Steven E. Stemler

The socially skilled teacher and the development of tacit knowledge

Skilled interpersonal relations are crucial for effective teaching and learning but much professional knowledge here is tacit and thus not easily communicated. This article presents the results of a study that examined the tacit knowledge of trainee and experienced teachers in relation to various problematic interpersonal aspects of school life. Trainee (n = 501) and experienced (n = 163) teachers in secondary schools were presented with a series of hypothetical vignettes and asked to rate each of 128 potential response options. Trainees completed the survey at the beginning and end of their professional training year. It was found that experience appeared to be related to the capacity to identify ‘bad’ responses, but there was little difference in relation to the identification of ‘good’ responses. Further differences between novice and experienced teachers in relation to preferred strategies are reported. Implications for teacher education and for future research are identified and discussed.

Using School Mission Statements for Reflection and Research.

Purpose: Efforts to compare schools nationally tend to focus on educational outcomes (e.g., test scores), yet such an approach assumes that schools are homogeneous with regard to their overall purpose. In fact, few studies have attempted to systematically compare schools with regard to their primary aims or mission. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the utility of school mission statements as a data source for comparing and systematically reflecting on the core purposes of schools nationwide. Research Design: A mixed-methods research design was implemented. In Study 1, true random samples of 50 high schools were selected from each of 10 geographically and politically diverse states, yielding a total of 421 mission statements that were ultimately coded and quantitatively compared. In Study 2, structured interviews were conducted with principals from diverse high schools to evaluate their perspectives on the usefulness of school mission statements. Findings: Results indicate that mission statements can be reliably coded quantitatively and that schools vary systematically and sensibly with regard to both the number and types of themes incorporated into their mission statements. Furthermore, consistent with prior research, the qualitative results showed that principals generally regard mission statements as an important tool for shaping practice and communicating core values. Conclusions: School mission statements are a valuable source of data that can be quantified for educational researchers and administrators interested in reflecting on school purpose, comparing schools with regard to their core mission, and monitoring changes in school purpose over time.

What Should University Admissions Tests Predict

University admissions tests should predict an applicants ability to succeed in college, but how should this success be defined and measured? The status quo has been to use 1st-year grade point average (FYGPA) as the key indicator of college success, but a review of documents such as university mission statements reveals that universities expect students to develop a broad range of skills that are not always fully captured by FYGPA. In this article, evidence related to college and university documents are reviewed and analyzed for common links with regard to the essential capabilities these institutions purport to seek and to develop in their students. A conceptual model outlining what outcomes admissions tests ought to predict is then presented and discussed. Finally, the article considers whether admissions testing ought to be based on an applicants aptitude, ability, or achievement in the essential skill areas that most universities aim to develop in their students.

There’s more to teaching than instruction: seven strategies for dealing with the practical side of teaching 1

In this paper, we highlight the importance for teachers of having sound practical skills in interacting with students, parents, administrators and other teachers, and argue that the development of such skills is often insufficiently considered in professional training. We then present a new framework for conceptualizing practical skills in dealing with others that follows directly from Sternberg’s theory of successful intelligence. Finally, we outline and discuss an approach to measuring teachers’ preferred strategies for dealing with others that we believe has promise, both for future research into the nature and characteristics of effective teachers and schools, and for the development of teacher expertise.

Teacher authority, tacit knowledge, and the training of teachers

Given the decline in traditional modes of authority, teachers are increasingly reliant upon their professional authority for ensuring orderly and disciplined classrooms. Rather than being vested in teachers generally, by virtue of their specific role, in loco parentis, professional authority is largely acquired through the demonstration of the individual teachers expertise. Such expertise incorporates subject and pedagogical knowledge, together with skill in relation to classroom interpersonal dynamics. A key difficulty in relation to interpersonal management is that much of the knowledge involved is tacit and thus not easily made explicit. The chapter examines this issue and identifies some key teacher interpersonal behaviors that can be identified and practised by the novice.

Resident Advisor General Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Personality Dimensions, and Internal Belief Characteristics as Predictors of Rated Performance

Resident Advisors (RAs) have a significant hand in helping students adjust and thrive in college life. Given the importance of selecting high-performing RAs, this study sought to examine how well various measures of intelligence (e.g., general, emotional) in addition to personality and additional “internal belief” characteristics predict performance in the RA position, using hierarchical regression analyses. General intelligence, emotional intelligence, personality dimensions, and “internal beliefs” survey data were obtained from 36 university RAs. Performance data were obtained from self-reports by the RAs and also from 190 resident students rating their RAs. RA emotional stability, conscientiousness, and confidence in ability as an RA were found to be predictive of rated performance. Scores of emotional intelligence, but not general intelligence, were found to be significantly positively correlated with RA performance. However, emotional intelligence did not have incremental validity above the contribution of other measures. Implications for improving the current process of RA selection at colleges and directions for future research are discussed.

Enhancing Parent Participation in Early Intervention Through Tools That Support Mediated Learning

The Ready to Learn parent–infant education program of the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York is a family-centered early intervention program. The staff used two new measurement instruments to scaffold their efforts to establish a collaborative relationship with parents who represent a variety of cultures and socioeconomic levels. The results demonstrate that these instruments can effectively measure changes in parents’ interactive behavior with teachers and with their children, as well as their active participation as mediators of their children’s learning opportunities over time. Specifically, the results indicate that parents contributed to setting goals for their children and the domains of the goals were consistent with the cognitive and family-centered focus of the program. Further, parents made significant gains in their ability to share information with staff, address their children’s hearing and communication needs, participate in meetings, and collaborate during assessment and team meetings over time. Le programme d’éducation parent—bébé « Prêt pour Apprendre » de l’École Lexington pour les Sourds de New York est un programme familial centré sur l’intervention précoce (Family-Centered Early Intervention). L’équipe utilisait deux nouveaux outils de mesure afin d’étayer leurs efforts pour établir une relation de collaboration avec les parents représentant une variété de cultures et de niveaux socio-économiques différents. Les résultats démontrent que ces instruments se révèlent effectivement capables de mesurer des changements dans le comportement interactif des parents avec les enseignants et avec leurs enfants. Ils sont aussi efficaces pour mesurer leur participation active comme médiateurs des opportunités d’apprentissage offertes à leurs enfants au fil du temps. Plus spécifiquement, les résultats indiquent que les parents ont contribué à fixer des objectifs à leurs enfants et que la nature des objectifs choisis était consistante avec la centration cognitive et familiale du programme cognitif et la famille. De plus, les parents ont fait des progrès significatifs dans leur capacité à partager des informations avec l’équipe, à s’ajuster aux capacités auditives de leurs enfants et à leurs besoins de communication, à participer aux réunions et à collaborer pendant l’évaluation et les réunions d’équipe. Das “Ready to Learn” (bereit zum Lernen)-Eltern-Kind-Erziehungsprogramm der Lexington School für Taube in New York ist ein familienzentriertes Frühinterventionsprogramm (FCEI). Das Personal nutzte zwei neue Messinstrumente, um seine Bemühungen zur Etablierung einer kollaborativen Beziehung mit Eltern aus einer Vielfalt von Kulturen und sozioökonomischen Schichten zu stützen. Die Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass diese Instrumente effektiv Veränderungen im interaktiven Verhalten der Eltern mit den Lehrern und mit ihren Kindern sowie auch ihre aktive Partizipation als Mediatoren der Lerngelegenheiten ihrer Kinder im Zeitverlauf messen können. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Eltern dazu beitrugen, Ziele für ihre Kinder zu setzen, wobei die Bereiche der Ziele konsistent waren mit dem kognitiven und familienzentrierten Fokus des Programms. Weiterhin machten die Eltern signifikante Gewinne in ihrer Fähigkeit deutlich, Information mit dem Personal zu teilen, die Hör- und Kommunikationsbedürfnisse ihrer Kinder anzusprechen, an Treffen teilzunehmen und bei der diagnostischen Erfassung wie bei den Treffen der Teams über die Zeit mitzuwirken. El programa para la preparación de los padres en la educación de sus hijos pequeños de la “Lexington School” para Sordos en Nueva York es un programa de intervención temprana centrado en la familia. El equipo de profesores utilizó dos nuevos instrumentos de medida para estructurar sus esfuerzos con el fin de establecer una relación colaborativa con los padres, los cuales representan una amplia variedad de niveles culturales y socioeconómicos. Los resultados demostraron que esos instrumentos pueden medir de forma efectiva cambios en el comportamiento interactivo de los padres con los profesores y con sus hijos, así como en su participación activa como mediadores de las oportunidades de aprendizaje de sus hijos a lo largo del tiempo. Específicamente, los resultados indican que los padres contribuyeron a centrar los objetivos de sus hijos y a dominar los objetivos de forma consistente relativos al foco del programa cognitivo centrado en la familia. Además, los padres pueden lograr significativas ganancias en sus habilidades para compartir información con el equipo de profesores, para dirigir la escucha y las necesidades de comunicación de sus hijos, para participar en las reuniones y para colaborar durante la evaluación y enseñar el modo de conducir una reunión a lo largo del tiempo. Il programma di educazione per bambini piccoli e per genitori Pronti ad imparare della Lexington School per sordi di New York è un programma di intervento precoce centrato sulla famiglia (FCEI). Lo staff ha usato due nuovi strumenti di misura per sostenere i propri sforzi di stabilire una relazione collaborativa con i genitori che presentavano una varietà di culture e livelli socio economici. I risultati dimostrano che questi strumenti possono misurare efficacemente i cambiamenti nel comportamento interattivo dei genitori con gli insegnanti e con i loro bambini, così come la loro partecipazione attiva a lungo termine come mediatori delle opportunità di apprendimento dei loro bambini. In specifico i risultati indicano che i genitori hanno contribuito a stabilire degli obiettivi per i propri figli ed il dominio degli obiettivi era coerente con il focus cognitivo e familiare del programma. Inoltre i genitori hanno arricchito in modo significativo la loro abilità di condividere informazioni con lo staff, indirizzare l’udito dei loro bambini e i bisogni comunicativi, partecipare alle riunioni e collaborare durante la valutazione e le riunioni di team.

From molehill to mountain: The process of scaling up educational interventions (firsthand experience upscaling the theory of successful intelligence)

Contents: M.A. Constas, R.J. Sternberg, Preface. Part I: Translation of Research and Theory in Content Areas and Skill Domains. M.A. Constas, R.J. Sternberg, Part I Commentary. A. Schoenfeld, Notes on the Educational Steeplechase: Hurdles and Jumps in the Development of Research-Based Mathematics Instruction. S. Magnussen, A. Palincsar, The Application of Theory to the Design of Innovative Texts Supporting Science Instruction. J.M. Fletcher, B.R. Foorman, C.A. Denton, S. Vaughn, Scaling Research on Beginning Reading: Consensus and Conflict. R.C. Calfee, R.G. Mille, K. Norman, K. Wilson, G. Trainin, Learning to Do Educational Research. Part II: Translation of Theory and Research Into Practice in Large Scale Reform. M.A. Constas, R.J. Sternberg, Part II Commentary. R.E. Slavin, Translating Research Into Widespread Practice: The Case of Success for All. C. Finnan, H. Levin, Accelerated Schools and the Obstacles to School Reform. J. Comer, E. Joyner, Translating Theory and Research Into Practice Through the Yale Child Study Center School Development Program. E. Zigler, M.F. Stevenson, The School of the 21st Century. Part III: Translation of Theory and Research Into Educational Practice to Build Intellectual Capacity. M.A. Constas, R.J. Sternberg, Part III Commentary. R.J. Sternberg, D. Birney, L. Jarvin, A. Kirlik, S. Stemler, E.L. Grigorenko, From Molehill to Mountain: The Process of Scaling Up Educational Interventions (First-Hand Experience Upscaling the Theory of Successful Intelligence). J. Renzulli, Swimming Upstream in a Small River: Changing Conceptions and Practices About the Development of Giftedness. M. Kornhaber, H. Gardner, Multiple Intelligences: Developments in Implementation and Theory. Appendix: List of Contributors.

Wisdom As A Moral Virtue

Some years ago, RJS gave a graduate student really rotten advice. This graduate student had received two job offers, one from a very highly prestigious academic institution and the other from a less prestigious one. The second one was well known, but the first one was near the top of the academic pecking order. The graduate student asked RJS which job offer he thought she should take.

Aligning Mission and Measurement

Research on school mission statements at the K-12 level clearly indicates that schools are interested in developing more than just mathematics, science, reading, and writing skills in their students. A vast array of other skills including empathy, self-esteem, motivation, self-directed learning, citizenship, leadership, teamwork, and ethics are emphasized as well. School leaders often cite a lack of existing measures for these broader competencies as the primary reason why there is a discrepancy between the idealized competencies they seek to foster and those that get measured for accountability purposes. Thus, the main goal of this chapter is to provide school leaders and policy makers with a reference that will help them to easily identify strong psychometric measures of the skills and competencies that they aim to foster in their students with the hope of bringing measurement into alignment with mission. We begin by identifying various skills and competencies that schools aim to develop in their students. We then spend the bulk of the chapter summarizing the scientific research related to the measurement of a variety of broader competencies of interest to schools. Finally, we speculate on the implications of integrating the measurement of broader skills into school accountability and/or feedback systems.