THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CERTIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON PRIMARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION IN BELIZEAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS By CARMEN JANE LOPEZ Bachelor of Science in Biology Education University College of Belize Belize City, Belize 1997 Master of Arts in Educational Leadership University of North Florida Jacksonville, Florida 2002 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION July, 2012 THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CERTIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON PRIMARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION IN BELIZEAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS Dissertation Approved: Dissertation Adviser’s Dr. Ed Harris Dissertation Adviser Committee Member Dr. Mwarumba Mwavita Committee Member Dr. Stephen Wanger Committee Member Dr. Jesse Mendez Committee Member Dr. Pasha Antonenko Dr. Sheryl A. Tucker Dean of the Graduate College ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 History of Teacher Education in Belize ...................................................................3 Problem Statement ...................................................................................................4 Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................5 Research Questions and Hypotheses………………………………………………5 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................7 Procedures ................................................................................................................9 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................10 Assumptions and Limitations ................................................................................10 Definitions of Terms ..............................................................................................11 Summary ................................................................................................................13 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction ............................................................................................................14 National Organizational Structure of Belizean Education .....................................15 Student Achievement in Urban and Rural Schools................................................18 Mono-grade and Multi-grade Schools and Student Achievement .........................20 Teacher Certification and Student Achievement…………………………………23 Teacher Experience and Student Achievement .....................................................29 Student Achievement and Testing in Belizean Education .....................................30 Transformative Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Belizean Education ..........31 National Education for Primary School Students in Belize ...................................39 iii Summary ................................................................................................................41 III. METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................................42 Introduction ............................................................................................................42 Research Questions and Hypothesis ......................................................................42 Participants .............................................................................................................45 Data Collection ......................................................................................................45 Protection of Human Participants ..........................................................................46 Instrumentation ......................................................................................................46 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................48 Summary………………………………………………………………………… 49 IV. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................52 Demographic Data .................................................................................................55 Inferential Statistics ...............................................................................................60 Summary ................................................................................................................82 V. CONCLUSION Summary of Findings and Theoretical Framework………………………………84 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………87 Discussion ..............................................................................................................90 Implications for Research/Theory/Practice ............................................................91 Recommendation for Further Research .................................................................94 Concluding Remarks ..............................................................................................96 iv Summary………………………………………………………………………….97 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................98 APPENDICES Appendix A: Map of Belize .................................................................................108 Appendix B: Teacher Survey ...............................................................................109 Appendix C: Approval from IRB ........................................................................112 Appendix D: Letters of Permission......................................................................113 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1 Reliability of Survey Instrument .......................................................................47 4.2 Distribution of Teachers by District .................................................................53 4.3 Distribution of Teachers by Sex .......................................................................54 4.4 Distribution of Teachers by Age Group............................................................54 4.5 Distribution of Teaches by School Location ....................................................55 4.6 Distribution of Teachers by School Type .........................................................55 4.7 Distribution of Teachers by Teaching Qualification ........................................56 4.8 Distribution of Teachers by School Enrollment ...............................................57 4.9 Distribution of Teachers by Teaching Post held in 2009-2010 ........................57 4.10 Tests of Normality .............................................................................................59 4.11 Tests of Homogeneity of Variance ....................................................................60 4.12 ANOVA Calculations for School Location .......................................................60 4.13 Descriptive Statistics for Students PSE Scores and School Location................61 4.14 Tests of Normality .............................................................................................63 4.15 Tests of Homogeneity of Variance ....................................................................64 4.16 ANOVA Calculations for School Type .............................................................64 4.17 Descriptive Statistics for Student PSE Scores and School Type .......................65 4.18 Tests of Normality .............................................................................................67 4.19 Tests of Homogeneity of Variances ...................................................................68 4.20 ANOVA Calculations of Teachers Certification ...............................................68 vi 4.21 Descriptive Statistics for Student PSE Scores and Highest Education Level Completed ............................................................... 69 4.22 Tests of Normality .............................................................................................72 4.23 Tests for Homogeneity of Variances .................................................................72 4.24 ANOVA Calculations of Teachers Experience .................................................73 4.25 Descriptive Statistics for Student PSE Scores and Teacher Experience............74 4.26 Pearson Product Moment Correlations ..............................................................76 4.27 ANOVA Calculations of Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge ................................................................81 4.28 Model Summary of Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, And Pedagogical Content knowledge ................................................................82 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Intersection between Pedagogy and Content ......................................................38 4.1 Means Plot for PSE Scores and School Location ...............................................64 4.2 Means Plot of PSE Scores and Type of School ..................................................68 4.3 Means Plot of PSE Scores and Highest Qualification Level ..............................72 4.4 Means Plot of PSE Scores Teacher Experience ..................................................77 4.5 Scatter Plot of PSE Scores, Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, And Pedagogical Content Knowledge