Antony Fielding

Teacher Job Satisfaction: Lessons from the TSW Pathfinder Project.

Government policy assumes that modernization and remodelling will be effective as external intervention mechanisms to improve job satisfaction. Based on data collected as part of the evaluation of the ‘Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project’, an argument is presented here which suggests that internal management models may be more effective in improving teacher job satisfaction. By comparing the responses of teachers within primary and special schools with those from secondary schools, internal factors are identified which may be more relevant than externally imposed measures.

Measuring the relationship between resources and outcomes in higher education in the UK

Abstract This paper relates educational resources in higher education (HE) to labour market earnings for UK graduates. A positive relationship between (various types of) resources deployed and earnings is tested for, using data on UK graduates. Although basic correlations show a positive relationship between per unit resources and student–staff ratios with subsequent earnings, these correlations are significantly reduced when other controlling factors are included. The magnitude of any improvement in earnings from an increase in resources deployed in HE is estimated. The elasticity of earnings with respect to resources is also estimated.

Participation of UK dentists in continuing professional development

Introduction This paper reports participation of dentists in continuing professional development (CPD) and factors affecting participation.Method All general dental practitioners (GDPs) in three deaneries in England were surveyed. The overall response rate was 54% (n = 2082); by deanery it was 68% West Midlands, 45% South West and 44% Anglia. Findings across deaneries were remarkably similar. Comparisons with national data show no notable bias in the sample for gender, owners/partners and age/experience.Results Most frequent forms of CPD were journal reading and courses in which almost all engaged. A score based on individual participation in CPD over the 12-month period was calculated. The mean score (hours) for participation in verifiable CPD was 31 (median 25) and for general, 29 (median 29). In terms of the GDCs Lifelong Learning Scheme, 57% were already undertaking 50 hours. Net of other effects, those less likely to be doing 50 hours are those with more years in practice and single-handed practitioners. Greater access to courses and media-based CPD is desired.Conclusion Certain groups of dentists will need support to meet the requirements of the GDCs Lifelong Learning Scheme. Statutory peer review or clinical audit will significantly alter the CPD profile of most dentists. This has implications for facilitators.

Teachers, time and work: findings from the Evaluation of the Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project

Teachers work and workload have been major factors in the recruitment, retention and revitalization of the profession. In January 2003 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) launched a major reform known as remodelling, by which the work–life balance would be improved by freeing teachers up to teach, and using other members of the workforce (teaching and learning support assistants, administrators and bursars, technicians and welfare and counselling staff) to take on work that teachers need no longer do. This reform is in progress, and while there is anecdotal evidence of both the benefits and concerns of remodelling, there is no formal research evidence. However, prior to this initiative the DfES trialled these changes in 32 pilot schools, and a team from the University of Birmingham evaluated it. In this paper we examine this data with regard to the possibilities and opportunities afforded by remodelling and we consider how the pilot data generates important questions and illuminates contradictions in the modernization project.

Testing the convergent and discriminant validity of the Decisional Balance Scale of the Transtheoretical Model using the Multi-Trait Multi-Method approach.

The authors extended research on the construct validity of the Decisional Balance Scale for smoking in adolescence by testing its convergent and discriminant validity. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis multi-trait multi-method approach (HCFA MTMM) was used with data from 2,334 UK adolescents, both smokers and non-smokers. They completed computerized and paper versions of the questionnaire on 3 occasions over 2 years. The results indicated a 3-factor solution; Social Pros, Coping Pros, and Cons fit the data best. The HCFA MTMM model fit the data well, with correlated methods and correlated trait factors. Subsequent testing confirmed discriminant validity between the factors and convergent validity of both methods of administering the questionnaire. There was, however, clear evidence of a method effect, which may have arisen due to different response formats or may be a function of the method of presentation. Taken with other data, there is strong evidence for construct validity of Decisional Balance for smoking in adolescence, but evidence of predictive validity is required.

Do the Transtheoretical Model processes of change, decisional balance and temptation predict stage movement? Evidence from smoking cessation in adolescents

AIMS To examine the effects of processes of change (POC) on forward stage movement directly, indirectly through decisional balance and temptation, and total effects as a test of the key hypothesis of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS A total of 1160 adolescents aged 13-14 years who were current or former smokers at baseline. MEASUREMENTS Stage was assessed with the standard algorithm three times, once every 3 months. On each occasion the POC, decisional balance and temptation were measured with the standard questionnaires. Path analysis was used to examine the direct, indirectly mediated and total contribution of POC and the other constructs to stage movement 3 months later. FINDINGS Four of the 24 analyses showed evidence that the theoretically appropriate POC predicted stage transition, with statistically significant total effects. Effect sizes were small. When the POC were summarized to experiential and behavioural process means, one transition from pre-contemplation was predicted by experiential processes and, contrary to the TTM, one transition predicted by behavioural processes. There was slightly more evidence that decisional balance (attitudes towards smoking) and temptation (ability to resist the urge to smoke) was associated with stage transition. CONCLUSIONS POC use was not associated generally with stage transition and evidence that effects, if missed, must be modest, giving no support to the central tenet of the TTM.

The Factor Structure and Factorial Invariance for the Decisional Balance Scale for Adolescent Smoking

BackgroundThe transtheoretical model is a framework to explain smoking uptake and cessation in adolescence. Decisional balance is proposed as a driver of stage movement.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure and measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of the decisional balance scale.MethodsIn this study, we used confirmatory factor analysis followed by measurement equivalence/invariance testing to examine the factorial validity of the decisional balance scale in adolescent smokers and nonsmokers.ResultsUnlike previous studies, we found that a four-factor solution splitting cons into esthetic and health cons significantly improved the fit of model to the data. ME/I testing showed that the same structure and measurement model held for both smokers and nonsmokers, girls and boys, and across the three occasions the scale was administered.ConclusionsCons showed strong evidence that it constituted two separate first order factors. Decisional balance for smoking in adolescence has good evidence of factorial validity.

Network 1000: the changing needs and circumstances of visually-impaired people: project overview

This article outlines the progress of a newly-commissioned three year study known as Network 1000. It is a three-year project funded through the Community Fund and is being carried out by the University of Birmingham on behalf of Vision 2020. The project’s aim is to create a panel survey of 1000 visually-impaired people to be interviewed regularly over the three-year period, and hopefully beyond, enabling their changing needs and circumstances to be monitored over time. The findings will be used to influence policy-makers and service-providers, and will also be disseminated to a wider audience of people with an interest in visual impairment. Building on the longitudinal nature of the project enables the project team to develop a methodology that is both democratic and inclusive. The underlying research philosophy is one of inclusion and participation and in this respect the people this research affects the most - those who are visually impaired - are involved in all stages of the research process. People with a visual impairment have played a key role in generating the data and the themes that will drive the construction of the main survey instrument. The article is divided into five sections that describe the progress of the project to date: first, it briefly outlines the background to the project; second, it describes the underlying philosophy behind the democratic approach to inclusion and participant involvement; third, it presents preliminary results from generative interviews; fourth, it discusses how the team will recruit participants to the project with particular reference to the two-stage sample design that has been adopted; and finally, it describes how this two-stage approach will be operationalized. The article concludes by outlining the next phase of the project and with a short reflection on the research process to date.

Scoring Functions for Ordered Classifications in Statistical Analysis

The problem of scoring ordered classifications prior to the further statistical analysis is discussed. A review of some methods of scoring is provided. This includes linear transformations of integer scores, where previous applications to two way classifications are introduced. Also reviewed are scores based on canonical correlations, maximum likelihood scores under assumed logistic distributions for variables, ridits, and conditional mean scoring functions. The latter are shown to satisfy a reasonable set of postulates, and demonstrates that some earlier attempts to do this were incomplete. Examples of the conditional mean scoring function under different distributional assumptions are given. Methods based on compounded functions of proportions for categorical data are applied to many of the scores reviewed and introduced. Appropriate algorithms for these methods are introduced and exemplified. Through the medium of a range of existing data sets the sensitivity of their results to differing scoring systems applied to two way classifications is examined. It is seen that apart from data arising from highly skewed distributions little is to be lost by using simple integer scores.

Psychometric Properties of the Processes of Change Scale for Smoking Cessation in UK Adolescents

BackgroundThe transtheoretical model (TTM) proposes that individuals move stage and hence change behaviour through the use of processes of change (POC)—cognitive, emotional and behavioural activities related to the target behaviour.PurposeThis study was a test of the psychometric properties of the POC scale.MethodThe sample consisted of year 9 students from 26 schools who completed a computer-based version of the POC questionnaire on up to three occasions. There were 1,160 former and current smokers who completed the questionnaire on the first occasion, 978 on the second, and 836 on the third occasion. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore three alternative factor structures. Cronbach alpha and test–retest reliability coefficients were examined. Construct validity was examined by calculating POC means for each stage and testing differences between means using analysis of variance.ResultsThe TTM-hypothesised second-order factor that clustered ten primary factors into experiential and behavioural processes fitted the data reasonably, though an alternative model, removing the second-order factors, was a significantly improved fit. Cronbach alpha coefficients were reasonable except for two processes. Test–retest reliabilities were modest. Experiential processes showed differences across precontemplation to preparation, but differences between preparation, action, and maintenance were slight. Behavioural processes showed linear differences between stages, though helping relationships was not different across stages.ConclusionsThere is evidence of some specific difficulties with the POC questionnaire that may be overcome with some reformulation. The POC questionnaire shows evidence of adequate factorial validity, sufficient to allow its use in future predictive testing.