The Journal of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

A factor analysis with Varimax rotation performed on teacher responses to pre test (N= 217)
yielded three scales of teacher characteristics (43 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .85), each one
describing a different dimension:
(a) Teachers’ cognitive characteristics, and in particular teachers’ application of cognitive skills and
requirement that students do the same (apply them as well) (13 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .78).
This dimension included statements such as "Teachers are able to make meaningful
connections between ideas originating in different subjects”, “Teachers present different
methods of solving a problem”, and “Teachers encourage students to always think in the same
way”;
(b) Teachers’ personal characteristics, teaching-related characteristics, attitudes toward students,
and degree of fostering creativity (17 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .86), including statements such
as “Teachers respect the students" and “Teachers are aware of differences between students”;
and
(c) Teachers’ pedagogical characteristics concerning teaching modes and classroom activities (13
items, Cronbach’s alpha = .81), for example, “Teachers send students to regional or national
competitions” and “Teachers hold science competitions for students”.
Pre–post-tests (N=147) yielded the following results: for pre-test (43 items, Cronbach’s alpha
= .79); teachers’ cognitive characteristics, Cronbach’s alpha = .76; teachers’ personal
characteristics, Cronbach’s alpha = .82; and teachers’ pedagogical characteristics, Cronbach’s
alpha = .82. For post-test: (43 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .82), teachers’ cognitive characteristics,
Cronbach’s alpha = .76; teachers’ personal characteristics, Cronbach’s alpha = .86; and teachers’
pedagogical characteristics, Cronbach’s alpha = .80.
PDTG program contributions questionnaire: The content of items used to measure teachers’
assessment of PDTG program contribution was based on US standards. The questionnaire (25
items, Cronbach’s alpha = .97) comprised three parts:
i. Teachers’ self-evaluation of what they know about different aspects related to gifted
education (15 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .97) requiring a response on a four-point Likert-type
scale, ranging from 1 = "do not know" to 4 = "know." This dimension included statements
such as “definitions of giftedness”, “characteristics of gifted children”, and “instructional
strategies”.
ii. Teachers’ self-evaluation of their competencies (10 items, Cronbach’s alpha = .95) requiring a
response on a six-point Likert-type scale referring to what teachers think of their own abilities
or skills, ranging from 1 = "completely incorrect" to 6 = "completely correct. This dimension
included statements such as “identify a gifted child in the regular classroom”, “better
communicate with gifted students”, and “plan a lesson or unit for gifted in a pullout program”.
iii. Teachers’ satisfaction and readiness requiring a response on a four-point Likert-type scale,
ranging from 1 = "completely satisfied" to 4 = "completely dissatisfied”, and 1 = “completely
ready” to 4 = “not ready at all”.
Data analysis
Qualitative data analysis
Teachers’ responses for the open-ended question were analyzed using grounded theory
(Strauss & Corbin, 1990). A pilot test for analysis of the open ended question, administered to 60
Jewish and Arab teachers, yielded the following results:
(a) Axial coding procedure generated categories from the initial coding were teachers’ personal
characteristics, teachers’ pedagogical characteristics, teachers’ cognitive characteristics, gifted
students’ characteristics, course characteristics, learning environment characteristics, and
climate characteristics; and
(b) Selective coding created four core categories relating to the four commonplaces: teacher,
student, subject matter, and milieu. A reliability of 92% was calculated for 20% of the analyzed
content, performed by two independent coders. The same categories were obtained by axial and
Gifted and Talented International – 26(1), August, 2011; and 26(2), December, 2011. 149