Instrumentation and Materials
The materials use required for conducting this research and analyzing the raw data collected will be minimal. A standard computer with sufficient and readily available statistical software (such as the standard SPSS) will be sufficient for both data storage and analysis, and even for much of the data collection, it is assumed. Depending on the accessibility of student and teacher records once proper authorization from all relevant parties has been obtained, it might be possible to conduct the majority of the research from this single computer.
An instrument to quantify the data contained in teacher and student performance reports may or may not be necessary, depending on the specifics of the school's record keeping statistics and overall system. If quantified information that reflects the specific performance areas identified as key measurements already exists, no further instrumentation will be necessary; statistical tables can be created directly from the records obtained. A method of standardizing and/or quantifying records might be needed, however, at which point a more intensive review of previous literature will be undertaken in order to identify a reliable tool that can be adapted to the purposes and needs of this specific research (Wallen & Fraenkel 2001). Once teacher education levels student performances have been quantified, the raw data can easily be made available in table form as well as analyzed, through standard regression techniques, to determine any existing correlation (Kaufhold 2007).
Data Collection, Analysis, and Presentation
The data collection processes will consist entirely of obtaining proper permissions from parents/guardians of student subjects (as well as the students themselves when over the age of 14), teachers, and other appropriate officials and administrators, then collecting records regarding student/classroom performance and levels of teacher education. As all of this information is available to the public school system, it is not expected to create major ethical concerns, though confidentiality and anonymity will be strictly maintained...
All variables will be measured on interval scales, with regression
analysis performed to determine any correlation.
When examining the district's
history of performance and its record of offering ongoing teacher education over the long-term, issues of confidentiality no longer really apply and a great deal of the information necessary -- on both the Green Valley
School District as well as other districts in the state -- will be readily available on government/district websites or through a simple search of public records. Though such sources should of course be verified and supplemented where possible with additional research, at least insofar as to determine the reliability of
primary sources, this should serve as sufficient data to provide for the reliable regression analysis of overall performance to teacher education levels, as well as variances in inter-district performance and teacher education levels (Kaufhold 2007).
Data Presentation
The data that will be presented will ultimately include: the changes in performance of the teachers studied, as measured by the performance of their classrooms form year to year, as correlated with the level of ongoing education these teachers received each year; the changes in performance of student subjects, as correlated to the level of education their teacher received in each academic year; and the changes in overall performance of the Green Valley School District and other school districts, as correlated with changes and differences in teacher education opportunities. Bar and line graphs will be used to graphically illustrate this data in addition to written descriptions of the findings. Such a presentation will make any observed trends clear without oversimplification.
References
Kaufhold, J. (2007). Basic Statistics for
Educational Research. New York: iUniverse.
Johnson, B. & Christensen, L. (2010). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Smeyers, P. & Depaepe, M. (2009). Educational Research: Proofs, Arguments, and Other Reasonings. New York: Springer.
Wallen, N. & Fraenkel, J. (2001). Educational Research: A Guide to the Process. Mahwah, NJ: Psychology Press.
