Dirk Richter/Petra Stanat/Hans Anand Pant
The Role of the Teacher in Determining the Quality of Teaching and the Learning Achievement of Students. An introduction
Thamar Voss/Mareike Kunter/Johanna Seiz/Verena Hoehne/Jürgen Baumert
The Significance of the Pedagogical-Psychological Knowledge of Future Teachers for the Quality of Teaching
The authors examine whether the pedagogical-psychological knowledge (PPK) of future teachers is of significance to the later successfulness of their teaching. PKK, defined as knowledge required for the design of lessons in different subjects, was surveyed by applying a test instrument containing 39 items (Voss, Kunter & Baumert, 2011). 181 candidates for the teaching profession were tested during their internship and, in a follow-up survey carried out two years later, their 7968 students answered questionnaires on the quality of their lessons. By means of multilevel structural-equation-modeling it could be shown that the PPK of future teachers allowed for a statistically significant prediction of the later efficiency of their classroom management and of the constructive learning support. With regard to the potential for cognitive activation during lessons, however, PPK did not prove significant.
Keywords: Professional Competence of Teachers, Teacher Knowledge, Teaching Quality, Predictive Validity, Two-Level-Structural-Equation-Modeling
Uta Klusmann/Dirk Richter
Teachersʼ Experience of Stress and Student Performance – An analysis of the comparison between the German Laender on the level of primary education carried out by the IQB (Institute for Educational Quality Improvement)
The knowledge and skill of teachers has a significant influence on how students learn. Furthermore, it is assumed that emotional-motivational qualities of the experiences made by teachers as well as job-related stress have an impact on students, too. The present study examines in how far job-related stress experienced by teachers – defined by emotional exhaustion – is related to their studentsʼ performance. On the basis of a representative sample taken from the national assessment study carried out by the IQB (Institute for Educational Quality Improvement) for the primary level, it can be shown that the interrelation of emotional exhaustion of teachers and test performance of students in math and reading is negative. With regard to mathematical competence, the findings remain stable even when monitoring teacher characteristics such as professional experience, work load, or subject-related qualification as well as socio-demographic, motivational, and cognitive preconditions on the level of the students and the class composition. With regard to reading competence, the interrelation does not hold up once the compositional features of the class are monitored.
Keywords: Teachers, Emotional Exhaustion, Stress, Mathematical Literacy, Reading Literacy
Dirk Richter/Katrin Böhme/Michael Becker/Hans Anand Pant/Petra Stanat
Convictions of Teachers Concerning the Function of Comparative Tests: Correlations with changes in teaching and students’ competencies
Comparative tests based on the educational standards set by the Conference of Education Ministers (Vergleichsarbeiten; German abbreviation: VERA) have for many years been an important instrument in competence diagnostics. They serve primarily school and curriculum development; sometimes, however, they are also used for the comprehensive information of the school supervision authorities concerning the performance level of individual schools. The present contribution examines how far teachers are aware of these functions and in what way they are related to characteristics of classroom instruction and to the students’ competencies. The study is based on data provided by the national assessment study carried out by the IQB (Institute for Educational Quality Improvement) in 2011 on the level of primary education, which focused on competencies in the subjects math and German. The analyses show that teachers who consider VERA a means for the development of teaching orientate their lessons much more towards the development of competencies and undertake a more detailed differentiation in their lessons. Furthermore, students of such teachers achieve better results in both reading and math, even after allowance for individual and class-related background characteristics.
Keywords: Functions of Student Achievement Tests, Elementary School, National Assessment Study, Reading Literacy, Mathematical Literacy
Inger Marie Dalehefte/Heike Wendt/Olaf Köller/Helene Wagner/Marcus Pietsch/Brigitte Döring/Claudia Fischer/Wilfried Bos
Taking Stock after Nine Years of SINUS at Elementary Schools in Germany: An evaluation of mathematics-related data within the framework of TIMSS 2011
The authors present first results of the supportive research accompanying the program “SINUS in Elementary School” (German abbreviation: SGS), a program aimed to increase the efficiency of lessons in mathematics and science. In order to investigate the dimensions of the programʼs efficacy, the mathematical competencies of students as well as the teachersʼ attitude regarding further education and cooperation at elementary schools working with SINUS were analyzed and compared to the results of the “Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study” (TIMSS) of 2011, which is representative for Germany. It was revealed that math teachers at SINUS elementary schools, in contrast to their colleagues within the framework of TIMSS, report aspects of professionalization that are closely linked to the SINUS approach. On the student level, it could be shown that the students at SINUS elementary schools achieve higher competence values in mathematics.
Keywords: Teacher Professional Development, Quality Improvement, Evaluation, TIMSS, Mathematics
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Jutta Breithausen
Education and Objectiveness
Starting from the thesis that objectivity is a key characteristic of education, the author discusses whether the relation between objectivity and education is at present in danger. Both the ontologisation of the matter and the compulsive equation of objectivity and data-based objectivity constitute evidence of such an endangerment. Although the current output-oriented objectivizing of learning subjects has already been criticized quite frequently and its negative effects have been empirically proven, the inquiry into the relation between objectivity and education going beyond practical learning and teaching contexts has been given hardly any attention. The following conceptual analysis, which draws on philosophy and art, constitutes a reflecting foil which allows to emphasize objectivity in its education-theoretical significance and to defend it against too narrow an interpretation.
Keywords: Education (Bildung), Objectiveness, Ontology, Objectivity, Critic
Michael Thoma
Foucaultʼs Genealogy as a Historiographical Procedure of Critical Research on Vocational Education – Basics, perspectives, and insights
The author describes genealogy as conceived by the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault as a specific form of critical-historical research on vocational education. Having sketched general principles of a genealogical approach and having referred to the research-methodological implications this has for the authorʼs personal investigation, he sketches a genealogical research design and reports crucial findings based on the concept of ‚berufliche Handlungskompetenz‘, which is at present considered the guiding objective of vocational education. In a final part, insights provided by a genealogical critique are formulated.
Keywords: Genealogy, berufliche Handlungskompetenz, Historiography, Critical Research on VET (Vocational Education and Training), Discourse
Daniela J. Jäger
Between Empowerment and Control – The practical implementation of New Public Management and Professional Learning Communities in Canada. A case study
In order to examine which combinations of characteristics create positive educational performance, the author analyzes the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) in combination with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in Alberta, Canada, on the basis of a best-case analysis. By means of a data and method triangulation, the specific combinations of characteristics as well as support systems are revealed. Furthermore, the combination of NPM and PLC is discussed. It appears that, e. g., elements of competition appertaining to NPM play a lesser role than cooperation of the actors on both the horizontal and the vertical level (PLC), professionalization, or support of the actors.
Keywords: Governance, Canada, New Public Management, Professional Learning Communities, Support Systems
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