Lorena Ortega | Universidad de Chile (original) (raw)
Reports by Lorena Ortega
CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education services for public benefit in t... more CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education services for public benefit in the UK and internationally. Established over 40 years ago, CfBT Education Trust has an annual turnover exceeding £100 million and employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide. We aspire to be the world's leading provider of education services, with a particular interest in school effectiveness.
En los últimos años ha crecido en Chile la preocupación por la preparación inicial de los docente... more En los últimos años ha crecido en Chile la preocupación por la preparación inicial de los docentes debido a la expansión explosiva de la matrícula en programas de formación inicial, a la heterogeneidad de la oferta de programas de formación y a los pobres resultados obtenidos por sus egresados tanto en pruebas nacionales como internacionales (TEDS-M). Este estudio se concentra en el conocimiento disciplinario de los futuros profesores y propone un modelo para determinar la efectividad de las instituciones de formación inicial de profesores de Educación Básica en promover dichos conocimientos. El propósito fue estudiar los factores asociados a mayor efectividad. Se estimó la efectividad de los programas a través de los efectos aleatorios para cada institución en un modelo multinivel, controlando por el rendimiento previo de los individuos. Se utilizaron los puntajes individuales en la prueba INICIA 2010 como medida de conocimiento disciplinario al egreso y los puntajes de los sujetos en la PSU como medida de su conocimiento previo. La alta correlación observada entre resultados en ambas pruebas para una muestra de estudiantes de Pedagogía Básica de primer año fundamenta el uso de los puntajes en la prueba de selección universitaria como medida previa de los conocimientos disciplinarios de los individuos. El estudio encontró que solo dos de las 36 instituciones estudiadas hacía una diferencia estadísticamente significativa y positiva en los conocimientos disciplinarios de sus estudiantes dados sus niveles de entrada, es decir, para la gran mayoría de las instituciones los resultados de sus egresados son explicados por el rendimiento previo de estos y no por un efecto de la institución. Se categorizaron las instituciones en tres grupos según su nivel de efectividad aun cuando las diferencias entre ellos no fueran significativas. Se compararon las características de estos tres grupos mediante ANOVA y Chi-cuadrado no se encontró ninguna variable institucional ni del proceso formativo asociada a mayor o menor efectividad.
Conference Presentations by Lorena Ortega
The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emergin... more The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emerging country with a socially stratified and segregated schooling system and an unregulated and diverse teacher labour force.
The shape and predictors of primary students’ achievement trajectories in language (Spanish) and mathematics are examined and the magnitudes of school and teacher effects are jointly estimated using a contextual value added approach. The study’s data sets were obtained by linking data from Chilean assessment programs and administrative records and feature an accelerated longitudinal design comprising participants in 4 overlapping cohorts, together spanning Grades 3 to 8 (N = 11,403 students and 476 teachers, in 157 schools).
In order to address the research aim of the study and appropriately account for the complex structure of the data, several multilevel models are fitted and progressively developed. Thus, the multilevel models implemented and combined in the present study are: the multilevel model for change, or growth curve model, used for modelling repeated measures; the accelerated growth model, implemented in order to account for the multiple cohorts in the data; the cross-classified model, which addresses the fact that repeated measurements of achievement test scores are nested within both students and teachers; and a multiple membership component, to acknowledge teachers’ cumulative effects (Raudenbush, 1993). Models are estimated using Bayesian estimation via the Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) suite of MLwiN software. Prior to estimation, missing data is imputed using the multilevel multiple imputation function available in Mplus.
Results indicate non-linear upward growth on student achievement for both language and mathematics in primary school. In addition, individual students differ substantially in both their achievement onset and their rate of development over time. Variables that significantly explain the variation in students’ achievement status are socio-economic status, cultural capital, age and gender, while differences in students’ achievement growth was only explained by age and gender. School effects on students’ growth trajectories are sizeable: school average achievement and performance homogeneity predict achievement status. After controlling for these sources of variation, the overall magnitudes of teacher effects are large and consistent across subjects, suggesting that teachers make an important contribution to student achievement growth. The conclusions emerging from this study confirm what has previously been found in the literature: school effects are larger in emerging economies than in industrialised countries (Scheerens, 2001, Willms & Somer, 2001), teacher effects exceed school effects (Hattie, 2009, Muijs et al., 2014, Scheerens & Bosker, 1997) and educational effects are more accurately estimated when achievement progress over more than one time point is studied (Kyriakides & Creemers, 2008, Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002, Rowan et al., 2002).
This project advances the field methodologically by demonstrating the combined use of state-of-the-art techniques, namely, accelerated longitudinal designs, growth curve approaches, and cross-classified multiple membership models.
to the next. The cross-classified model overcomes the restrictions of traditional hierarchical mo... more to the next. The cross-classified model overcomes the restrictions of traditional hierarchical models in assessing educational effects when examining structures that are not purely nested in a hierarchy.
This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. Th... more This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. The study, commissioned and funded by CfBT, included case studies of a purposive sample of 17 primary and secondary teachers in England who were nominated by their head teachers as exemplary practitioners whose practice could be viewed as inspirational for their colleagues and pupils. The entire project was comprised of two phases. In the first phase, experienced inspectors visited schools to observe and interview teachers and speak with their pupils. The second phase, on which this paper focuses, was conducted by a research team from two major UK universities. The mixed methods design for this phase of the project included integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches across the data collection, analysis, and interpretation stages. Quantitative data collection methods included two research-based structured classroom observation schedules, specifically the International System of Teacher Observation and Feedback (ISTOF) and the Lesson Observation Form for Evaluating the Quality of Teaching (QoT), ranking grids listing a variety of teacher characteristics, and pupil surveys. Qualitative data sources included semi-structured teacher interviews, qualitative notes from classroom observations, and one open-response pupil survey item. Several common themes emerged across the teacher perspectives, pupil responses, and researcher observations, indicating that inspiring practice may relate to the following: positive relationships, good classroom management, positive and supportive classroom climate, formative feedback, enjoyment, and a high quality learning experience overall. Additionally, evidence from this study suggests that inspiring and effective practice are complementary; effective practices may facilitate inspiring teaching, though inspiring practice is linked to additional features beyond those associated with effective teaching. These findings have both theoretical and practical significance. Besides informing understandings about what ‘inspiring’ teaching means, the results of the project will also be disseminated among CfBT schools and teachers.
Teaching Documents by Lorena Ortega
This one-day workshop will introduce MLM, with a focus on applications and interpretation of resu... more This one-day workshop will introduce MLM, with a focus on applications and interpretation of results, and provide an overview of MLM for change to model longitudinal data and advanced MLM for non-hierarchical data structures (i.e., cross-classified and multiple membership models). Lectures will be combined with hands-on practical exercises using the software package SPSS. Participants need to understand the basics of multiple regression, or other relevant multivariate statistics.
What is multilevel analysis? When should it be used? How to conduct it? These are the main three ... more What is multilevel analysis? When should it be used? How to conduct it? These are the main three questions addressed in this workshop. Multilevel analysis is a flexible statistical technique that allows the study of different phenomena such as educational achievement, school dropout, etc. It is commonly used in educational research given the hierarchical structure of the data that practitioners usually deal with (e.g., students nested within classrooms, teachers nested within schools, measurement occasions nested within individuals, schools within countries, etc.). Unfortunately, multilevel analysis is not usually part of the undergraduate curriculum in the social science and postgraduate student are expected to independently find the resources to learn this method. This workshop will introduce the main concepts, such as nested structures, intra-class correlation, random intercept and slope models, centering and contextual effects. A Multilevel Model Companion document has been created for attendees, which we hope will facilitate their journey on learning how to fit a multilevel model and how to interpret and report their results. To demonstrate this technique, we use data from PISA 2009 (i.e. the Chilean sample) and provide the syntax code to fit different multilevel models in SPSS and MPLUS.
Talks by Lorena Ortega
Papers by Lorena Ortega
Higher Education
This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts ... more This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts and humanities (A&H) in Latin America (LATAM). We report on a longitudinal analysis of 127,515 journal articles published between 2002 and 2018. The analysis reveals six major patterns: (i) a rapid growth in the production of journal articles; (ii) large differences in article production across nations; (iii) significant variations in the magnitude and the growth of articles across disciplines within the SS and the A&H; (iv) a present predominance of single-authored articles that has nevertheless been declining in favour of collaborative articles; (v) a significant variation in the magnitudes of collaborative articles with researchers outside LATAM, a collaboration that tends to be with the global North; and (vi) differences in research leadership across LATAM nations. A set of possible explanations is offered for each of these patterns, set within a dynamic global knowledge production context.
Perspectiva Educacional, 2019
JUSTICIA EDUCACIONAL, 2021
Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 2020
ABSTRACT The gender gap in mathematics outcomes, where women are most affected, is well documente... more ABSTRACT The gender gap in mathematics outcomes, where women are most affected, is well documented internationally and is particularly high in Chilean secondary education. This study explores the educational inclusion of girls in mathematics classrooms. The coding of videos from 79 school lessons, involving 2,295 students, allowed us to compare how and how much teachers interact with male and female students, analyse the moderating effect of academic achievement in these interactions and explore the differences among classrooms with regard to the inclusion of girls. Teacher-student interaction networks were represented via sociograms and modelled with multilevel Poisson regression. We found that girls interact less frequently with their mathematics teachers in interactions of diverse content, and this is the case in interactions initiated by the teacher as well as those initiated by the student. Academic achievement moderates these differences only in pedagogical interactions initiated by students. There is also significant variation in the inclusion of girls among classrooms, which is not consistently explained by the gender of the teacher or the gender composition of the class.
Journal of Educational Administration, 2019
Purpose Supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students is an important yet challeng... more Purpose Supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students is an important yet challenging part of school educators’ work. The purpose of this paper is to investigate advice-seeking patterns around the issue of supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students, among professional staff in six English secondary schools. The paper focuses on investigating variation in advice-seeking patterns among schools, exploring the association between these patterns and staff perceptions of the school climate for collaboration, and examining how these informal advice-seeking patterns relate to formal support arrangements in the schools. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach that combined findings from social network analysis with in-depth interviews was used. Findings It was found that advice-seeking patterns among staff vary substantively, even among similar schools. Furthermore, schools with more cohesive and reciprocal advice networks also showed a stronger ...
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2018
We investigated teacher effects (magnitude, predictors, and cumulativeness) on primary students’ ... more We investigated teacher effects (magnitude, predictors, and cumulativeness) on primary students’ achievement trajectories in Chile, using multilevel cross-classified (accelerated) growth models (four overlapping cohorts, spanning Grades 3 to 8; n = 19,704 students, and 851 language and 812 mathematics teachers, in 156 schools). It was found that teacher effects on achievement growth are large, exceeding school effects. Also, the contribution of teachers to student achievement growth was found to accumulate over time. The study advances the field by exploring teacher effects in the context of an emerging economy, contributing further evidence on the properties of teacher effects on student achievement growth and demonstrating the combined use of accelerated longitudinal designs, growth curve approaches, and cross-classified and multiple membership models.
CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education services for public benefit in t... more CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education services for public benefit in the UK and internationally. Established over 40 years ago, CfBT Education Trust has an annual turnover exceeding £100 million and employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide. We aspire to be the world's leading provider of education services, with a particular interest in school effectiveness.
En los últimos años ha crecido en Chile la preocupación por la preparación inicial de los docente... more En los últimos años ha crecido en Chile la preocupación por la preparación inicial de los docentes debido a la expansión explosiva de la matrícula en programas de formación inicial, a la heterogeneidad de la oferta de programas de formación y a los pobres resultados obtenidos por sus egresados tanto en pruebas nacionales como internacionales (TEDS-M). Este estudio se concentra en el conocimiento disciplinario de los futuros profesores y propone un modelo para determinar la efectividad de las instituciones de formación inicial de profesores de Educación Básica en promover dichos conocimientos. El propósito fue estudiar los factores asociados a mayor efectividad. Se estimó la efectividad de los programas a través de los efectos aleatorios para cada institución en un modelo multinivel, controlando por el rendimiento previo de los individuos. Se utilizaron los puntajes individuales en la prueba INICIA 2010 como medida de conocimiento disciplinario al egreso y los puntajes de los sujetos en la PSU como medida de su conocimiento previo. La alta correlación observada entre resultados en ambas pruebas para una muestra de estudiantes de Pedagogía Básica de primer año fundamenta el uso de los puntajes en la prueba de selección universitaria como medida previa de los conocimientos disciplinarios de los individuos. El estudio encontró que solo dos de las 36 instituciones estudiadas hacía una diferencia estadísticamente significativa y positiva en los conocimientos disciplinarios de sus estudiantes dados sus niveles de entrada, es decir, para la gran mayoría de las instituciones los resultados de sus egresados son explicados por el rendimiento previo de estos y no por un efecto de la institución. Se categorizaron las instituciones en tres grupos según su nivel de efectividad aun cuando las diferencias entre ellos no fueran significativas. Se compararon las características de estos tres grupos mediante ANOVA y Chi-cuadrado no se encontró ninguna variable institucional ni del proceso formativo asociada a mayor o menor efectividad.
The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emergin... more The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emerging country with a socially stratified and segregated schooling system and an unregulated and diverse teacher labour force.
The shape and predictors of primary students’ achievement trajectories in language (Spanish) and mathematics are examined and the magnitudes of school and teacher effects are jointly estimated using a contextual value added approach. The study’s data sets were obtained by linking data from Chilean assessment programs and administrative records and feature an accelerated longitudinal design comprising participants in 4 overlapping cohorts, together spanning Grades 3 to 8 (N = 11,403 students and 476 teachers, in 157 schools).
In order to address the research aim of the study and appropriately account for the complex structure of the data, several multilevel models are fitted and progressively developed. Thus, the multilevel models implemented and combined in the present study are: the multilevel model for change, or growth curve model, used for modelling repeated measures; the accelerated growth model, implemented in order to account for the multiple cohorts in the data; the cross-classified model, which addresses the fact that repeated measurements of achievement test scores are nested within both students and teachers; and a multiple membership component, to acknowledge teachers’ cumulative effects (Raudenbush, 1993). Models are estimated using Bayesian estimation via the Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) suite of MLwiN software. Prior to estimation, missing data is imputed using the multilevel multiple imputation function available in Mplus.
Results indicate non-linear upward growth on student achievement for both language and mathematics in primary school. In addition, individual students differ substantially in both their achievement onset and their rate of development over time. Variables that significantly explain the variation in students’ achievement status are socio-economic status, cultural capital, age and gender, while differences in students’ achievement growth was only explained by age and gender. School effects on students’ growth trajectories are sizeable: school average achievement and performance homogeneity predict achievement status. After controlling for these sources of variation, the overall magnitudes of teacher effects are large and consistent across subjects, suggesting that teachers make an important contribution to student achievement growth. The conclusions emerging from this study confirm what has previously been found in the literature: school effects are larger in emerging economies than in industrialised countries (Scheerens, 2001, Willms & Somer, 2001), teacher effects exceed school effects (Hattie, 2009, Muijs et al., 2014, Scheerens & Bosker, 1997) and educational effects are more accurately estimated when achievement progress over more than one time point is studied (Kyriakides & Creemers, 2008, Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002, Rowan et al., 2002).
This project advances the field methodologically by demonstrating the combined use of state-of-the-art techniques, namely, accelerated longitudinal designs, growth curve approaches, and cross-classified multiple membership models.
to the next. The cross-classified model overcomes the restrictions of traditional hierarchical mo... more to the next. The cross-classified model overcomes the restrictions of traditional hierarchical models in assessing educational effects when examining structures that are not purely nested in a hierarchy.
This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. Th... more This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. The study, commissioned and funded by CfBT, included case studies of a purposive sample of 17 primary and secondary teachers in England who were nominated by their head teachers as exemplary practitioners whose practice could be viewed as inspirational for their colleagues and pupils. The entire project was comprised of two phases. In the first phase, experienced inspectors visited schools to observe and interview teachers and speak with their pupils. The second phase, on which this paper focuses, was conducted by a research team from two major UK universities. The mixed methods design for this phase of the project included integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches across the data collection, analysis, and interpretation stages. Quantitative data collection methods included two research-based structured classroom observation schedules, specifically the International System of Teacher Observation and Feedback (ISTOF) and the Lesson Observation Form for Evaluating the Quality of Teaching (QoT), ranking grids listing a variety of teacher characteristics, and pupil surveys. Qualitative data sources included semi-structured teacher interviews, qualitative notes from classroom observations, and one open-response pupil survey item. Several common themes emerged across the teacher perspectives, pupil responses, and researcher observations, indicating that inspiring practice may relate to the following: positive relationships, good classroom management, positive and supportive classroom climate, formative feedback, enjoyment, and a high quality learning experience overall. Additionally, evidence from this study suggests that inspiring and effective practice are complementary; effective practices may facilitate inspiring teaching, though inspiring practice is linked to additional features beyond those associated with effective teaching. These findings have both theoretical and practical significance. Besides informing understandings about what ‘inspiring’ teaching means, the results of the project will also be disseminated among CfBT schools and teachers.
This one-day workshop will introduce MLM, with a focus on applications and interpretation of resu... more This one-day workshop will introduce MLM, with a focus on applications and interpretation of results, and provide an overview of MLM for change to model longitudinal data and advanced MLM for non-hierarchical data structures (i.e., cross-classified and multiple membership models). Lectures will be combined with hands-on practical exercises using the software package SPSS. Participants need to understand the basics of multiple regression, or other relevant multivariate statistics.
What is multilevel analysis? When should it be used? How to conduct it? These are the main three ... more What is multilevel analysis? When should it be used? How to conduct it? These are the main three questions addressed in this workshop. Multilevel analysis is a flexible statistical technique that allows the study of different phenomena such as educational achievement, school dropout, etc. It is commonly used in educational research given the hierarchical structure of the data that practitioners usually deal with (e.g., students nested within classrooms, teachers nested within schools, measurement occasions nested within individuals, schools within countries, etc.). Unfortunately, multilevel analysis is not usually part of the undergraduate curriculum in the social science and postgraduate student are expected to independently find the resources to learn this method. This workshop will introduce the main concepts, such as nested structures, intra-class correlation, random intercept and slope models, centering and contextual effects. A Multilevel Model Companion document has been created for attendees, which we hope will facilitate their journey on learning how to fit a multilevel model and how to interpret and report their results. To demonstrate this technique, we use data from PISA 2009 (i.e. the Chilean sample) and provide the syntax code to fit different multilevel models in SPSS and MPLUS.
Higher Education
This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts ... more This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts and humanities (A&H) in Latin America (LATAM). We report on a longitudinal analysis of 127,515 journal articles published between 2002 and 2018. The analysis reveals six major patterns: (i) a rapid growth in the production of journal articles; (ii) large differences in article production across nations; (iii) significant variations in the magnitude and the growth of articles across disciplines within the SS and the A&H; (iv) a present predominance of single-authored articles that has nevertheless been declining in favour of collaborative articles; (v) a significant variation in the magnitudes of collaborative articles with researchers outside LATAM, a collaboration that tends to be with the global North; and (vi) differences in research leadership across LATAM nations. A set of possible explanations is offered for each of these patterns, set within a dynamic global knowledge production context.
Perspectiva Educacional, 2019
JUSTICIA EDUCACIONAL, 2021
Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 2020
ABSTRACT The gender gap in mathematics outcomes, where women are most affected, is well documente... more ABSTRACT The gender gap in mathematics outcomes, where women are most affected, is well documented internationally and is particularly high in Chilean secondary education. This study explores the educational inclusion of girls in mathematics classrooms. The coding of videos from 79 school lessons, involving 2,295 students, allowed us to compare how and how much teachers interact with male and female students, analyse the moderating effect of academic achievement in these interactions and explore the differences among classrooms with regard to the inclusion of girls. Teacher-student interaction networks were represented via sociograms and modelled with multilevel Poisson regression. We found that girls interact less frequently with their mathematics teachers in interactions of diverse content, and this is the case in interactions initiated by the teacher as well as those initiated by the student. Academic achievement moderates these differences only in pedagogical interactions initiated by students. There is also significant variation in the inclusion of girls among classrooms, which is not consistently explained by the gender of the teacher or the gender composition of the class.
Journal of Educational Administration, 2019
Purpose Supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students is an important yet challeng... more Purpose Supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students is an important yet challenging part of school educators’ work. The purpose of this paper is to investigate advice-seeking patterns around the issue of supporting the learning and wellbeing of vulnerable students, among professional staff in six English secondary schools. The paper focuses on investigating variation in advice-seeking patterns among schools, exploring the association between these patterns and staff perceptions of the school climate for collaboration, and examining how these informal advice-seeking patterns relate to formal support arrangements in the schools. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach that combined findings from social network analysis with in-depth interviews was used. Findings It was found that advice-seeking patterns among staff vary substantively, even among similar schools. Furthermore, schools with more cohesive and reciprocal advice networks also showed a stronger ...
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2018
We investigated teacher effects (magnitude, predictors, and cumulativeness) on primary students’ ... more We investigated teacher effects (magnitude, predictors, and cumulativeness) on primary students’ achievement trajectories in Chile, using multilevel cross-classified (accelerated) growth models (four overlapping cohorts, spanning Grades 3 to 8; n = 19,704 students, and 851 language and 812 mathematics teachers, in 156 schools). It was found that teacher effects on achievement growth are large, exceeding school effects. Also, the contribution of teachers to student achievement growth was found to accumulate over time. The study advances the field by exploring teacher effects in the context of an emerging economy, contributing further evidence on the properties of teacher effects on student achievement growth and demonstrating the combined use of accelerated longitudinal designs, growth curve approaches, and cross-classified and multiple membership models.
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 2018
Review of Education, 2018
This paper draws on findings from a study of ‘inspiring’ teachers in order to illustrate the way ... more This paper draws on findings from a study of ‘inspiring’ teachers in order to illustrate the way in which the chosen mixed methods design contributed to the success of the research in addressing its research aims. The study investigated the concept of ‘inspiring’ and ‘inspirational’ teaching through recruiting a purposive sample of 17 primary and secondary school teachers in England drawn from nine schools in a single Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). The aim of the study was to integrate and synthesise evidence from a range of perspectives using multiple methods involving a combination of descriptive and numeric data, in order to increase knowledge and understanding of what it means to be ‘inspiring’ within the current educational landscape. The study fits with the ‘numbers and a narrative’ tradition reflecting the growing popularity of mixed methods (Gorard & Smith, 2006) and adopted an equal-status, sequential research design that comprised integration of multiple methods including semi-structured interviews with teachers, classroom observations including both descriptive field notes and systematic observation schedules that tapped features associated with effective practice, numeric ranking sheets for teachers and head teachers and a student questionnaire survey that included rating scales and open-ended response questions. The findings reveal clear associations between effective and inspiring practice but also identify particular features that distinguish inspiring practitioners and their practice. Findings concerning the socio-emotional component are highlighted in particular in relation to the emphasis these teachers placed on creating positive relationships with students and a safe supportive classroom climate.
Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 2016
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of ' inspiring teaching' ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of ' inspiring teaching' based on case studies of exemplary practitioners in England to inform professional development and collaborative learning and support school improvement. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed methods design involving multiple perspectives. Data sources included interviews with teachers, two systematic classroom observation schedules and qualitative field notes from classroom observations. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated to allow for triangulation and synthesis. Findings The ‘inspiring’ sample of teachers exhibited many strengths in terms of the characteristics of more effective teaching identified in previous literature. However, the integration and synthesis of evidence also reveals core features of inspiring practice and highlighted the strong emotional and reflective components that distinguish inspiring practice, including: positive relationships...
The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emergin... more The present study investigates teacher effects on student achievement growth in Chile, an emerging country with a socially stratified and segregated schooling system and an unregulated and diverse teacher labour force. The shape and predictors of primary students’ achievement trajectories in language (Spanish) and mathematics are examined and the magnitudes of school and teacher effects are jointly estimated using a contextual value added approach. The study’s data sets were obtained by linking data from Chilean assessment programs and administrative records and feature an accelerated longitudinal design comprising participants in 4 overlapping cohorts, together spanning Grades 3 to 8 (N = 11,403 students and 476 teachers, in 157 schools). In order to address the research aim of the study and appropriately account for the complex structure of the data, several multilevel models are fitted and progressively developed. Thus, the multilevel models implemented and combined in the presen...
Welcome to CfBT Education Trust CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education ... more Welcome to CfBT Education Trust CfBT Education Trust is a top 30* UK charity providing education services for public benefit in the UK and internationally. Established over 40 years ago, CfBT Education Trust has an annual turnover exceeding £100 million and employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide. We aspire to be the world's leading provider of education services, with a particular interest in school effectiveness. Our work involves school improvement through inspection, school workforce development and curriculum design for the UK's Department for Education, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted), local authorities and an increasing number of independent and state schools, free schools and academies. We provide services direct to learners in our schools and in young offender institutions. Internationally we have successfully implemented education programmes for governments in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia and work on projects funded by donors such as the Department for International Development, the European Commission, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development, in low-and middle-income countries. Surpluses generated by our operations are reinvested in our educational research programme. Visit www.cfbt.com for more information.
This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. Th... more This paper discusses findings from a small-scale, mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching. The study, commissioned and funded by CfBT, included case studies of a purposive sample of 17 primary and secondary teachers in England who were nominated by their head teachers as exemplary practitioners whose practice could be viewed as inspirational for their colleagues and pupils. The entire project was comprised of two phases. In the first phase, experienced inspectors visited schools to observe and interview teachers and speak with their pupils. The second phase, on which this paper focuses, was conducted by a research team from two major UK universities. The mixed methods design for this phase of the project included integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches across the data collection, analysis, and interpretation stages. Quantitative data collection methods included two research-based structured classroom observation schedules, specifically the International System of ...
This paper presents selected findings from a small-scale mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teach... more This paper presents selected findings from a small-scale mixed methods study of ‘inspiring’ teaching, commissioned and funded by CfBT. The overall aims of the study were to explore what inspiring teachers say about their practice, what they do in their classrooms, and the views of their students. The present paper focuses specifically on teacher and student voices in the project, with the aim of understanding how the perspectives and understandings of these groups align, what they prioritize about teachers and lessons, and in what ways their opinions and experiences might differ with respect to their classroom relationships, activities and interactions. Sources of data relevant to teachers’ voices include face-to-face individual teacher interviews and an exercise in which teachers ranked 17 teacher attributes in perceived order of importance. Students’ views were accessed through questionnaire surveys with a combination of Likert-scale items and one open response question. The sample included 17 teachers from English primary and secondary schools. 203 students, from classes corresponding to 11 of the teachers, were surveyed. Findings showed that both teachers and students prioritized positive relationships and enthusiasm or enjoyment as key teacher and lesson characteristics; this was supported by both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data elaborated upon some more specific relationship dynamics and lesson activities connected to these dominant themes. These results contribute to a previously unclear definition of ‘inspirational’ teaching, and also have the potential to guide practice and development for teachers.
Higher Education, 2022
This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts ... more This paper examines patterns of knowledge production in the social sciences (SS) and in the arts and humanities (A&H) in Latin America (LATAM). We report on a longitudinal analysis of 127,515 journal articles published between 2002 and 2018. The analysis reveals six major patterns: (i) a rapid growth in the production of journal articles; (ii) large differences in article production across nations; (iii) significant variations in the magnitude and the growth of articles across disciplines within the SS and the A&H; (iv) a present predominance of single-authored articles that has nevertheless been declining in favour of collaborative articles; (v) a significant variation in the magnitudes of collaborative articles with researchers outside LATAM, a collaboration that tends to be with the global North; and (vi) differences in research leadership across LATAM nations. A set of possible explanations is offered for each of these patterns, set within a dynamic global knowledge production context.