Evaluation of the changes in the regulation of secondary education institutions according to teachers ’ viewpoints ( Turkey )

The purpose of this study is to evaluate teachers’ viewpoints about the changes made in the regulation of passing lesson at schools, which became active in 2013 to 2014 academic year. The pass grade applied depends on this regulation, common exams, shortening of the absenteeism durations, and assigning students with performance tasks according to some variables. The development and application of the measurement tool of the study were performed with the high school teachers working in Düzce. Quantitative research methods were used in the study, and the screening model was applied. The SPSS 20.0 statistical package program was used in analyzing the data. Frequency values, percentages, and average values were used to analyze the data. One-Way Variance Analysis (ANOVA) and the t-test were used for unrelated sampling. The sampling of the study consisted of 323 teachers who were selected randomly from among those who worked at various high schools in Düzce in 2013 to 2014 academic year. The teachers’ viewpoints about the regulation of passing a lesson at schools were evaluated with the statement, “I am indefinite”; the viewpoints on the regulation of the right to absenteeism were evaluated with the statement, “I agree”; and the viewpoints on the assigning performance tasks were evaluated with the statement, “I do not agree”. At the end of the study, no significant differences were found in the data according to gender, educational status, and classroom population variables. Significant difference was detected between the regulation of passing a lesson at school and assigning performance tasks dimensions in favor of the physical sciences and foreign language fields. The teachers who worked at vocational high schools evaluated the regulation of passing a lesson at school in a more positive manner. The teachers’ viewpoints on the regulation of passing a lesson at school were determined to differ significantly for those between 20 and over service years in teachers who were assigned in the group “1 to 5 and 20 and over service years”.


INTRODUCTION
The Ministry of National Education (MoNE) started a new construction in secondary school institutions as at 2002.
New educational programs were prepared on this subject in various topics, and new secondary school class programs were applied in 2005.Within this process, the course books were distributed as free of charge to students.The programs gained an acquisition-based and smaller structure.The approach of these new programs shifted towards a cause and multiple result-based constructive learning approaches instead of behavioristic learning approach based merely on action-reaction, cause-effect explanations (MoNE, 2005).
The functioning of the MoNE is ensured with laws and regulations.The rules and regulations must agree with the requirements of the modern age by changing through time.The regulation on passing a lesson at schools, which was released on the Official Gazette on 07-09-2013 with the number 28758, brought important changes with it.The 36th item of this regulation organized the absenteeism right again and decreased this right to 10 days from 20 days, and the right of excused absence to 45 days from 54 days.Item 44 also renewed the passing grade as 50, which was formerly 45.Item 45 brought the obligation of common exams.Item 50 made it compulsory to submit at least one performance task in each semester.As of 2013, important changes that would affect students were observed in the regulation on passing a lesson (that is, the pass grade) at schools.

The purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to determine teachers' viewpoints on the regulation of pass grade at schools, which became active in 2013 to 2014 academic year.The pass grade applied as 50 depends on this regulation, common exams, shortening of the absenteeism durations; and assigning the students with performance tasks according to some variables.In addition, in this context, it also aims to determine whether or not the viewpoints of the teachers change according to gender, branch, school type, educational status, seniority years and the populations of the classrooms.For this purpose, the following questions, problem statement, and subproblems were formed.

Problem statement
What are teachers' viewpoints on the changes made in Coskun and Sozen 203 the regulation of pass grade at secondary education schools, which became active in 2013 to 2014 academic year?

Sub-problems
(1) What are the teachers' viewpoints on the common exams and on the pass grade becoming 50 at secondary schools in 2013 to 2014 academic year?
(2) What are the teachers' viewpoints on decreasing the right for absenteeism at secondary schools in 2013 to 2014 academic year?
(3) What are the teachers' viewpoints on assigning performance tasks at secondary schools in 2013 to 2014 academic year?(4) Do the teachers' viewpoints on the regulation of passing a lesson at school, which became active in 2013 to 2014 academic year, differ according to the pass grade applied depending on this regulation, common exams, shortening of the absenteeism durations, and assigning the students with performance tasks according to some variables at a statistical level?

METHODOLOGY
The study model This study was conducted with the Survey Model.The Survey Model is performed with questionnaires, and is based on describing a situation as it is (Karasar, 1994: 77).It is also preferred in social science studies, which are field studies in nature (Borg and Gall, 1971).For this reason, the data were collected by receiving the viewpoints of the teachers on the changes made in secondary school institutions' regulation and on performance tasks given to students.For this reason, questionnaires were used in this study to receive statistical data.Quantitative Research Method was preferred in the present study; and a scale that was suitable for the study was prepared and applied to the high school teachers.The relevant field and literature review was performed for the scale.
When the scale was being prepared, the viewpoints of the high school teachers were received, and the viewpoints of the experts in the field were also made use of.Before the scale was prepared, it was applied on a sample group, and the reliability findings were obtained.The reliability findings were explained in detail in the data collection tool section of the study.

The study population and the sampling
The study population consisted of the high school teachers who were working at secondary school institutions in Turkey, and the sampling of the study consisted of 323 high school teachers selected randomly from the study population working in the city of Düzce.The demographic characteristics of the study group are shown in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.The teachers participated in the study on a voluntary basis.It was facilitated for the teachers to fill in the scale of the study and do possible corrections whenever and wherever they wanted.Since the teachers participated voluntarily in the study, it is expected that the results of the study  (Kerski, 2000: 81, 86).It may be claimed that the questionnaires that are applied in an official manner are less reliable than the ones that are filled voluntarily because the teachers who want to improve themselves are interested in filling them.
The gender distribution of the teachers who participated in the study is given in Table 1.In this context, we can see that 44% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=141) were females and 56% (n=182) were males.The number of the male teachers who participated in the study is more than the female ones.However, the distribution of the gender is balanced.
The distribution of the participant teachers according to their branches is shown in Table 2. Twenty-nine percent of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=94) were from physical sciences field; 39% (n=126) were from verbal field, 13% (n=42) were from vocational training field; 9% (n=30) were from skills field, and 10% (n=31) were from foreign languages field.The number of the teachers who worked in the verbal field was more.This situation is related to the general distribution.
The distribution of the participant teachers according to their school types is shown in Table 3. Forty-eight percent of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=156) were working at Anatolian high schools, 17% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=55) were working at science and teacher training high schools, 35% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=112) were working at vocational high schools.The number of the teachers working at Anatolian High Schools was more.This situation has emerged with the restructuring of the secondary education institutions in Turkey in recent years.Since plain high schools were accepted as Anatolian High Schools, this group shows a more participation.
The distribution of the participant teachers according to their educational status is shown in Table 4. Thirteen percent of the teachers who participated in the study (n=41) had first degrees, 27% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=89) were from science-literature faculties, 42% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=136) graduated from educational faculties, and 18% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=57) had post-graduate degrees.The number of the teachers who graduated from educational faculties was more.
The distribution of the participant teachers according to their seniority at service is shown in Table 5. Twelve percent of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=39) had 1 to 5 years' experience, 16% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=53) had 6 to 10 years' experience, 29% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=93) had 11 to 15 years' seniority, 20% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=63) had 16 to 20 years' seniority, and 23% of the teachers who participated in the study (n=75) had 21 years and above seniority.It may be claimed that the majority of the teachers are experienced in their professions.
The distribution of the participant teachers according to the average class populations is given in Table 6.Eighteen percent of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=57) worked in classes with 1 to 25 students, 47% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=152) worked in classes with 26 to 30 students; 35% of the teachers, who participated in the study (n=104) worked in classes with 31 and over students.When the populations of the classes in the schools where the study was conducted were examined it was observed that the classes where there were 26 to 30 students constituted the majority.This situation also reflects the overall status of the distribution in classes in the country.

Data collection tool
In order to determine the teachers' viewpoints on the changes made in pass grade regulation, which became active in 2013 to 2014 academic year in secondary education institutions, a 5-Point Likert Scale was developed by the author of the study.The scale consisted of 19 Items and 3 factors.In addition, aside from these 3 factors, there are questions on the personal information of the teachers who participated in the study in the first section of the scale.This section consists of 6 items on demographic variables.This section was formed as personal information and includes some variables like the gender, branch, school type, educational status (graduation), seniority years and average population of the classes of the teachers.In the 3 dimensions of the scale, the performance task dimension consisted of 7 items; the pass grade regulation dimension consisted of 7 items, and the absenteeism dimension consisted of 5 items.
The scale was presented for the experts' opinions and evaluations.Necessary corrections were made on the scale in the light of the viewpoints and critics of the experts, and it was made proper for the pre-application.Then, this scale was applied to 113 secondary education teachers for reliability analyses.This application was performed as face-to-face interviews with the teachers.The items on the content dimension that had low values in the pilot application were removed from the scale.The scale was applied after the reliability studies of the items.If the KMO value in such scales is over 0.60, the scale is considered as being proper for factor analysis (Büyüköztürk, 2013).The KMO value of the scale was found as 0.897.This is a value that is proper for analysis.In addition, the item load values of the scale are shown in Table 7.
The rate of explaining the total variance by the 5-factor structure is 76.6%.Çokluk et al. (2010) reported that 40 to 60% was the ideal rate in multifactorial structures.The factor load values of 5 factors were not observed to be close to each other, and their contributions to the total variance were more than the other factors.After the Vertical Spinning (Varimax), the items of the 5-factor structure that overlapped with each other and that had item load values below .32 were removed from the scale, and it was given the latest form for application.The numbers given earlier about the dimensions were obtained after the items with low values were removed.After the reliability analysis, the Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of the scale, which consisted of 19 items, was found to be 0.90.As a result, the scale is reliable.In addition, the ranges of the points are given subsequently in agreement with the Likert Scale Table 8.

Data analysis
The statistical analyses in the study were made by using the SPSS 20.0 Program.In the analyses of the problem statement and subproblems, the descriptive statistics method was used; the t-test and One-Way Variable Analysis (ANOVA) tests were used for irrelevant sampling.The Tukey test was used for intergroup comparisons.
The significance level was taken as 0.05.

FINDINGS
The frequency values, percentages, arithmetic averages and similar statistical values were used to find out which answers of the teachers given to the questions in the questionnaire were more intense (by using the 5-Point Likert Scale).The unrelated sampling t-test was performed in order to determine whether there were significant differences between the teachers' viewpoints in terms of two-group variables (like gender).The ANOVA was used in order to determine whether there were significant differences between the teachers' viewpoints in three or more group variables ("the branch, school type, graduation, seniority year, class population").
In case, differences were determined, the Tukey Multiple Comparison test was made in order to determine between which groups the differences were.The significance level was taken as 0.05.The options and their points given in the scale across the sentences are as the following.The t-test results of the scale are shown in Table 9.When Table 6 is examined, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in pass grade and common exam regulation [t (321) = -1.30;p > 0.05], the right of absenteeism [t (321) = -0.21;p > 0.05] and performance tasks [t (321) = -0.39;p > 0.05] did not vary at a significant level according to gender variable.In other words, gender does not seem to be a determinant variable in the viewpoints of teachers in these dimensions.In addition, when Table 9 is examined, it is observed that the average of the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in the pass grade and common exam regulation were stated as "I am indecisive"; the teacher viewpoints on the changes on absenteeism right were stated as, "I agree"; and the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in the performance tasks were stated as, "I do not agree".In general, the teachers did not consider the changes in the regulations in a positive manner.It may be considered as the necessity for common exams, the pass grade being increased to 50, and assigning students with performance tests were not considered to be much beneficial by the teachers.However, the right of absenteeism was reduced, which means that the students would be present at schools more than before, and this was considered as a positive action by the teachers.According to Table 10, there is a significant difference between the teachers' viewpoints on pass grade and common exam according to their branches [F(4-318)=3.12;p<0.05].It was determined that this difference was in favor of the physical sciences teachers in the analysis between the physical science teachers and vocational classes teachers; and in favor of the foreign language teachers in the analyses between the foreign language teachers and vocational class teachers.It may be claimed that the physical science and foreign language teachers consider the pass grade being increased and the compulsory exams as a beneficial change.In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in pass grade and common exam were determined as "I am indecisive".According to Table 10, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in absenteeism right did not differ at a significant level according to the branches of the teachers [F(4-318) =0.23; p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in absenteeism right were determined as "I agree" in general.
According to Table 10, there is a significant difference between the teachers' viewpoints according to performance task dimension according to teacher's branches [F(4-318)=3.06; p<0.05].This difference is in favor of the foreign language teachers in the analyses between the teachers from verbal branches and foreign language teachers; and in favor of the foreign language teachers in the analyses between the physical science teachers and foreign language teachers.It is possible to claim that foreign language teachers consider the performance task in a more beneficial manner.In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on performance task were determined as "I do not agree".
According to Table 11, it is observed that there is a significant difference between the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in pass grade and common exam according to school type variable [F(2-320)=3.80;p<0.05].It is determined that this difference is in favor of the teachers working at vocational high schools in the analyses between Anatolian High School and Vocational High School teachers.The teachers working at vocational high schools consider the increase in pass grade and compulsory common exams as a positive development.In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in pass grade and common exam were determined as "I am indecisive".
According to Table 11, the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in absenteeism right did not differ at a significant level according to school type variable [F(2-320) =0.30; p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on absenteeism right were determined as "I agree".
According to Table 11, the teachers' viewpoints on performance task dimension did not differ at a significant level according to school type variable [F(2-320) =0.28; p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints were determined as "I do not agree" on performance task dimension.
According to Table 12, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on pass grade and common exam dimension do not differ at a significant level according to educational status (graduation) variable [F(3-319) = 1.42; p > 0.05].In addition, it is also observed that the teachers' viewpoints according to school type on pass grade and common exam were determined as "I am indecisive" on performance task.
According to Table 12, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on absenteeism right do not differ at significant level according to educational status (graduation) variable [F(3-319) = 1.77; p > 0.05].In addition, it is also observed that the teachers' viewpoints according to school type were determined as "I agree" on absenteeism right dimension.
According to Table 12, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on performance task dimension do not differ according to educational status (graduation) variable at a significant level [F(3-319) =1.49; p > 0.05].In addition, it is also observed that the teachers' viewpoints were determined as "I do not agree" on performance task.13, it is observed that there is a significant difference in the teachers' viewpoints on pass grade and common exam according to seniority of the teachers variable [F(4-318)=3.28; p<0.05].Between the teachers who had 1 to 5 years seniority and those with 21 years and over seniority, it is observed that this difference is in favor of the teachers who had 21 years and over seniority.The teachers who had 21 and over seniority years considered the increase in the pass grade and the common exams being compulsory as a positive development.In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on pass grade and common exam were determined as "I do not agree" and "I am indecisive".In general, the teachers did not consider the changes in pass grade regulation as a positive development.
According to Table 13, it is observed that the teacher viewpoints on absenteeism right do not differ at a significant level according to the seniority years of the In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on absenteeism right according to the seniority variable were determined as "I am indecisive" and "I agree".According to Table 13, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on performance task do not differ at a significant level according to the seniority of the teachers variable [F(4-318)=0.51;p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on performance task dimension were determined as "I do not agree".
According to Table 14, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in the pass grade and common exam regulations do not vary according to average class populations at a significant level [F(2-320) =0.26; p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on the changes in the pass grade and common exam regulations were observed to be at "I am indecisive" level.
According to Table 14, it is observed that the teachers' viewpoints on absenteeism right do not differ at a significant level according to average class populations variable [F(2-320) =1.01; p > 0.05].In addition, the teacher viewpoints on absenteeism right were evaluated as "I agree" by the teachers.
According to Table 14, the teachers' viewpoints on performance task dimension do not differ according to the average class populations variable at a significant level [F(2-320) =1.97; p > 0.05].In addition, the teachers' viewpoints on performance task dimension were determined as "I do not agree".The teachers do not consider performance tasks as beneficial for the students.

DISCUSSION
The teachers' viewpoints on the change in pass grade, absenteeism right and performance task assignment did not differ at a statistically significant level according to gender variable.
The teachers' viewpoints on pass grade, common exam and performance task dimension differed at a statistically significant level according the branches of the teachers.This difference was determined to be in favor of the teachers from physical sciences and foreign language branches.It may be claimed that the physical sciences and foreign language teachers consider the changes in pass grade and common exam as beneficial changes.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the change in pass grade and common exam showed a significant difference according to the school type variable in favor of the teachers working at vocation high school.It was also observed that the viewpoints of the teachers on the changes in the absenteeism right and the performance task did not differ at a significant level according to school type variable.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the change in pass grade, common exams, absenteeism right and giving performance task to students dimension did not vary at a significant level according to educational status (graduation) of the teachers' variable.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the pass grade and common exam differed at a significant level according to the seniority year variable in favor of the teachers who had 21 years and over seniority.It was also observed that the teachers' viewpoints on absenteeism right and performance task did not differ at a significant level according to the seniority of the teachers' variable.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the change in absenteeism right and performance task dimensions did not differ at a significant level according to the average class populations' variable.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the change in pass grade and common exam were stated as "I am indecisive" by the participant teachers.The teachers did not consider the changes in the regulation as being highly positive.It may be interpreted as the necessity for conducting common exams, the pass grade being increased to 50 and similar issues were not considered as beneficial for education by the teachers.
It was observed that the teachers' viewpoints on the change in absenteeism right were determined as "I agree".The teachers considered the decrease in the absenteeism right, which means that students would attend school more than before, as a relatively positive development.
The teachers' viewpoints on assigning performance tasks dimension were determined to be as "I do not agree".It may be interpreted as giving performance tasks to students is not considered as a beneficial act by teachers.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The changes that will be made on the regulations for high schools must be planned by receiving the viewpoints of the high school teachers, students and parents, who are the practitioners of these changes, without populist policies.It is recommended that the learning and teaching processes are regulated with the viewpoints of pedagogues, teachers, and educationalists.
The results of the study showed that the viewpoints of the teachers on the changes made in pass grade, common exams and performance tasks varied according to the branches, school types and seniority years of the teachers.This situation shows that the opportunities of the schools and the environment may be different in the pass grade, common exams and performance tasks in different branches, different physical environments and in schools with different characteristics.This shows that these kinds of changes and innovations must be made by considering the branches of the teachers, school types, physical environment and opportunities.

Table 1 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to their genders.

Table 2 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to their branches.

Table 3 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to their school types.

Table 4 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to their educational status.

Table 5 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to their seniority at service.

Table 6 .
Distribution of the participant teachers according to the class populations.

Table 7 .
The sub-dimensions and item load values after the explanatory factor analysis of the teacher viewpoints of the change in the regulation.

Table 8 .
The ranges of the points of the items in the questionnaire with Likert-Scale.

Table 9 .
The t-test results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation in secondary education institutions according to the gender.

Table 10 .
One Way ANOVA results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation on secondary education institutions according to branches of the teachers.

Table 11 .
One Way ANOVA results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation on secondary education institutions according to school types of the teachers.

Table 12 .
One Way ANOVA results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation on secondary education institutions according to educational status.

Table 13 .
One Way ANOVA results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation on secondary education institutions according to the seniority of the teachers.

Table 14 .
One Way ANOVA results of the teacher viewpoints on the changes in the regulation on secondary education institutions according to classroom populations.