Summary of the STNE Entry-Exit survey with B.Ed students.

1. Scottish Teachers for a New Era (STNE) is a collaborative six-year pilot project which
seeks to prepare ‘teachers for a new era’ able to face up to the challenges of knowledge
and learning in the twenty-first century. The programme’s aims include the creation of
an extended professional culture, the broadening of learning experiences, opportunities to
develop new and personal approaches to teaching and a broader conceptualisation of
pupil gains leading to improved teacher and pupil learning.
B.Ed Entry and Exit Surveys. Summary Report
April 2010
Introduction
A key part of the STNE initiative is the reconceptualisation and development of the four year Bachelor of
Education (B.Ed) programme for Primary Teaching. The aim was to provide educational experiences that
would enable students develop effective teaching qualities. As part of this process a framework that
spelled out the qualities that the STNE programme aimed to develop in the student teachers was
developed (Figure 1). This framework identified seven interrelated effective teaching qualities (critical
thinking, emotional intelligence, epistemological belief, general teacher efficacy, pedagogic content
efficacy, conceptions of teaching, and beliefs about inclusion and social justice). Literature review
suggests that these qualities are significant predictors of teacher classroom competency and higher pupil
achievement (e.g. Strong, 2007; Wenglinsky, 2002; Cornelius-White, 2007; Sherman, Rasmussen
& Baydala, 2008; Palardy & Rumberger, 2008). A comprehensive discussion of the framework is
available and can be obtained by contacting the research team. This report summarises the research
evaluating the development of identified dispositions over the course of the programme.

2. Figure 1: Framework of effective teacher qualities
Aims and Objectives
a) Describe the profile of the first cohort of STNE students (who are currently in their
induction year of teaching) in line with identified effective teacher qualities.
b) Evaluate the impact of the STNE initiative on student teachers by assessing whether
there were significant changes in student profiles (effective teacher qualities) over the
four years. This was accomplished by:
1. Comparing entry and exit profile data for the first cohort, and
2. Comparing the exiting cohort data with data obtained from comparative entry
cohorts.
c) Evaluate similarities or differences between the first cohort of STNE students and
students who graduated the B.Ed programme in 2006, 2008 and the PGDE primary
programme in 2009 where appropriate.
d) Explore the relationship between the effective teacher qualities and students’ progress
in the final year (as measured by scores obtained on various modules)
e) Report on students overall evaluation of the programme, recommendations for
improvement and future professional development needs
f) Examine the implications of these findings for classroom competence.

3. Method
Design and Procedure
As part of the research and evidence gathering process, a longitudinal survey design was used to obtain entry
profile data from participants as they embarked on the programme and exit profile data at the end of the
programme. Additionally, a cross-sectional design was employed to compare dispositions of STNE graduates
with other cohorts where appropriate. These research processes provided data for evaluating the effect of the
STNE programme on students’ development.
Instrumentation
A questionnaire was developed to measure the qualities identified in the framework in figure 1 at different
stages of the study. Items for measuring constructs in the final questionnaire were either adapted from
previous instruments or developed for this study. Several steps including exploratory and confirmatory factor
analysis were used to establish the validity and reliability of the constructs measured by the questionnaire.
These constructs were shown to be reliable as indicated by their Cronbach’s alpha and fit indices from
confirmatory factor analyses. More importantly, the final instruments are deemed to have adequate face
validity by the programme implementation team and other stakeholders.
Analysis
Various statistical analyses were carried out to test the extent of growth and explore relationships among the
effective teacher qualities measured. These include repeated measures t-test, multiple regression and multivariate
analysis of variance.
Results
1. The first cohort of students, on exit from the new programme, possess the following characteristics:
• They have sophisticated epistemic beliefs (beliefs about knowledge and knowing) and strongly
believe in incremental rather than fixed learning abilities. They are cautious about the notion of
scientific truth and hold the view that expert knowledge can be fallible. They have a strong
preference for the process of learning rather than the acquisition of facts. These epistemological
beliefs significantly predicted students’ preferred approach to teaching and learning showing a
strong preference for a constructivist rather than a direct transmission approach to teaching.
• They strongly believe in their ability as teachers to make a difference, and are confident in their
pedagogic-content efficacy. However, a critical evaluation of the subject knowledge element of
the programme is required in order to increase confidence in this domain.
• They show a strong disposition toward thoughtful reflection and open-mindedness, display high
levels of emotional intelligence, and show very strong dispositions to educational inclusion and
social justice
2. The longitudinal and comparative data indicate that the first cohort of STNE students have
significantly developed effective teacher qualities over the four years of the programme.
• Overall, there was a significant growth towards a sophisticated epistemic belief. Specifically, the
students reported stronger belief that children’s abilities are incremental rather than fixed at birth,
and held a relativistic rather than simplistic view about the acquisition and source of knowledge.
• They showed a significantly less favourable preference for direct transmission approaches to
teaching and learning (in favour of constructivist) than in their first year. Constructivist
approaches have been shown to lead to increased learning and understanding (e.g. Fawcet &
Garton, 2005; Richardson, 1997).

4. • There was a significant growth in pedagogic-content efficacy and significant increases in
disposition towards thoughtful reflection.
• There was a significant growth in the student’s ability to engage in emotional appraisal and the
students held a stronger inclusive mindset than they did at entry.
These results suggest that the STNE initiative has contributed significantly to the development of
effective teacher qualities by student teachers.
3. Although significant similarities exist between the STNE students and various comparison groups
(B.Ed4 2006, 2008 and PGDE primary 2009), where differences exist, the STNE students appear to hold
the more positive characteristic.
4. There are some interesting relationships between students profile and progress in their final year. Those
with sophisticated epistemological beliefs, strong confidence in pedagogic-content efficacy and stronger
inclusive beliefs appear to do well in various education modules. In concurrence with previous research
(e.g. Maggioni & Parkinson, 2008), it was found that sophisticated epistemic beliefs had significant
influence on classroom competence as measured by students performance during school experience.
Overall, increase in students’ pedagogic content efficacy was also associated with classroom competence
during school experience.
5. The students reported that the STNE programme enhanced the knowledge and skills needed to become
effective teachers. They rated development of knowledge and skills in constructivist teaching and
learning approaches as the area most enhanced through the programme. Although ‘Strategies to support
pupils with EAL’, ‘subject knowledge’ and ‘use of technology in the classroom had responses above
average, they received the lowest ratings of the skills that were enhanced. These areas need to be
considered for improvement.
6. Students’ recommendations for further improvement include aspects of school experience, subject
knowledge, feedback, and ICT.
7. The students identified issues around pedagogy, curriculum, and personal and professional
development as their future professional needs.
Discussion/Conclusion
This summary paper has presented results of the analysis evaluating the development of effective
teacher qualities among first cohort of STNE graduates. Students overall appear to show
significant growth in effective teacher qualities. Comparative analysis suggests that the STNE
initiative made significant contributions to these changes. The available evidence using data from
final year school experience and evidence from the literature suggests that these students will have
significant impact on their pupils learning. It is however acknowledged that, aspects of the
programme, for example, content knowledge, need to be reconsidered in the light of students
overall evaluation and their own assessment of their subject knowledge efficacy.

5. References
Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Lerner-centred teacher-student relationships are effective: A meta-analysis.
Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113–143.
Fawcet, L. M., & Garton, A. F. (2005). The effect of peer collaboration on children’s problem-solving ability.
British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 157–169.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London:
Routledge.
Maggioni, L & Parkinson, M. M. (2008). The role of teacher epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs and
calibration in instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 20, 445–461.
Palardy, G. J., & Rumberger, R. W. (2008). Teacher effectiveness in first grade: The importance of
background qualifications, attitudes, and instructional practices for student learning. Educational
Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 111–140.
Richardson, V. (1997). Constructivist teaching and teacher education: Theory and practice. In V. Richardson
(Ed.), Constructivist teacher education: Building new understandings (pp. 3–14). London: The Falmer
Press.
Sherman, J., Rasmussen, C., & Baydala, L. (2008). The impact of teacher factors on achievement and
behavioural outcomes of children with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD): A review of
literature. Educational Research, 50(4), 347–360.
Stronge, J. H. (2007). Qualities of effective teachers (2nd ed.). Alexandria,Virginia: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Wenglinsky, H. (2002). How schools matter: The link between teacher classroom practices and student
academic performance. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(12), Retrieved March 25, 2008, from
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n12/.