Educational Psychology 13/e Chapter 1 PDF

1 | LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS’ CASEBOOK special needs; learning disabilities, particularly problems...

1 | LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS’ CASEBOOK special needs; learning disabilities, particularly problems in reading, seem to be the most common. Your state and WHAT WOULD YOU DO? LEAVING NO district require you to prepare all your students for the STUDENT BEHIND achievement tests in the spring, and the national emphasis It is your second year as a teacher in the Davis East school is on readiness for college and career by the end of high district. Over the last 4 years, the number of students from school—for everyone. Your only possible extra resource is a immigrant families has increased dramatically in your school. student intern from the local college. In your class, you have two students who speak Somali, one Hmong, one Farsi, and three Spanish speakers. Some of CRITICAL THINKING them know a little English, but many have very few words What would you do to help all your students to progress other than “OK.” If there had been more students from each and prepare for the achievement tests? of the language groups, the district would have given your How would you make use of the intern so that both she school additional resources and special programs in each and your students learn? language, providing you extra help, but there are not quite How could you involve the families of your non-English– enough students speaking most of the languages to meet speaking students and students with learning disabilities the requirements. In addition, you have several students with to support their children’s learning? DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 28 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 28 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  Clivewa/Shutterstock OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES can principles identified by educational psychologists benefit teachers, therapists, parents, and others who are interested Like many students, you may begin this course with a mixture in teaching and learning? What exactly is the content of of anticipation and wariness. Perhaps you are required to educational psychology, and where does this information take educational psychology as part of a program in teacher come from? Finally, we consider an overview of a model that education, speech therapy, nursing, or counseling. You may organizes research in educational psychology to identify the have chosen this class as an elective. Whatever your reason key student and school factors related to student learning for enrolling, you probably have questions about teaching, (J. Lee & Shute, 2010). My goal is that you will become a schools, students—or even about yourself—that you hope confident and competent beginning teacher, so by the time this course may answer. I have written the 13th edition of you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: Educational Psychology with questions such as these in mind. Objective 1.1 Describe the key elements of and changes In this first chapter, we begin with the state of education to the No Child Left Behind Act. in today’s world. Teachers have been both criticized as ineffective and lauded as the best hope for young people. Objective 1.2 Discuss the essential features of effective Do teachers make a difference in students’ learning? What teaching, including different frameworks characterizes good teaching—how do truly effective teachers describing what good teachers do. think and act? What do they believe about student, learning, Objective 1.3 Describe the methods used to conduct research and themselves? Only when you are aware of the challenges in the field of educational psychology and the and possibilities of teaching and learning today can you kinds of questions each method can address. appreciate the contributions of educational psychology. Objective 1.4 Recognize how theories and research in After a brief introduction to the world of the teacher, development and learning are related to we turn to a discussion of educational psychology itself. How educational practice. 29 DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 29 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 29 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  30 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY LEARNING AND TEACHING TODAY Welcome to my favorite topic—educational psychology—the study of development, learning, mo- tivation, teaching, and assessment in and out of schools. I believe this is the most important course you will take to prepare for your future as an educator in the classroom or the consulting office, whether your “students” are children or adults learning how to read or individuals discovering how to improve their diets. In fact, there is evidence that new teachers who have course work in development and learning are twice as likely to stay in teaching (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 2003). This may be a required course for you, so let me make the case for educational psychology, first by introducing you to classrooms today. Students Today: Dramatic Diversity and Remarkable Technology Who are the students in American classrooms today? Here are a few statistics about the United States and Canada (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012; Dewan, 2010; Freisen, 2010; Meece & Kurtz-Costes, 2001; National Center for Child Poverty, 2013; National Center for Education Statistics, 2013; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a). In 2010, 13% of the people living in the United States were born outside of the United States, and 20% spoke a language other than English at home—about 60% of these families spoke Spanish. Today, about 22% of children under the age of 18 are Latino. By 2050, Latinos will comprise about one quarter of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010b). In Canada, projections are that by 2031, one in three Canadians will belong to a visible minority, with South Asians being the largest group represented. About OUTLINE 17% of the population report that their first language is not French or English Teachers’ Casebook—Leaving No Student but instead is one of over 100 other languages. Behind: What Would You Do? In the 2011–2012 school year, about 60% of students with disabilities spent Overview and Objectives most of their time in general education classrooms. In America, more than 16 million children—about 22% of all children—live in Learning and Teaching Today poverty, defined in 2013 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Students Today: Dramatic Diversity as an income of $23,550 for a family of four ($29,440 in Alaska and $27,090 in and Remarkable Technology Hawaii). Of those over 16 million, over 7 million live in extreme poverty. The Confidence in Every Context United States has the second highest rate of child poverty among the economically High Expectations for Teachers and advantaged countries of the world. Only Romania has a higher rate of child poverty. Students Iceland, the Scandinavian countries, Cyprus, and the Netherlands have the lowest rates of child poverty, about 7% or less (UNICEF, 2012; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011a). Do Teachers Make a Difference? The average wealth of White households is 18 times the wealth of Hispanic What Is Good Teaching? households and 20 times higher than Black households. These are the larg- Inside Three Classrooms est gaps observed since these data were first published a quarter century ago Beginning Teachers (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). About one in six American children have a mild-to-severe developmental The Role of Educational Psychology disability such as speech and language impairments, intellectual disabilities, In the Beginning: Linking Educational cerebral palsy, or autism (Centers for Disease Control, 2013). Psychology and Teaching Out of 100 graduates in the high school class of 2013, about 71 had experienced Educational Psychology Today physical assault; 51 had used alcohol, cigarettes, or illicit drugs in the previous 30 days, and 7 smoked marijuana every day; 48 were sexually active, but only Is It Just Common Sense? 27 used condoms the last time they had sex; 39 had been bullied physically or emo- Using Research to Understand tionally; 20 watched 4 hours or more of television every day; 17 were employed; and Improve Learning 16 had carried a weapon in the previous year; 12 had attention-deficit hyperactiv- Theories for Teaching ity disorder (ADHD); and 4 had an eating disorder (Child Trends, 2013). Supporting Student Learning In contrast, because of the effects of mass media, these diverse students share many Summary and Key Terms similarities today, particularly the fact that most are far more technologically literate than their teachers. For example: The Casebook—Leaving No Student Behind: What Would They Do? Infants to 8-year-olds spend an average of almost 2 hours each day watching TV or videos, 29 minutes listening to music, and 25 minutes working with DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 30 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 30 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 31 computers or computer games. In 2013, 75% of homes with children under age 8 had a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device (Common Sense Media, 2012, 2013). Among teens, 77% have a cell phone; about one third of these are smartphones. And 90% of 13- to 17-year-olds use social media (Common Sense Media, 2012). These statistics are dramatic but a bit impersonal. As a teacher, counselor, recreational worker, speech therapist, or family member, you will encounter real children. In this book, you will meet many individuals such as Felipe, a fifth-grade boy from a Spanish-speaking family who is working to learn school subjects and make friends in a language that is new to him; Ternice, an outspoken African American girl in an urban middle school who is hiding her giftedness; Benjamin, a good high school athlete diagnosed with ADHD whose wealthy parents have very high expectations for him and his teachers; Trevor, a second-grade student who has trouble with the meaning of symbol; Allison, head of a popular clique and tormentor of the outcast Stephanie; Davy, a shy, struggling reader who is already falling behind in all his second-grade work; Eliot, a bright sixth-grade student with severe learning disabilities; and Jessie, a student in a rural high school who just doesn’t seem to care about her sinking grade-point average (GPA) or school in general. Even though students in classrooms are increasingly diverse in race, ethnicity, language, and economic level, teachers are much less diverse—the percentage of White teachers is increasing (now about 91%), while the percentage of Black teachers is falling, down to about 7%. Clearly, it is important for all teachers to know and be able to work effectively with all their students. Several chapters in this book are devoted to understanding these diverse students. In addition, many times within each chapter, we will explore student diversity and inclusion through research, cases, and practical applications. Confidence in Every Context Schools are about teaching and learning; all other activities are secondary to these basic goals. But teaching and learning in the contexts just described can be challenging for both teachers and stu- dents. This book is about understanding the complex processes of development, learning, motiva- tion, teaching, and assessment so that you can become a capable and confident teacher. Much of my own research has focused on teachers’ sense of efficacy, defined as a teacher’s belief that he or she can reach even difficult students to help them learn. This confident belief appears to be one of the few personal characteristics of teachers that predict student achievement (Çakıroğlu, Aydın, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2012; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001; Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998; Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990; Woolfolk Hoy, Hoy, & Davis, 2009). Teachers with a high sense of efficacy work harder and persist longer even when students are difficult to teach, in part because these teachers believe in themselves and in their students. Also, they are less likely to experience burnout and more likely to be satisfied with their jobs (Fernet, Guay, Senécal, & Austin, 2012; Fives, Hamman, & Olivarez, 2005; Klassen & Chiu, 2010). I have found that prospective teachers tend to increase in their personal sense of efficacy as a consequence of completing student teaching. But sense of efficacy may decline after the first year as a teacher, perhaps because the support that was there for you in student teaching is gone (Woolfolk Hoy & Burke-Spero, 2005). Teachers’ sense of efficacy is higher in schools when the other teachers and administrators have high expectations for students and the teachers receive help from their principals in solving instructional and management problems (Capa, 2005). Another important conclusion from our research is that efficacy grows from real success with students, not just from the moral support or cheerleading of professors and colleagues. Any experience or training that helps you succeed in the day-to-day tasks of teaching will give you a foundation for developing a sense of efficacy in your career. This book was written to provide the knowledge and skills that form a solid foundation for an authentic sense of efficacy in teaching. High Expectations for Teachers and Students On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Actually, NCLB was the most recent authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), first passed in 1965. In a nutshell, NCLB required that all students in grades 3 through 8 DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 31 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 31 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  32 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY and once more in high school must take annual standardized achievement tests in reading and mathe- matics. In addition, they must be tested in science—one test a year in each of three grade spans (3 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 12). Based on these test scores, schools were judged to determine if their students were making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward becoming proficient in the subjects tested. States had some say in defining proficiency and in setting AYP standards. But no matter how states defined these standards, NCLB required that all students must reach proficiency by the end of the 2013–2014 school year. Schools also had to develop AYP goals and report scores separately for several groups, including racial and ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, students whose first language is not English, and students from low-income homes. For a while, NCLB dominated education. Testing expanded. Often schools and teachers were punished if they did not perform; NCLB was widely criticized. “To date, NCLB’s test based accountability and status bar, 100% proficiency targets have been blunt instruments, generat- ing inaccurate performance results, perverse incentives, and unintended negative consequences” (Hopkins et al., 2013, p. 101). For example, expecting students whose first language is not English to perform at the same level as native speakers on tests given in English set the students up for failure and frustration. Under NCLB, too many schools were labeled as failing. Many edu- cators suggested that accountability measures should focus on growth, not a narrow definition of achievement (McEachin & Polikoff, 2012). NCLB was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007 or 2008. On March 13, 2010, the Obama Administration released A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/publicationtoc.html) to describe a vision for the reauthorization of NCLB. One of the major changes suggested was to move from a punishment- based system to one that rewards excellent teaching and student growth. The Blueprint described five priorities (U.S. Department of Education, 2010): 1. College- and career-ready students. Regardless of their income, race, ethnic or language background, or disability status, every student should graduate from high school ready for college or a career. To accomplish this goal, the Blueprint recommends improved assessments and turnaround grants to transform schools. In addition, Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Educa- tion, waived the requirement to reach 100% proficiency for states that can demonstrate they have adopted their own testing and accountability programs and are making progress toward the goal of college or career readiness for all their high school graduates (Dillon, 2011). 2. Great teachers and leaders in every school. “Research shows that top-performing teachers can make a dramatic difference in the achievement of their students, and suggests that the im- pact of being assigned to top-performing teachers year after year is enough to significantly narrow achievement gaps” (U.S. Department of Education, 2010, p. 13). To support this goal, the Blueprint proposed a Teacher and Leader Improvement Fund of competitive grants and new pathways for preparing educators. The focus of this book is to create great leaders in every school. 3. Equity and opportunity for all students. All students will be included in an accountability sys- tem that builds on college- and career-ready standards, rewards progress and success, and requires rigorous interventions in the lowest performing schools. 4. Raise the bar and reward excellence. Race to the Top, a series of competitive grants for schools, provided incentives for excellence by encouraging state and local leaders to work together on ambitious reforms, make tough choices, and develop comprehensive plans that change poli- cies and practices to improve outcomes for students. 5. Promote innovation and continuous improvement. In addition to the Race to the Top grants, an Investing in Innovation Fund will support local and nonprofit leaders as they develop and scale up programs that have demonstrated success and discover the next generation of innova- tive solutions. Time will tell how these proposals unfold, especially in the challenging economic environment we have experienced lately. One possible change in the next reauthorization of the law may be to focus on the bottom 5% of schools, those that have low achievement year after year (McEachin & Polikoff, 2012). DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 32 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 32 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 33 It seems likely that capable and confident teachers will be required to reach these goals. Is that true? But do teachers really make a difference? Good question. Do Teachers Make a Difference? You saw in the statistics presented earlier that in America many children are growing up in poverty. For a while, some researchers concluded that wealth and social status, not teaching, were the major factors determining who learned in schools (e.g., Coleman, 1966). In fact, much of the early re- search on teaching was conducted by educational psychologists who refused to accept these claims that teachers were powerless in the face of poverty and societal problems (Wittrock, 1986). How can you decide whether teaching makes a difference? Perhaps one of your teachers influenced your decision to become an educator. Even if you had such a teacher, and I hope you did, one of the purposes of educational psychology in general and this text in particular is to go beyond individual experiences and testimonies, powerful as they are, to examine larger groups. The results of many studies speak to the power of teachers in the lives of students. You will see several examples next. TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS. Bridgett Hamre and Robert Pianta (2001) followed all the children who entered kindergarten one year in a small school district and continued in that district through the eighth grade. The researchers concluded that the quality of the teacher– student relationship in kindergarten (defined in terms of level of conflict with the child, the child’s dependency on the teacher, and the teacher’s affection for the child) predicted a number of academic and behavioral outcomes through the eighth grade, particularly for students with many behavior problems. Even when the gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings of the student were accounted for, the relationship with the teacher still predicted aspects of school success. So students with significant behavior problems in the early years are less likely to have problems later in school if their first teachers are sensitive to their needs and provide frequent, consistent feedback. In another study that followed children from third through fifth grade, Pianta and his colleagues found that two factors helped children with lower skills in mathematics begin to close the achievement gap. The factors were higher-level (not just basic skills) instruction and positive relationships with teachers (Crosnoe, Morrison, Burchinal, Pianta, Keating, Friedman, & Clarke-Stewart, 2010). It appears that the connection between teacher relationships and student outcomes is wide- spread. Deborah Roorda and her colleagues (2011) reviewed research from 99 studies around the world that examined the connections between teacher–student relationships and student engage- ment. Positive teacher relationships predicted positive student engagement at every grade, but the relationships were especially strong for students who were at risk academically and for older stu- dents. So evidence is mounting for a strong association between the quality of teacher–child rela- tionships and school performance. THE COST OF POOR TEACHING. In a widely publicized study, researchers examined how students are affected by having several effective or ineffective teachers in a row (Sanders & Rivers, 1996). They looked at fifth graders in two large metropolitan school systems in Tennessee. Students who had highly effective teachers for third, fourth, and fifth grades scored at the 83rd percentile on average on a standardized mathematics achievement test in one district and at the 96th percentile in the other (99th percentile is the highest possible score). In contrast, students who had the least effective teachers 3 years in a row averaged at the 29th percentile in math achievement in one district and 44th percentile in the other—a difference of over 50 percentile points in both cases! Students who had average teachers or a mixture of teachers with low, average, and high effectiveness for the 3 years had math scores between these extremes. Sanders and Rivers concluded that the best teachers encouraged good-to-excellent gains in achievement for all students, but lower-achieving students were the first to benefit from good teaching. The effects of teaching were cumulative and residual; that is, better teaching in a later grade could partially make up for less effective teaching in earlier grades, but could not erase all the deficits. In fact, one study found that at least 7% of the differences in test score gains for students could be traced to their teachers (Hanushek, Rivkin, & Kain, 2005; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2001). DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 33 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 33 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  34 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Another study about test score gains from the Los Angeles public schools may be especially interesting to you. Robert Gordon and his colleagues (2006) measured the test performance of elementary school students in beginning teachers’ classes. Teachers were ranked into quartiles based on how well their students performed during the teachers’ first 2 years. Then the researchers looked at the test performance of students in classes with the top 25% of the teachers and the bottom 25% during their third year of teaching. After controlling for the effects of students’ prior test scores, their families’ wealth, and other factors, the students working with the top 25% of the teachers gained an average of 5 percentile points more compared to students with similar beginning of the year test scores, while students in the bottom 25% lost an average of 5 percentile points. So students working with a less effective teacher could be an average of 10 percentile points behind the students working with an effective teacher. If these losses accumulate, then students working with poorer teachers would fall farther and farther behind. In fact, the researchers speculated that “... having a top-quartile teacher four years in a row would be enough to close the black-white test score gap” [of about 34 percentile points] (R. Gordon, Kane, & Staiger, 2006, p. 8). Effective teachers who establish positive relationships with their students appear to be a powerful force in those students’ lives. Students who have problems seem to benefit the most from good teaching. So an important question is, “What makes a teacher effective? What is good teaching?” WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING? Connect and Extend to PRAXIS II® Educators, psychologists, philosophers, novelists, journalists, filmmakers, mathematicians, scien- Teacher Professionalism (IV, A2) tists, historians, policy makers, and parents, to name only a few groups, have examined this ques- Begin your own development by reading tion; there are hundreds of answers. And good teaching is not confined to classrooms. It occurs in educational publications. One widely read periodical is Education Week. You homes and hospitals, museums and sales meetings, therapists’ offices, and summer camps. In this can access it online at edweek.com. book, we are primarily concerned with teaching in classrooms, but much of what you will learn applies to other settings as well. Inside Three Classrooms To begin our examination of good teaching, let’s step inside the classrooms of three outstanding teachers. The three situations are real. The first two teachers worked with my student teachers in local elementary and middle schools and were studied by one of my colleagues, Carol Weinstein (Weinstein & Romano, 2015). The third teacher became an expert at helping students with severe learning difficulties, with the guidance of a consultant. A BILINGUAL FIRST GRADE. Most of the 25 students in Viviana’s class have recently emigrated from the Dominican Republic; the rest come from Nicaragua, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Honduras. Even though the children speak little or no English when they begin school, by the time they leave in June, Viviana has helped them master the normal first-grade curriculum for their district. She accomplishes this by teaching in Spanish early in the year to aid understanding and then gradually introducing English as the students are ready. Viviana does not want her students segregated or labeled as disadvantaged. She encourages them to take pride in their Spanish-speaking heritage and uses every available opportunity to support their developing English proficiency. Both Viviana’s expectations for her students and her commitment to them are high. She has an optimism that reveals her dedication: “I always hope that there’s somebody out there that I will reach and that I’ll make a difference” (Weinstein & Romano, 2015, p. 15). For Viviana, teaching is not just a job; it is a way of life. A SUBURBAN FIFTH GRADE. Ken teaches fifth grade in a suburban school in central New Jersey. Students in the class represent a range of racial, ethnic, family income, and language backgrounds. Ken emphasizes “process writing.” His students complete first drafts, discuss them with others in DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 34 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 34 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 35 the class, revise, edit, and “publish” their work. The students also keep daily journals and often use them to share personal concerns with Ken. They tell him of problems at home, fights, and fears; he always takes the time to respond in writing. Ken also uses technology to connect lessons to real life. Students learn about ocean ecosystems by using a special interactive software program. For social studies, the class plays two simulation games that focus on history. One is about coming of age in Native American cultures, and the other focuses on the colonization of America. Throughout the year, Ken is very interested in the social and emotional development of his students; he wants them to learn about responsibility and fairness as well as science and social stud- ies. This concern is evident in the way he develops his class rules at the beginning of the year. Rather than specifying dos and don’ts, Ken and his students devise a “Bill of Rights” for the class, describ- ing the rights of the students. These rights cover most of the situations that might need a “rule.” AN INCLUSIVE CLASS. Eliot was bright and articulate. He easily memorized stories as a child, but he could not read by himself. His problems stemmed from severe learning difficulties with auditory and visual integration and long-term visual memory. When he tried to write, everything got jumbled. Dr. Nancy White worked with Eliot’s teacher, Mia Russell, to tailor intensive tutoring that specifically focused on Eliot’s individual learning patterns and his errors. With his teachers’ help, over the next years, Eliot became an expert on his own learning and was transformed into an independent learner; he knew which strategies he had to use and when to use them. According to Eliot, “Learning that stuff is not fun, but it works!” (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2006, pp. 184–185). What do you see in these three classrooms? The teachers are confident and committed to their students. They must deal with a wide range of students: different languages, different home situations, and different abilities and learning challenges. They must adapt instruction and assessment to students’ needs. They must make the most abstract concepts, such as ecosystems, real and understandable for their particular students. The whole time that these experts are navigating through the academic material, they also are taking care of the emotional needs of their students, propping up sagging self-esteem, and encouraging responsibility. If we followed these teachers from the first day of class, we would see that they carefully plan and teach the basic procedures for living and learning in their classes. They can efficiently collect and correct homework, regroup students, give directions, distribute materials, and deal with disruptions—and do all of this while also making a mental note to find out why one of their students is so tired. Finally, they are reflective—they constantly think back over situations to analyze what they did and why, and to consider how they might improve learning for their students. SO WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING? Is good teaching science or art, the application of research-based theories or the creative invention of specific practices? Is a good teacher an expert explainer—“a sage on the stage” or a great coach—“a guide by the side”? These debates have raged for years. In your other education classes, you probably will encounter criticisms of the scientific, teacher-centered sages. You will be encouraged to be inventive, student-centered guides. But beware of either/or choices. Teachers must be both knowledgeable and inventive. They must be able to use a range of strategies, and they must also be capable of inventing new strategies. They must have some basic research-based routines for managing classes, but they must also be willing and able to break from the routine when the situation calls for change. They must know the research on student development, and they also need to know their own particular students who are unique combinations of culture, gender, and geography. Personally, I hope you all become teachers who are both sages and guides, wherever you stand. Another answer to “What is good teaching?” involves considering what different models and frameworks for teaching have to offer. We look at this next. MODELS OF GOOD TEACHING. In the last few years, educators, policy makers, government agencies, and philanthropists have spent millions of dollars identifying what works in teaching and specifically how to identify good teaching. These efforts have led to a number of models for teaching and teacher evaluation systems. We will briefly examine three to help answer the question, “What is good teaching?” Another reason to consider these models is that when you become a teacher, you DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 35 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 35 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  36 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY may be evaluated based on one of these approaches, or something like them—teacher evaluation is a very hot topic these days! We will look at Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, the high-leverage practices identified by TeachingWorks at the University of Michigan, and the Measures of Effective Teaching project sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Danielson’s Frameworks for Teaching. The Framework for Teaching was first published in 1996 and has been revised three times since then, the latest in 2013 (see danielsongroup.org for information about Charlotte Danielson and the Framework for Teaching). According to Charlotte Danielson (2013): The Framework for Teaching identifies those aspects of a teacher’s responsibilities that have been documented through empirical studies and theoretical research as promoting improved student learning. While the Framework is not the only possible description of practice, these responsibilities seek to define what teachers should know and be able to do in the exercise of their profession. (p. 3) Danielson’s Framework has four domains or areas of responsibility: Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. Each domain is further divided into components, as you can see in Figure 1.1. When the Framework is used for teacher evaluation, each of these 22 components is further di- vided into elements (76 in all), and several indicators are specified for each component. For example, component 1b, demonstrating knowledge of students, includes the elements describing knowledge of child and adolescent development the learning process students’ skills, knowledge, and language proficiency students’ interests and cultural heritage students’ special needs (p. 13) Indicators of this knowledge of students includes the formal and informal information about stu- dents that the teacher gathers in planning instruction, the student interests and needs the teacher FIGURE 1.1 CHARLOTTE DANIELSON’S FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHING Danielson’s Framework for Teaching divides the complex task of teaching into the 22 components shown here, clustered into four domains of teaching responsibility: Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. The two domains of Classroom Environment and Instruction can be observed as teachers work with their classes, but success in all four domains is necessary for distinguished teaching. Domain 1: Planning and Preparation Domain 2: Classroom Environment 1a Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy 2a Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport 1b Demonstrating Knowledge of Students 2b Establishing a Culture for Learning 1c Setting Instructional Outcomes 2c Managing Classroom Procedures 1d Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources 2d Managing Student Behavior 1e Designing Coherent Instruction 2e Organizing Physical Space 1f Designing Student Assessments Domain 3: Instruction Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities 3a Communicating with Students 4a Reflecting on Teaching 3b Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques 4b Maintaining Accurate Records 3c Engaging Students in Learning 4c Communicating with Families 3d Using Assessment in Instruction 4d Participating in a Professional Community 3e Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness 4e Growing and Developing Professionally 4f Showing Professionalism Source: Reprinted with permission from Danielson, C. (2013). The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument: 2013 Edition. Princeton, NJ: The Danielson Group. Retrieved from http://www.danielsongroup.org/article.aspx?page=frameworkforteaching DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 36 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 36 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 37 identifies, the teacher’s participation in community cultural events, opportunities the teacher has designed for families to share their cultural heritages, and any databases the teacher has for students with special needs (Danielson, 2013). The evaluation system further defines four levels of proficiency for each of the 22 compo- nents: unsatisfactory, basic, proficient, and distinguished, with a definition, critical attributes, and possible examples of what each level might look like in action. Two examples of distinguished knowledge of students are teachers who plan lessons with three different follow-up activities designed to match different students’ abilities and a teacher who attends a local Mexican heritage event to meet members of her students’ extended families. Many other examples are possible, but these two give a sense of distinguished knowledge of students (component 1b). You can see that it would take extensive training to use this framework well for teacher evalu- ation. When you become a teacher, you may learn more about this conception of good teaching because your school district is using it. For now, be assured that you will gain knowledge and skills in all 22 components in this text. For example, you will gain knowledge of students (component 1b) in Chapters 2 through 6. TeachingWorks. TeachingWorks is a national project based at the University of Michigan and dedicated to improving teaching practice. Project members working with experienced teachers have identified 19 high-leverage teaching practices, defined as actions that are central to teaching and useful across most grades levels, academic subjects, and teaching situations. The TeachingWorks researchers call these practices “a set of ‘best bets,’ warranted by research evidence, wisdom of prac- tice, and logic” (teachingworks.org/work-of-teaching/high-leverage-practices). These practices are specific enough to be taught and observed, so they can be a basis for teacher education and evalua- tion. See Figure 1.2 for these 19 practices. Again, you will develop skills and knowledge about all of these practices in this text. (For a more complete description of the 19 high-leverage practices, see teachingworks.org/work-of-teaching/high-leverage-practices.) FIGURE 1.2 TEACHINGWORKS 19 HIGH-LEVERAGE TEACHING PRACTICES These practices are based on research evidence, the wisdom of practice, and logic. 1. Making content (e.g., specific texts, problems, ideas, theories, processes) explicit through explanation, modeling, representations, and examples 2. Leading a whole-class discussion 3. Eliciting and interpreting individual students’ thinking 4. Establishing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work that are central to the subject-matter domain 5. Recognizing particular common patterns of student thinking and development in a subject-matter domain 6. Identifying and implementing an instructional response or strategy in response to common patterns of student thinking 7. Teaching a lesson or segment of instruction 8. Implementing organizational routines, procedures, and strategies to support a learning environment 9. Setting up and managing small group work 10. Engaging in strategic relationship-building conversations with student 11. Setting long- and short-term learning goals for students referenced to external benchmarks 12. Appraising, choosing, and modifying tasks and texts for a specific learning goal 13. Designing a sequence of lessons toward a specific learning goal 14. Selecting and using particular methods to check understanding and monitor student learning during and across lessons 15. Composing, selecting, and interpreting and using information from quizzes, tests, and other methods of summative assessment 16. Providing oral and written feedback to students on their work 17. Communicating about a student with a parent or guardian 18. Analyzing instruction for the purpose of improving it 19. Communicating with other professionals Source: Reprinted with permission from TeachingWorks (2014), High-leverage practices. Retrieved from http://www.teachingworks.org/work-of-teaching/ high-leverage-practices DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 37 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 37 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  38 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY When you compare the 19 high-leverage practices in Figure 1.2 with the 22 Danielson com- ponents in Figure 1.1, do you see similarities and overlaps? MEASURES OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING. In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Measures of Teaching Effectiveness (MET) Project, a research partnership between 3,000 teachers and research teams at dozens of institutions. The goal was clear from the title—to build and test measures of effective teaching. The Gates Foundation tackled this problem because research shows that teachers matter; they matter more than technology or funding or school facilities. In pursuing the goal, the project members made a key assumption. Teaching is complex; multiple measures will be needed to capture effective teaching and provide useful feedback for personnel decisions and professional development. In addition to using student achievement gains on state tests, the MET researchers examined many established and newer measures of effectiveness including the Tripod Student Perception Survey developed by Ron Ferguson at Harvard University (R. F. Ferguson, 2008), the Content Knowledge for Teaching (CKT) test from the University of Michigan (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008), and several classroom observations systems, the Danielson (2013) Framework for Teaching described earlier, and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS, Pianta, LaParo, & Hamre, 2008) described in Chapter 14. The MET researchers also examined several other observation approaches specific to certain subjects such as the Stanford University’s Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations (PLATO) (Stanford University, 2013) and the University of Texas UTeach Teacher Observation Protocol (UTOP) (Marder & Walkington, 2010) for assessing math and science instruction. The final report of the project (MET Project, 2013) identified the following three measures used together as a valid and reliable way of assessing teaching that leads to student learning: 1. Student gains on state tests. 2. Surveys of student perceptions of their teachers. The Tripod Student Perception Survey asks stu- dents to agree or disagree with statements such as “My teacher takes time to help us remember what we learn” (for K–2 students), “In class we learn to correct our mistakes (upper elementary students), and “In this class, my teacher accepts nothing less than our full effort” (secondary students) (from Cambridge Education, tripodproject.org/student-perception-surveys/sample- questions/; for more information about the Tripod Student Perception Survey, go to tripodproject.org/student-perception-surveys). 3. Classroom observations from the Danielson (2013) Framework for Teaching. Remember, teaching is complex. To capture effective teaching, these measures have to be used accurately and together. Also, the best combination of reliability and prediction of student gains in both state tests and tests of higher-level thinking comes when gains on standardized tests are weighted between 33% and 50% in assessing effectiveness, with student perception and class ob- servation results providing the rest of the information (MET Project, 2013). Are you surprised that teacher’s content knowledge for the subject taught did not make the cut in measuring teacher effectiveness? So far math seems to be the one area where teacher knowledge is related to student learning, but with better measures of teacher knowledge, we may find more relationships (Gess-Newsome, 2013; Goe, 2013; MET Project, 2013). Is all this talk about expert teachers and effective teaching making you a little nervous? Viviana, Ken, and Mia are experts at the science and art of teaching, but they have years of experi- ence. What about you? Beginning Teachers STOP & THINK Imagine walking into your first day of teaching. List the concerns, fears, and worries you have. What assets do you bring to the job? What would build your confi- dence to teach? Beginning teachers everywhere share many concerns, including maintaining classroom discipline, motivating students, accommodating differences among students, evaluating students’ work, dealing DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 38 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 38 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 39 TABLE 1.1 Advice for Student Teachers from Their Students The students in Ms. Amato’s first-grade class gave this advice as a gift to their student teacher on her last day. 1. Teach us as much as you can. 2. Give us homework. 3. Help us when we have problems with our work. 4. Help us to do the right thing. 5. Help us make a family in school. 6. Read books to us. 7. Teach us to read. 8. Help us write about faraway places. 9. Give us lots of compliments, like “Oh, that’s so beautiful.” 10. Smile at us. 11. Take us for walks and on trips. 12. Respect us. 13. Help us get our education. Source: Nieto, Sonia, Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education, MyLabSchool Edition, 4th edition, © 2004. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ. with parents, and getting along with other teachers (Conway & Clark, 2003; Melnick & Meister, Connect and Extend to PRAXIS II® 2008; Veenman, 1984). Many teachers also experience what has been called “reality shock” when they Teacher Professionalism (IV, A1) take their first job because they really cannot ease into their responsibilities. On the first day of their Your professional growth relies on your becoming a member of a community first job, beginning teachers face the same tasks as teachers with years of experience. Student teach- of practice. The national organizations ing, while a critical element, does not really prepare prospective teachers for starting off a school year listed here have hundreds of affiliations with a new class. If you listed any of these concerns in your response to the Stop & Think question, and chapters across the country with regular conferences, conventions, and you shouldn’t be troubled. They come with the job of being a beginning teacher (Borko & Putnam, meetings to advance instruction in their 1996; Cooke & Pang, 1991). areas. Take a look at their Web sites to With experience, hard work, and good support, seasoned teachers can focus on the students’ get a feel for their approaches to issues related to professionalism. needs and judge their success by the accomplishments of their students (Fuller, 1969; Pigge & Marso, 1997). One experienced teacher described the shift from concerns about yourself to con- National Council of Teachers of English (ncte.org) cerns about your students: “The difference between a beginning teacher and an experienced one is International Reading Association that the beginning teacher asks, ‘How am I doing?’ and the experienced teacher asks, ‘How are the (reading.org) children doing?’” (Codell, 2001, p. 191). National Science Teachers Association My goal in writing this book is to give you the foundation for becoming an expert as you gain (nsta.org) National Council for the Social Studies experience. One thing experts do is listen to their students. Table 1.1 shows some advice a first- (ncss.org) grade class gave to their student teacher: It looks like the students know about good teaching, too. National Council of Teachers of I began this chapter claiming that educational psychology is the most important course you Mathematics (nctm.org) will take. OK, maybe I am a bit biased—I have been teaching the subject for over four decades! So let me tell you more about my favorite topic. THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY For as long as the formal study of educational psychology has existed—over 100 years—there have been debates about what it really is. Some people believe educational psychology is simply knowledge gained from psychology and applied to the activities of the classroom. Others believe it involves applying the methods of psychology to study classroom and school life (Brophy, 2003). A quick look at history shows that educational psychology and teaching have been closely linked since the beginning. In the Beginning: Linking Educational Psychology and Teaching In one sense, educational psychology is very old. Issues Plato and Aristotle discussed—the role of the teacher, the relationship between teacher and student, methods of teaching, the nature and DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 39 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 39 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  40 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY order of learning, the role of emotion in learning—are still topics in educational psychology today. But let’s fast forward to recent history. From the beginning, psychology in the United States was linked to teaching. At Harvard in 1890, William James founded the field of psychology and devel- oped a lecture series for teachers entitled Talks to Teachers about Psychology. These lectures were given in summer schools for teachers around the country and then published in 1899. James’s student, G. Stanley Hall, founded the American Psychological Association. His dissertation was about chil- dren’s understandings of the world; teachers helped him collect data. Hall encouraged teachers to make detailed observations to study their students’ development—as his mother had done when she was a teacher. Hall’s student John Dewey founded the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago and is considered the father of the progressive education movement (Berliner, 2006; Hilgard, 1996; Pajares, 2003). Another of William James’s students, E. L. Thorndike, wrote the first educational psychology text in 1903 and founded the Journal of Educational Psychology in 1910. In the 1940s and 1950s, the study of educational psychology concentrated on individual dif- ferences, assessment, and learning behaviors. In the 1960s and 1970s, the focus of research shifted to the study of cognitive development and learning, with attention to how students learn concepts and remember. More recently, educational psychologists have investigated how culture and social factors affect learning and development and the role of educational psychology in shaping public policy (Anderman, 2011; Pressley & Roehrig, 2003). Educational Psychology Today What is educational psychology today? The view generally accepted is that educational psychology is a distinct discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems, and techniques. Educational psychologists do research on learning and teaching and, at the same time, work to improve educational policy and practice (Anderman, 2011; Pintrich, 2000). To understand as much as possible about learn- ing and teaching, educational psychologists examine what happens when someone (a teacher or parent or software designer) teaches something (math or weaving or dancing) to someone else (student or co-worker or team) in some setting (classroom or theater or gym) (Berliner, 2006; Schwab, 1973). So educational psychologists study child and adolescent development; learning and motivation—including how people learn different academic subjects such as reading or mathematics; social and cultural influ- ences on learning; teaching and teachers; and assessment, including testing (Alexander & Winne, 2006). But even with all this research on so many topics, are the findings of educational psychologists really that helpful for teachers? After all, most teaching is just common sense, isn’t it? Let’s take a few minutes to examine these questions. Is It Just Common Sense? In many cases, the principles set forth by educational psychologists—after spending much thought, time, and money—sound pathetically obvious. People are tempted to say, and usually do say, “Everyone knows that!” Consider these examples. HELPING STUDENTS. When should teachers provide help for lower-achieving students as they do class work? Commonsense Answer. Teachers should offer help often. After all, these lower-achieving students may not know when they need help or they may be too embarrassed to ask for help. ANSWER BASED ON RESEARCH. Sandra Graham (1996) found that when teachers provide help before students ask, the students and others watching are more likely to conclude that the helped student does not have the ability to succeed. The student is more likely to attribute failures to lack of ability instead of lack of effort, so motivation suffers. SKIPPING GRADES. Should a school encourage exceptionally bright students to skip grades or to enter college early? Commonsense Answer. No! Very intelligent students who are several years younger than their classmates are likely to be social misfits. They are neither physically nor emotionally ready for DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 40 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 40 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 41 dealing with older students and would be miserable in the social situations that are so important in school, especially in the later grades. ANSWER BASED ON RESEARCH. Maybe. The first two conclusions in the report A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Children are: (1) Acceleration is the most effective curriculum intervention for children who are gifted, and (2) for students who are bright, acceleration has long-term beneficial effects, both academically and socially (Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004). One example of the positive long-term effects is that mathematically talented students who skipped grades in elementary or secondary school were more likely to go on to earn advanced degrees and publish widely cited articles in scientific journals (Park, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2013). Whether acceleration is the best solution for a student depends on many specific individual characteristics, including the intelligence and maturity of the student as well as the other available options. For some students, moving quickly through the material and working in advanced courses with older students is a very good idea. See Chapter 4 for more on adapting teaching to students’ abilities. STUDENTS IN CONTROL. Does giving students more control over their own learning—more choices—help them learn? Commonsense Answer. Of course! Students who choose their own learning materials and tasks will be more engaged and thus learn more. ANSWER BASED ON RESEARCH. Not so fast! Sometimes giving students more control and choice can support learning, but sometimes not. For example, giving lower-ability students choice in learning tasks sometimes means the students just keep practicing what they already do well instead of tackling tougher assignments. This happened when hairdressing students were given choices. The lower-ability students kept practicing easy tasks such as washing hair but were reluctant to try more difficult projects such as giving permanents. When they developed portfolios to monitor their progress and received regular coaching and advice from their teachers, the students made better choices—so guided choice and some teacher control may be useful in some situations (Kicken, Brand-Gruwel, van Merriënboer, & Slot, 2009). OBVIOUS ANSWERS? Years ago, Lily Wong (1987) demonstrated that just seeing research results in writing can make them seem obvious. She selected 12 findings from research on teaching. She presented 6 of the findings in their correct form and 6 in exactly the opposite form to both college students and experienced teachers. Both the college students and the teachers rated about half of the wrong findings as “obviously” correct. In a follow-up study, another group of subjects was shown the 12 findings and their opposites and was asked to pick which ones were correct. For 8 of the 12 findings, the subjects chose the wrong result more often than the right one. Recently, Paul Kirschner and Joren van Merriënboer (2013) made a similar point when they challenged several “urban legends” in education about the assertion that learners (like the hairdress- ing students just described) know best how to learn. These strongly held beliefs about students today as self-educating digital natives who can multitask, have unique learning styles, and always make good choices about how to learn have no strong basis in research, but they are embraced nonetheless. You may have thought that educational psychologists spend their time discovering the obvi- ous. The preceding examples point out the danger of this kind of thinking. When a principle is stated in simple terms, it can sound simplistic. A similar phenomenon takes place when we see a professional dancer or athlete perform; the well-trained performer makes it look easy. But we see only the results of the training, not all the work that went into mastering the individual movements. And bear in mind that any research finding—or its opposite—may sound like common sense. The issue is not what sounds sensible, but what is demonstrated when the principle is put to the test in research—our next topic (Gage, 1991). DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 41 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 41 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  42 CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Using Research to Understand and Improve Learning STOP & THINK Quickly, list all the different research methods you can think of. Educational psychologists design and conduct many different kinds of research studies. Some of these are descriptive studies—their purpose is simply to describe events in a particular class or several classes. CORRELATION STUDIES. Often, the results of descriptive studies include reports of correlations. We will take a minute to examine this concept, because you will encounter many correlations in the coming chapters. A correlation is a number that indicates both the strength and the direction of a relationship between two events or measurements. Correlations range from 1.00 to –1.00. The closer the correlation is to either 1.00 or –1.00, the stronger the relationship. For example, the correlation between weight and height is about.70 (a strong relationship); the correlation between weight and number of languages spoken is about.00 (no relationship at all). The sign of the correlation tells the direction of the relationship. A positive correlation indi- cates that the two factors increase or decrease together. As one gets larger, so does the other. Weight and height are positively correlated because greater weight tends to be associated with greater height. A negative correlation means that increases in one factor are related to decreases in the other, for example, the less you pay for a theater or concert ticket, the greater your distance from the stage. It is important to note that correlations do not prove cause and effect (see Figure 1.3). For example, weight and height are correlated—heavier people tend to be taller than lighter people. But gaining weight obviously does not cause you to grow taller. Knowing a person’s weight simply allows you to make a general prediction about that person’s height. Educational psychologists identify correlations so they can make predictions about important events in the classroom. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES. A second type of research—experimentation—allows educational psychologists to go beyond predictions and actually study cause and effect. Instead of just observing and describing an existing situation, the investigators introduce changes and note the results. First, a number of comparable groups of participants are created. In psychological research, the term participants (also called subjects) generally refers to the people being studied—such as teachers or eighth graders. One common way to make sure that groups of participants are essentially the same is to assign each person to a group using a random procedure. Random means each participant has FIGURE 1.3 CORRELATIONS DO NOT SHOW CAUSATION When research shows that landscaped lawns and school achievement are correlated, it does not show causation. Community wealth, a third variable, may be the cause of both school achievement and landscaped lawns. Community wealth on Co C o r re l a ti Correlation r re l to lea ati o n ds ds lea to Landscaped School Landscaped School lead to achievement achievement lawns lawns Correlation Faulty Assumption More Likely Assumption DESIGN SERVICES OF # 153327 Cust: Pearson Education / OH / CHET Au: Woolfolk Pg. No. 42 C/M/Y/K Title: Educational M01_WOOL5301_13_GE_CH01.indd 42 Psychology 13/e Short / Normal / Long S4CARLISLE Publishing Services 31/07/15 12:23 PM  CHAPTER 1 LEARNING, TEACHING, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 43 an equal chance of being in any group. Quasi-experimental studies meet most of the criteria for true experiments, with the important exception that the participants are not assigned to groups at random. Instead, existing groups such as classes or schools participate in the experiments. In experiments or quasi-experiments, for one or more of the groups studied, the experiment- ers change some aspect of the situation to see if this change or “treatment” has an expected effect. The results in each group are then compared. Usually, statistical tests are conducted. When differ- ences are described as statistically significant, it means that they probably did not happen simply by chance. For example, if you see p <.05 in a study, this indicates that the result reported could happen by chance less than 5 times out of 100, and p <.01 means less than 1 time in 100. A number of the studies we will examine attempt to identify cause-and-effect relationships by asking questions such as this: If some teachers receive training in how to teach spelling using word parts (cause), will their students become better spellers than students whose teachers did not receive training (effect)? This actually was a field experiment because it took place i