Training public school teachers in population dynamics: An evaluation of the urban life-population education workshops in Baltimore

Abstract

Nine population education workshops were held for city school teachers in Baltimore, Maryland during the 1972-73 academic year. The original program schedule was modified two times, at the end of the third workshop and the sixth. Each change resulted in fewer formal presentations, more teacher discussions and greater teacher involvement in the workshop program. From the ideas generated by the workshops, curriculum units suitable for elementary and secondary school students were produced. An evaluation of the program showed that teachers' knowledge of selected demographic concepts and facts increased between the pre-workshop period and the post-workshop period. The changes were greater in the later workshops. The changes in knowledge were statistically significant. While there was some regression to pre-test levels, the teachers retained a substantiol portion of the knowledge they received when measured a second time after the workshop. High school teachers showed greater effective changes in knowledge than lower grade teachers. However, interest in population education appears to be wide-spread among all teachers including lower grade teachers. It is suggested that in the future, programs in population education consider conducting separate workshops for teachers of the same or similar grade level.

PIP: A program consisting of a series of 3 day workshops in population education for primary and secondary public school teachers in Baltimore, Maryland was described and the results of an evaluation study of the program were presented. During 1972-1973, 9 workshops were conducted by the Baltimore Urban Life-Population Education Institutes. Since the program was innovative, the approach used in the workshops was modified over time. The workshop program and activities were changed after the 3rd workshop and after the 6th workshop. The changes were in the direction of making the program less formal, relying less on guest speakers, and increasing the role of the teachers in workshop projects. Teachers who attended the workshops were given a pre-workshop and a post-workshop population knowledge test. Teachers who attended the 1st-3rd workshops showed less increase in knowledge than those who attended later workshops. The teachers who attended the 7th-9th workshops, in which teacher participation was maximized, showed the greatest increase in knowledge. Secondary teachers also showed greater increases in post-workshop knowledge than primary school teachers. This finding suggested that separate workshops should be conducted for primary and secondary school teachers. A 2nd post-workshop test was conducted approximately 1 year later. The 2nd post-workshop test scores were higher than the pre-test scores but somewhat lower than the 1st post-workshop test scores; however, more teachers reported that they devoted class time to population issues at the time of the 2nd post-workshop test than at the time of the 1st post-workshop test. Workshop participants eventually developed a series of population education which were integrated into the cirriculum of the public school system.