1. Effect of American Higher Education on Teachers’ knowledge; An International Comparison
Jinghong Cai, (Ohio University)
Dr. Roofia Galeshi (Radford University)
Method
This finding indicates that improving digital problem-solving skills may invert declines in literacy with age.
5. Professional development (PD). PD may help teachers to maintain or improve literacy skills. After controlling for age, in all four countries teachers who participate in PD demonstrate higher literacy levels, compared with their counterparts who never attend PD. In addition, for teachers who enjoy learning new things, and relate new ideas to real life situations and their existing knowledge, are more likely to have higher literacy levels. These findings support the proposition that literacy learning is lifelong, and attitudes toward learning matters.
6. Literacy in the Context of Work and Digital Technology Applications. Results indicate that some reading activities at work (i.e., reading and writing s, memos or mails) positively correlate with teachers’ literacy in the United States and Canada. It is notable that except for the United States, teachers who frequently read diagrams, maps and schematics at work showed higher literacy skills as well as digital problem-solving skills.
Table 1: Figure 2. Literacy & PS-TRE on Age by Country
PIAAC
Descriptive statistics for the population characteristics were calculated with the PIAAC sampling weights. Four regression analyses were conducted, and all the analyses were done for each country separately.
To examine the strength of the association between literacy and PS-TRE, we first regressed literacy scores on gender, age and education level, then added PS-TRE as an independent variable to observe the change of coefficients and variance explained.
Statistically, gender was not a confounding factor in the United States and Japan, and thus, was taken away from the following analyses.
Literacy was respectively regressed on PD and Learning approach in two steps - first without PS-TRE, then with PS-TRE.
In the last analysis, we respectively regressed literacy and PS-TRE on literacy used at work.
Regression post-estimation were conducted to verify and test whether the data meet the assumptions for linearity and other normality norms.
The results of all regression analyses were reported on coefficients and standard errors, which were weighted with the PIAAC sampling weights of each country.
Abstract
In this descriptive study, we focus on the performance of teachers/potential teachers in the areas of literacy and digital problem solving skills. The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) surveyed those whose area of study was reported as teacher training and education science in the United States (n = 304), Canada (n = 1,448), Finland (n = 211), and Japan (n = 393). Consistent with previous research, the results of this study indicate that literacy and digital problem-solving skills are highly and positively correlated. As age increases, there is little change in literacy but a weak decline in digital problem solving skills in the United States and Canada, while in Finland and Japan, both literacy and digital problem solving skills decline moderately. This study supports the role of professional development and individual learning approaches in maintaining or improving teachers’ literacy, and the proposition that literacy learning is lifelong, and improving digital problem solving skills may be an effective way to maintain and increase teachers’ literacy. The results were based on sampling weights and the accuracy of the statistics were evaluated with sampling errors.
PIAAC is a cyclical, large-scale study of adult skills and life experiences focusing on education and employment. Nationally representative samples of adults between the ages of 16 and 65 are administered an assessment of literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology rich environments. PIAAC is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and developed by participating countries with the support of the OECD. PIAAC was first administered in in the United States and 23 other countries.
(U.S. Literacy & PS-TRE are below Finland, Japan, and Canada)
Teacher education in the United States, Canada, Finland and Japan
Findings
The United States. In general, three main factors – federal law, state and local regulations, and professional accreditation organizations – influence the mechanisms for recruiting teachers. Teacher shortage is often used as an argument against rigorous admission policies for teacher preparation programs in the United States. With respect to teacher quality, the national teachers’ pool is rather heterogeneous.
Canada. Teachers typically need at least a bachelor’s degree plus one year of teacher education before they can teach, and teacher preparation programs use a rigorous selection process for candidates. Teacher candidates are drawn from the top-achieving students from high school in each province with the majority of prospective teachers consistently being drawn from the top 30 percent of their college cohorts. There are only 50 teacher education programs in Canada.
Finland. Teaching is Finland’s “most respected” profession, and there is a very high retention rate for teachers. About 90 percent of trained teachers remain in the profession for the duration of their careers. Only the top 10 percent of each cohort graduating from high school are recruited for teacher education programs. The rigorous selection process includes two phases – national screening and university assessments. The national screening consists of 300 multiple-choice questions designed to assess numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills. Teachers of primary, middle, and high schools must hold a master’s degree.
Japan. Teaching is a respected profession, and teachers have traditionally been paid better than other civil servants. Most teachers remain in the profession until retirement. The teaching profession is highly selective at both the program admission and hiring phase. About 14 percent of applicants are admitted into schools of education, and of those who graduate, only percent find work in public schools. Given the high level of competition for teaching jobs in Japan, there even are private cram schools, which prepare students for these examinations.
Research Questions
The average age of teachers in the four countries was years old. On average, teachers in the United States (M = 6.1, SE = .20) were younger than teachers in Canada (M = 6.3, SE = .09), Finland (M = 6.7, SE = .16) or Japan (M = 6.3, SE = .12).
The distribution of education level varied across the four countries. In the United States, over 60 percent of teachers held higher education degrees. Compared with Canada and Finland, there were more teachers in the United States whose highest degree attained was high school or other non-degree program diplomas (27 percent, SE = 2.16).
Literacy in the Context of Digital Technology Applications. Literacy and digital problem-solving skills are highly and positively related in the United States and the other three countries. When PS-TRE was included in the regression, regardless of age, PD, or individual learning approach, the explained variance of teachers’ literacy increased to percent in the United States, 68 percent in Canada, percent in Finland and percent in Japan. In contrast, if the regression model only included teachers’ characteristics (i.e., gender, age, and education level), the variance explained was 17 percent in the United States, 10 percent in Canada, 24 percent in Finland, and 17 percent in Japan. This key finding indicates that improving digital problem-solving skills may be an effective way to maintain and increase teachers’ literacy levels.
Literacy Decline with Age in the Context of Digital Technology Applications. As age increases, there is little change in literacy but a weak decline in digital problem solving skills in the United States and Canada. By contrast, both literacy and digital problem solving skills decline moderately in Finland and Japan (See Figure 2). As can be seen in Table 1, declining literacy with age exists in all four countries, even after controlling for gender and education. However, after controlling for PS-TRE, literacy increases when age increases in the United States (B = 2.03, SE = .82, p < .05) and Canada (B = 2.43, SE = .63, p < .001). In Finland and Japan, the negative relationship between age and literacy also changes to positive, but the results are not statistically significant.
Table 2:
What is the relationship between teacher’s literacy skills and problem-solving skills in technology-rich environment (PS-TRE) after taking into account gender, age, and educational levels across the four countries?
How do professional development (PD) and individual learning approach influence teachers’ literacy and PS-TRE across the four countries?
How does literacy used at work – activities related to reading and writing – influence teachers’ literacy and PS-TRE across the four countries?
Theoretical Framework
References
Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world's best-performing schools systems come out on top. McKinsey & Company.
Barrett, G. F., & Riddell, W. C. (2016). Ageing and literacy skills: Evidence from IALS, ALL and PIAAC. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 145, OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved January 13, 2017, from
Coolahan, J. (2002). Teacher education and the teaching career in an era of lifelong learning. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 2, OECD Publishing. Retrieved January 13, 2017, from
Goodman, M., Finnegan, R., Mohadjer, L., Krenzke, T., & Hogan, J. (2013). Literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments among US Adults: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies First Look. NCES National Center for Education Statistics.
Greenhill, V. (2010). 21st Century Knowledge and Skills in Educator Preparation. Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Hanemann, U. (2015). Lifelong literacy: Some trends and issues in conceptualising and operationalising literacy from a lifelong learning perspective. International Review of Education, 61(3),