Rebecca L. Pierce

Fourth-Grade Teachers' Perceptions of Giftedness: Implications for Identifying and Serving Diverse Gifted Students.

The present study sought to examine the perceptions of giftedness and identification procedures held by experienced teachers of gifted minority students. Twenty-seven 4th-grade teachers of gifted students in an urban school system with a high representation of minority and economically disadvantaged students were surveyed. Results indicated that experienced teachers still held a narrow conception of giftedness and were not aware of how culture and environmental factors may influence the expression of giftedness in minority and economically disadvantaged students. Findings also indicated that these teachers expressed concerns for approximately one third of their students qualifying for the gifted program. These concerns were based primarily on students having a skill deficit in one area, poor work habits, or behavioral or family problems. Teachers were less likely to notice gifted characteristics in these students compared to other identified students, even though both groups were identified in the same way. Implications for teaching gifted minority and economically disadvantaged students are discussed.

Development of an identification procedure for a large urban school corporation: Identifying culturally diverse and academically gifted elementary students

This paper describes the identification process of a Priority One Jacob K. Javits grant, Clustering Learners Unlocks Equity (Project CLUE), a university‐school partnership. Project CLUE uses a “sift‐down model” to cast the net widely as the talent pool of gifted second‐grade students is formed. The model is based on standardized test scores, a nonverbal ability test score, and/or a checklist completed by parents and/or teachers. Analysis of the year one data revealed an increase in Hispanic and English as a Second Language (ESL) student representation in the gifted program. Teachers’ reactions to the identification process after working with the gifted students identified through Project CLUEs screening process are also described.

The differentiated classroom observation scale

This article presents a new classroom observation scale that was developed to examine the differential learning activities and experiences of gifted children educated in regular classroom settings. The Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale (DCOS) is presented in total, with clarification of the coding practices and strategies. Although the DCOS was developed to examine the impact of differentiated classroom practices for gifted children, it is expected that the scale could be used for observing the educational experiences of any identifiable group of children. Reflections on the benefits offered by the DCOS that are not available with existing measures are provided, and include (a) the ability to contrast the educational experiences of two groups of learners; (b) documentation of a variety of educational factors including pedagogy, student engagement, and level of cognitive activity; and (c) preservation of contextual factors for deeper investigation through a database‐driven record keeping system that maintains disaggregated data from a series of short observational segments.

Validation of Scores From a New Measure of Preservice Teachers’ Self-efficacy to Teach Statistics in the Middle Grades

The influential Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) expect students to start statistics learning during middle grades. Thus teacher education and professional development programs are advised to help preservice and in-service teachers increase their knowledge and confidence to teach statistics. Although existing self-efficacy instruments used in statistics education focus on students, the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics (SETS) instrument measures a teacher’s efficacy to teach key CCSSM statistical topics. Using the results from a sample of n = 309 participants enrolled in a mathematics education or introductory statistics course, SETS scores were validated for use with middle grades preservice teachers to differentiate levels of self-efficacy to teach statistics. Confirmatory factor analysis using the Multidimensional Random Coefficient Multinomial Logit Model supports the use of two dimensions, which exhibit adequate reliabilities and correspond to the first two levels of the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education adopted by the American Statistical Association. Item and rating scale analyses indicate that the items and the six-category scale perform as intended. These indicators suggest that the SETS instrument may be appropriate for measuring preservice teacher levels of self-efficacy to teach statistics.

Bayesian HPM intervals for the number of nonconforming items in a lot

The incorporation of prior information or personal beliefs into a statistical procedure is the basis for the Bayesian approach to statistical inference. We discuss an information-theoretic approach which minimizes the amount of extraneous information embedded in a prior distribution yet leaves intact the prior beliefs. The procedure is used to select a Polya prior distribution for the number of nonconforming items in a lot. Theoretically speaking, the Polya distribution is the appropriate distribution for describing how the number of nonconforming items vary from lot to lot when the process fraction nonconforming varies according to a beta distribution. Assuming hypergeometric sampling from a lot, we present tables which give Bayesian interval estimates of the number of nonconforming items in a lot based on the number of nonconforming items in the sample. Two cases are considered: prior information as to the average process/lot fraction nonconforming is either (a) not available or (b) believed to be a specific value.

Validation of Scores From the High School Version of the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics Instrument Using Preservice Mathematics Teachers

Recently adopted state standards for middle grades and high school mathematics content have an increased emphasis on statistical topics. With this change, teacher education programs may need to adapt how they prepare preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) to teach statistics and require measures related to statistics teaching to assess the impact of programmatic changes and track teacher growth. Using responses from a sample of 290 PSMTs from 20 institutions across the United States, this study presents validity and reliability evidence for the high school version of the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics (SETS-HS), which could be used to assess statistics teaching efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis results via Rasch modeling support the use of three subscales, which exhibit adequate reliabilities and correspond to the three levels in the Pre-K–12 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education endorsed by the American Statistical Association. Item and rating scale analyses indicate that the 46 items and the six-category scale employed in the SETS-HS perform as intended.