Date Awarded

2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Advisor

James H. Stronge

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the design and implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program for its fit as an advanced academic option. The first step involved determining the alignment of program and curricular goals with recommended practices for general and gifted education and, consequently, to examine the instructional practices and self-efficacy beliefs of International Baccalaureate teachers.;A review of literature revealed limited research on IB Program implementation and its grounding in recommended instructional practice. Therefore, a comparative analysis was conducted of IB program and curricular goals to determine their alignment with 21 recommended practices for gifted and general education. The comparative analysis indicated the alignment of the 21 practices to IB goals indicating the IB Program was a viable advanced academic option. Once the consistency of the IB model with recommended instructional practices was determined, an examination of teacher practices was conducted.;The context for establishment of a profile of IB teachers was in two school districts in Virginia. Thirty-three IB teachers responded to the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001), ten of whom were observed for 60--90 minutes to assess their instructional practices within the framework of two research-based dimensions of the Teachers' Effectiveness Behavior Scale (Stronge & Tucker, 2001): six instructional skills and two assessment practices.;The study developed a profile of an IB teacher, who implemented a variety of instructional strategies with a consistent focus on instruction from bell to bell, high levels of instructional clarity and complexity, and high expectations for student learning in and out of class. Teacher-directed strategies, in particular direct instruction (DI), were characteristic of instruction during class time. End-of-course assessments (external assessments) appeared to be the force behind the teacher-directed approach to in class instruction. However, evidence indicated that internal assessments (IB program required work conducted by students and facilitated by teachers often outside of the class period) were characteristically student-directed independent study (IS) activities. The assessment driven IB profile is expressed formulaically as A → DI+IS.;Findings in regard to teachers' sense of efficacy indicated high levels of teacher efficacy beliefs on the total TSES scale and on the three subscales. Respondents were more likely to respond that they had "quite a bit" to "a great deal" of influence over student behavior and their ability to implement effective teaching strategies. The highest rated items on the scale corresponded to the instructional skills and assessment practices on which teachers exhibited high levels of performance.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-9bk3-vg85

Rights

© The Author

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