Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

• To Leave or Not to Leave: A Population Study Investigating How Compensation and Auxiliary Spending Influence Teacher Turnover in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

  Jordan, Will J.; McGinley, Christopher W.; Klugman, Joshua; Webber, Douglas (Douglas A.) (Temple University. Libraries, 2019)

  Teacher turnover is a well-studied phenomenon, particularly in highly urbanized locales, but not well researched in a state as geographically and demographically diverse as Pennsylvania, which is a composition of two major metropolitan areas combined with smaller urban centers and expansive rural regions. Those retention studies that do exist have been mainly exclusive to the Philadelphia region, with limited research devoted to the remainder of the state. This lack of a comprehensive empirical approach that compares turnover in three distinct settings limits a nuanced understanding of the issue and, in turn, can lead to incomplete policy considerations. This study utilizes Pennsylvania Department of Education data from 2012-2017, which describes the entire public-school workforce in all local education agencies (LEAs), to study how compensation and auxiliary spending (per student spending sans instructional costs) influence teacher turnover using multiple, parallel Cox Proportional Hazards survival models. Findings suggest that despite a “one size fits all” approach to public school funding policy popular amongst politicians on both sides of the political aisle, the effects of a monetary increase in reducing the likelihood of turnover varies considerably when accounting for the region, Title I status, experience and subject matter. The study highlights how the lack of monetary investment can lead teachers to seek employment elsewhere since low pay functions as a strong demotivator. Additionally, the results suggest that while a pay raise may arrest turnover risk, it is a poor long-term motivator or cause of job satisfaction. The study concludes by offering state and LEA leaders with policy recommendations that may improve both retention and job satisfaction. To date, this is the only study in the current literature that explores teacher turnover extensively in the nation’s fifth most populous state.
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  Assessing Reliability of Salzmann Index Scoring Amongst Orthodontic Practitioners in Pennsylvania

  Godel, Jeffrey H.; Doumit, Carmen; Sciote, James J.; Moore, John V., III (Temple University. Libraries, 2020)

  Objectives: The state of Pennsylvania uses the Salzmann Index as a qualifying criterion for patients to be covered for tax-supported orthodontic care. The Salzmann Index measures the severity of a malocclusion by giving different point values to certain intra-arch and inter-arch deviations, and produces a numeric score for each patient examined. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of Salzmann Index scores amongst orthodontic practitioners in Pennsylvania. Methods: 20 participating orthodontists were asked to complete Salzmann Indices for three sets of pre-treatment dental study models which included: (a) A Class I malocclusion (b) A Class II malocclusion (c) A Class III malocclusion. The variability in examiner scoring was analyzed to determine the reliability of the Salzmann Index. This was then correlated with responses to survey questions to evaluate factors that may influence the practitioners’ scoring of the indices. Results: In total, 20 orthodontists completed the indices and survey. The Class II malocclusion had an average total score closest to the 25 point cut-off and the largest variability in scoring (M=27.15, SD=8.51), compared to the Class I malocclusion (M=18.6, SD=5.86) and Class III malocclusion (M=31.15, SD=4.11). Inter-rater reliability (IRR) for the index scores as measured by ICC(3) were 87.9% (F(2,38)= 226.50, p<.000) for the Class I malocclusion, 40.9% (F(2,38)=15.90, p<.000) for the Class II malocclusion, and 67.3% (F(2,38)=45.87, p<.000) for the Class III malocclusion. No significant correlation was found between the number of years in practice or percentage of patients covered under Medicaid plans and the index scoring. Conclusions: Overall, there was moderate reliability in the Salzmann Index scores amongst the participating orthodontists, with the Class II malocclusion scores having the poorest reliability. For the Class II case, the anterior segment inter-arch deviation score (overbite/overjet) showed the most variability, indicating orthodontists’ difficulty in scoring this relationship.
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  MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL CLIMATE SURVEY ACROSS RACE AND GENDER: A FOCUS ON BLACK GIRLS

  Pendergast, Laura L.; Fergus, Edward, 1974-; Sandilos, Lia; DuCette, Joseph P. (Temple University. Libraries, 2021)

  School climate is a construct frequently explored in educational research (Lee, Cornell, Gregory, & Fan, 2011; Wang & Degol, 2016) and is associated positive several outcomes including with improved student-teacher relationships (Croninger & Lee, 2001) and reduced school dropout risk (Jia, Konold, & Cornell, 2016). Unfortunately, emerging research indicates that racial differences in schools’ penal practices may be negatively coupled with Black students’ experience of a supportive school climate (Bottiani, Bradshaw, & Mendelson, 2017). Black students are disproportionately subjected to exclusionary disciplinary practices (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in the learning environment (Fenning & Rose, 2007) and Black girls disproportionally encounter more adverse disciplinary outcomes in their educational setting (National Black Women’s Justice Institute, 2018) relative to their White peers (Blake, Butler, Lewis, & Darensbourg, 2011; Crenshaw, Ocen, & Nanda, 2015; Epstein, Blake, & González, 2017; Hines-Datiri & Carter Andrews, 2017). Persistent use of punitive practices may hinder Black girls’ racial identity, academic, and social-emotional development in the classroom (Chavous, Rivas-Drake, Smalls, Griffin, & Cogburn, 2008; Leath, Mathews, Harrison, & Chavous, 2019) and consequently detrimentally impact their school climate. Researchers have called for evidence-based and culturally relevant interventions that promote positive academic outcomes for Black girls (Jones et al., 2018). However, evidence-based interventions are dependent on the use of empirically supported assessments with diverse student groups (Pendergast et al., 2017). Evidence-based assessments are necessary to identify students’ needs in the educational setting and provide baseline data that allow for the evaluation of intervention effectiveness. Moreover, school climate assessments for Black girls may facilitate the development of evidence-based interventions for Black girls - who are disproportionally disciplined and may be at risk of experiencing a negative school climate. This study investigated the structural validity and reliability of scores from a school climate measurement tool. The study examined measurement invariance of the Student Connection Survey, with a specific focus on Black girls’ scores. Results indicated the Student Connection Survey is represented by five-latent factors and is equivalent between Black and White middle school girls. Implications, strengths, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.