Sharon E. Paulson

State Comparisons of SAT Scores: Who’s Your Test Taker?

Differences among states’ average SAT scores are almost entirely attributable to differences in percentage of test takers, parent education and income of the test takers, and the high school rank and GPA of the test takers rather than to the quality of states’ education systems. This article includes statistical support, graphic comparisons, and recommendations concerning the reporting and interpretation of SAT scores in judging quality education.

VOICES IN EDUCATION: ACCOUNTABILITY IN TEACHER EDUCATION AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY

Personally, we (the editors) have seen the evolution of teacher education for over 30 years. From ‘‘diagnostic/prescriptive teaching’’ through ‘‘reflective practice,’’ the quality of the programs and students has improved greatly. Turning that subjective appraisal into a quantifiable evaluation is a tricky enterprise in education. However, the demand for accountability, often ignored in other professions (for instance, try finding what percentage of cases your lawyer has won), is a driving force for education reform. Although the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) evaluates and accredits teacher education programs, those evaluations seldom draw public scrutiny. The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) is in the process of evaluating all of the nation’s education schools for publication by U.S. News and World Report in late 2012. If their previous reports are any indication, education schools are not going to be deemed shining beacons of teacher preparation quality. Their study on student teaching found 10 strong programs out of 134, with most considered weak and 25% falling into the most deficient category (Greenberg, Pomerance, & Walsh, 2010). Their evaluation of Los Angeles schools was critical of teacher assignment, evaluation, and tenure policies (Cohen & Varghese, 2011). They also have published reports critical of Texas’s teacher education programs (Greenberg & Walsh, 2010) and Indiana’s teacher preparation in the area of reading (NCTQ, 2009). However, NCTQ also received criticism, being described as ‘‘publishing non-peer reviewed opinion pieces under the guise of ‘policy analysis,’ ’’ and stating that in their reports ‘‘the problems are always the same— education schools, due process, not enough performance pay, and the failure to use enough standardized testing when evaluating teachers’’ (Thompson, 2011).

Validation of the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Scale With American College Students:

The current study examined the factor structure of the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence (SSREI) scale with an American college sample (n = 404, 322 females, 88.9% Whites). Data were collected through an online survey, and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test several proposed factor models from previous studies. The results showed that the Ng et al. two-level factor model fit the current data best. Implications of the study and the usefulness of SSREI scale among American students were discussed.

The Influence of Maternal Employment on Students' Perceptions of the Parenting and Teaching Factors Related to Achievement.

The purpose of this study was to explore how students’ perceptions of parenting, teaching, and school factors known to influence academic achievement may differ by maternal employment status in the home. In a sample of 113 fifth and sixth grade students, path models of the influences of parenting, teaching, and school atmosphere on achievement were developed. Students with non‐employed mothers had higher self‐competence when their parents displayed higher values about achievement, whereas students with employed mothers had higher self‐competence when their parents were directly involved in school. Students whose mothers were employed also were more influenced by their peers’ achievement orientations than were students whose mothers were not employed. Although minimal differences were found between the path models of students whose mothers were employed and those whose mothers were not employed, the results suggested that students in different family structures may be differentially influenced by their env...