The Effect of Teacher Training on Children's Ability to Conceptualize.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an eight-day teacher training program on elementary students' ability to conceptualize. The training program, developed by the Institute for Curriculum and Instruction, focused teachers on the development of teacher strategies that are designed to enhance students' ability to acquire concepts. The population used in this study consisted of twenty volunteer elementary teachers located in four buildings in two school districts in Southeastern Michigan. A questionnaire was used to provide information for data analysis from the participating teachers. Student achievement was assessed on an individual basis from among a systematized r and om sample of students within the classrooms of the participating teachers. One hundred fourteen students in grades one through six were tested prior to the teacher training program and again following the completion of the training program. The Similarities and the Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised (WISC-R) were utilized to provide student data. Scores from students among the classrooms of teachers participating in an in-service training program were significantly higher on the WISC-R Similarities subtest than might have been predicted from scores of the same students in a pre-test situation. The quality of responses given by the students on a post-test of Similarities and Vocabulary subtests of the WISC-R improved somewhat; however, the differences noted in the pre/post-test results were not statistically significant. Students from among the classrooms of teachers participating in an inservice training program scored higher on the WISC-R Vocabulary subtest than the students' scores on the same pre-test had predicted they would score. These differences were not statistically significant for the Vocabulary subtest data. Students from the upper elementary grades scored slightly higher on both the Similarities and the Vocabulary subtests of the WISC-R; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Teachers who participated in the in-service training program indicated that they used "Noticing Similarities" skill significantly more frequently than they used the "Observing," "Recalling," "Grouping," and "Labeling" skills. Participating teachers indicated that this program was much more effective than other in-service training programs that they had attended.