Academic practitioners are judged and evaluated by the different academic institutions and by government regulators associated with these institutions. There are various criteria for evaluating the work of faculty members in the areas of research, teaching, and contribution to the department, the academic institution and the community. In Israel,…

This paper presents a qualitative study of the interactions between public kindergarten teachers and their superintendents, using the symbolic interaction theoretical framework. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the meaning-making processes and social dynamics that occur in these interactions, specifically monitoring ones. The…

As part of a larger mixed-method study on teacher evaluation, this paper explores how cultural and socio-political contexts of the Israeli Arab public schools inform principals' high-stakes evaluation processes for attaining tenure. Concepts from micropolitical theory were used to analyse data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty…

Purpose: Understanding the contribution of the use of proper language to thinking development and learning processes, served as the basis of this study. The purpose of this study is to learn from parents, teachers and teacher-trainees whether their view of efficient teaching also relies on the teacher's use of proper language.…

Teachers in academia are usually not required to have teacher training but must often be evaluated by their students who expect them to have much better teaching qualifications than their high school teachers. However, teachers in elementary and high schools are required to go through several years of teacher training, resulting in a teaching…

This study seeks to explore the effectiveness of teachers' appraisal programs as perceived by teachers in primary schools in Israel and to examine teachers' appraisal effects upon their feelings of self-efficacy. More specifically, 290 teachers from 30 primary schools in Israel, where a systematic appraisal system exists, received two sorts of…

Background: Cooperative Learning (CL) is an inclusive name for various models of teaching/learning methods, all of which emphasize the fundamental of meaningful collaboration among learners during their learning activities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the CL teaching model contributed to the teaching efficacy and…

Teacher appraisal is never an easy task, especially of teachers experiencing difficulties and failures. Nevertheless it is a requirement for good management, in our schools no less than our corporations. Forty elementary school principals in Israel described the informal methods they use to appraise teachers who are performing poorly. Most…

The current study examines the mutual discrete emotions among superiors and their above- and below-average workers within a hierarchical organisation (school). Using a survey method within a random sample of 40 elementary schools in Northern Israel, each principal and four of his or her teachers (two who had been appraised as excellent and two who…

Why do teachers become poor performers? In semi-structured interviews, forty elementary school principals in Israel described the personal story of one poor-performing staff member. Half of the problematic teachers were veteran teachers who faced a marked internal and external shift in mid-career. The seeds of their problems were probably planted…

This paper examines the relationship between quality of instruction of faculty members as assessed by students and the assessment periods involved. It is based on analysis carried out in Israel's largest public college. Our aim was to explore whether investments to improve the quality of instruction of faculty members are cost beneficial. The…

Examined three teaching evaluation questionnaires from two foreign universities to determine the universality of staff teaching performance criteria. Concluded that questionnaires be designed in accordance with specific course objectives and that standard deviations of the questionnaire scores rather than average scores may be more informative…

A study measured both short- and long-term effects of an educational workshop designed for teachers in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion, Israel. Participants were 60 volunteer faculty members who were randomly assigned to one of eight multidisciplinary groups for the 4-day workshop, which aimed at improving teachers' instructional…

A study examined both cognitive and activity rhythms of lessons in a variety of disciplines and teaching styles in the medical school curriculum among 20 faculty members at Ben Gurion University, Israel. Studied were changes which occurred in the rhythms following a teacher training program, and interrelationship among rhythms and size of learning…