikalara üye ve 10 yıldan daha fazla yöneticilik görevi üstlendikten sonra öğretmenliğe dönen dokuz gönüllü katılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formuyla toplanan veriler QSR Nvivo 10 nitel veri analiz programında betimsel yaklaşımla analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular katılımcıların yönetmeliğe yönelik eleştirileri ve okullarda yönetimlerinin durumuna ilişkin görüşlerini ortaya koymuştur. Yöneticilikten öğretmenliğe dönmenin olumlu ve de olumsuz yanları olduğu bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır. Bu doğrultuda yönetmelikler hazırlanmadan önce paydaşların görüşlerinin dikkate alınması, yönetmeliklerin hukuki yapısının değerlendirilmesi ve öğretmenliğe döndürülmüş okul yöneticilerinin ihtiyaç duyabilecekleri eğitimlerin ivedilikle sağlaması önerilmiştir. Anahtar Sözcükler: okul yöneticileri, öğretmenliğe dönüş, yönetmelik Abstract The criteria for becoming a public school principal in Turkey have been changed broadly by a regulation published on 10 July 2014. After the changes, about 10 thousand principals and tens of thousands assistant principals had to leave the administrative positions and were reappointed as teachers. The aim of this study is to and to find out the perceptions about the new regulation and dig into former administrators' experiences in the teacher role. For this aim, this study was constructed by qualitative research approach and phenomenological design. The study was carried out with nine volunteers, who are members of different teacher unions and were school administrators for more than 10 years. Data was collected using semi-structured interview technique and analyzed on QSR Nvivo 10 qualitative data analysis program, using descriptive analysis approach. After the analysis it was observed that the teachers had some criticisms towards the regulation and the situation of the school management today. It was found out that there were both advantages and problems of returning to teaching post. In the light of these findings, it was advised that before the release of any regulation, policy makers should take the perspectives of the stakeholders into consideration and review the legal structure of the regulation, in addition the educational needs of these teachers should be met as soon as possible.

This study attempted to develop the academic reading skill of English teacher trainees at the Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. PLADSER Model was implemented and the participants' opinions were surveyed. Eighty one English teacher trainees were the sampling group. The tools were a syllabus in accordance with the model, learning activities' worksheets, evaluation criteria on academic reading achievement, and an opinion survey form. The results revealed that the scores of the learning activity 1 and 2 were rated as good at the percentage of 78.22 and 84.66, respectively. However, the score percentage of the learning activity 3 was 73.42 and rated as average. In the learning activity 4 which was research idea presentation after reading, their score results were at the percentage of 76.01 or at the good level. From the opinion survey, 91.36 percent of them considered the information structuring methods for research were applicable. Meanwhile, 12.35 percent of them informed that obedience to detailed research methods caused mental difficulties in actual performance