Effective Teachers and At-Risk/Highly Mobile Students

1
Effective Teachers and At-Risk/Highly Mobile
Students

• 2007 NAEHCY Conference
• November 11, 2007
• Leslie W. Grant
• James H. Stronge
• Patricia A. Popp
• Diana Bowman

2
What is the significanceof this study?

• Moving from Access to Academics
• Addressing the Achievement Gap
• Addressing Unique instructional challenges
• Focusing on Importance of Teachers

3
Meet Oscar Newman

• Middle School Science Teacher
• Charles Sumner Math and Science Community Academy
• 100 percent minority
• Students exceed expectations

4
Oscar Newmans ClassSee?/Say?
5
Oscar Newmans ClassSee?/Say?
6
Qualities of Effective Teachers
EFFECTIVE TEACHERS
Job Responsibilities and Practices
Background
Prerequisites
Classroom Management Instruction
Implementing Instruction
The Person
Organizing for Instruction
Monitoring Student Progress Potential
Used with the Permission of Linda Hutchinson,
Doctoral Student, The College of William and Mary
7
Meeting At-Risk/Highly Mobile Student Needs

• Affective Needs
• Academic Needs
• Technical Needs

8
Affective Needs

• What does it mean?
• Helping students develop a sense of belonging
• Developing intrinsic motivation
• Attending to emotional needs
• What does it sound like?
• I work hard to reduce stress in the classroom
  to make it very comfortable and positive. I want
  to be seen as a helper/facilitator, not a
  dictator.
• -- Jeana

9
Academic Needs

• What does it mean?
• Focusing on the academic achievement
• Working toward academic progress
• What does it sound like?
• I think my relationship with students its a
  big role because I take ownership into their
  learning process and involvement and there should
  be no question on their part that Im a player
  and that they dont stand alone. And I think that
  makes a big difference.
• -- Janice

10
Technical Needs

• What does it mean?
• Focusing on the outside needs of at-risk/highly
  mobile students such as assistance with food,
  housing, referrals to agencies
• Considering relationship with parents in working
  with students
• What does it sound like?
• Its not that the parents dont care and I find
  the parents increasingly supportive. But the
  reality is that they also come from highly
  dysfunctional homes.
• -- Tanya

11
Research Study

• Essential Question
• What do award-winning teachers of at-risk and/or
  highly mobile students do that makes them
  effective?

12
Method

• Case Studies of six award-winning teachers
• 2-hour observation of teaching
• Interview of beliefs about teaching and teaching
  practices

13
Instruments

• Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale (DCOS)
• Questioning Analysis
• Interview protocol based on Qualities of
  Effective Teachers framework

14
Case Study Participants
Not included yet in preliminary analysis
15
Classroom Observations

• Observation Elements
• Instructional Activities
• Level of Student Engagement
• Cognitive Levels of Tasks
• Learning Director
• Observations in 5-minute intervals

16
Observation Results

• High student engagement (mean of 2.86 out of 3)
• Teacher as learning director
• Average number of instructional activities 8.2

17
Observation Results

• Cognitive levels (1not evident, 2represented,
  3well represented)

18
Questioning

• Proportion of Questions by Cognitive Demand for
  Teacher-Generated and
• Student-Generated Questions

19
Interview Results Proportion of Comments
related to Qualities of Effective Teachers
20
Interview Results Proportion of Comments
related to Needs of Students
21
Interview Results Proportion of Comments
Related to Category
22
Overall Themes

• Affective and academic needs intertwined
• High Expectations for all students
• Assessment integral to instruction

23
Teacher Voices

• Teaching students who are at-risk/highly-mobile
  is like

24
a Magician

• A magician youre a magician and youre
  teaching other magiciansThat these secrets are
  not something that is held only by the
  practitioner but to the audience as well. And
  thats the is the moment of teaching. Once the
  magician is able to step out of the entertainment
  world and become an educator of magicians and
  its really like magic. When the kid gets it
  suddenly they are making their own magic.
• -- Ethan

25
a Diamond in the Rough

• like something you need to find and polish and
  how to make it shine and they are like diamonds
• -- Rosa

26
an Opening of Locked Doors

• Teaching students at-risk allows me to open that
  door that other teachers or family members
  previously found locked. I get to pass the torch
  of knowledge.
• -- Jeana

27
a Preventative for Alzheimer's

• Teaching highly mobile students is a challenge
  that could one day prevent Alzheimers. By
  keeping the mind active and on the go. You have
  to be constantly aware and focused. And Ive been
  told but I dont know if its true or not that
  the active mind has less of a chance of
  developing Alzheimers than the mind that is not
  continually active.
• -- Janice

28
a Roller Coaster Ride

• There are incredible highs and incredible lows
  but eventually you reach your destination if you
  just hang on. If you dont mind being on a roller
  coaster its the thrill of a lifetime.
• -- Tanya

29
Plans and Implications

• What do you say?
• How could the information gleaned help others?
• What do you see as next steps for this project?