Teachers experience a great deal of psychological distress. However, there is a gap in the literature concerning the difference between the distress of teachers working in urban schools versus those in non-urban schools. Thus, the present study utilizes data from the 2018 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey to conduct a statistical analysis of the agreeability differences between urban and non-urban teachers’ responses to constructs with implications for their psychological well-being. The results reveal some differences between urban teachers and non-urban teachers. Suggestions are offered to key stakeholders to better support the psychological well-being of teachers.
School discipline disparities within the U.S. P-12 public schooling system have been a staple issue for over four decades. The enforcement of out-of-school suspensions, in particular by inexperienced teachers, have traditionally impacted Black and Latinx students more than White students. Yet teachers are not the final decision-makers regarding student discipline which rests primarily on the shoulders of assistant principals and principals. While researchers have clearly linked teacher experience to discipline disparities, more research is needed to fully explicate the tenure of assistant principals; who often are the final decision-makers when it pertains to suspending a student. Utilizing human capital theory, this study examines school discipline data and North Carolina personnel data from the 2015–2016 school year to determine if assistant principals’ years of experience in the current role, and their years of experience as teachers could predict out-of-school suspensions by gender and race. The findings suggest that Black males’ suspension could be predicted by assistant principals’ years of experience as a teacher; and Latinx females’ suspensions could be predicted by assistant principals’ longevity in their current position and in their roles as classroom teachers. Interestingly, the findings illuminate that assistant principals are relatively inexperienced within the state, with most having less than one-year worth of experience in these positions.
This paper describes an investigation of a means to use technology to help students construct meaning through the use of the dimensions of Learning (DOL) pedagogical frame work. We use the tablet PC and specialized note taking software to facilitate the three minute pause technique and summarizing. This is done in an active learning environment and serves as a formative assessment for the class section being taught. These activities are done during the delivery of the performance tasks presented to a lower level pre-calculus course section. Details of the performance tasks, assessments and are discussed as well as the resulting impact of using tablet PCs as compared to laptops and conventional writing for note taking are discussed. Our results indicate although handwritten notes are generally preferred by most students, the tablet PC does have some advantages. Furthermore the users of the tablet PCs appeared to take better notes and benefit more from the summary exercise.
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