Digital Commons Network^™

Education For The Future: Higher Education’S Evolving Role In Entrepreneurial And Innovative Learning, Elnora D. Farmer

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Policymakers, educators, and employers have argued that higher education should play a pivotal role in shaping the professions of tomorrow as the traditional workforce evolves into an increasingly entrepreneurial, innovative, and global workspace (Srinivasan et al., 2022). From their perspective, an entrepreneurial approach to learning can prepare students for occupational uncertainties, unique professional opportunities, and organizational fluidity (Hua et al, 2022; Salem, 2014). Although many colleges and universities perceive the importance of cultivating entrepreneurial skills, challenges concerning adaptive curriculum design, faculty development, and resource allocation can impact institutions’ ability to effectively impart entrepreneurial knowledge to students. This presentation offers insights …

Conceptualizations Of Teacher Leadership In Georgia: Results From A Pilot Survey, Jeffrey Keese

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Early results from a pilot survey administered to contrasting groups of teachers and principals with varying degrees of familiarity with formalized teacher leadership (TL) revealed similarities with how teacher leadership is being practiced in schools, but also differences in how TL is conceptualized. Scale scores from the 4-factor model (Sharing Leadership, Principal Selection, Sharing Expertise, and Supra-Practitioner) from Angelle and DeHart’s (2010) Teacher Leadership Inventory were similar across groups, but significant differences among TL and non-TL groups were present in three items: teachers ask each other for assistance with student behavior, teachers offer assistance on how to teach new topics, …

Distilling The Dispositions Necessary For Success In Curriculum And Instruction Roles, Winifred C. Nweke, Comfort Y. Afolabi, Tasha P. Perkins

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Curriculum and Instruction personnel, typically former teachers, take on roles within schools and districts in which they have some influence over curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices. It is paramount these educators embody the dispositions necessary to understand, examine, and address students’ multifaceted educational experiences and academic outcomes. Additionally, it is essential to prepare future Curriculum and Instruction personnel to possess the dispositions necessary for ensuring that all students have access to accurate, truthful, valuable, and representative curriculum. Thus, this study seeks to identify the dispositions necessary for teachers aspiring to Curriculum and Instruction positions. Through document analysis, we analyzed state-level …

Learning Science With Arts-Integrated Lessons: Student Experiences, Oliver Ellis, Lorraine C. Schmertzing, Richard Schmertzing

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Using a narrative approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2004; Kim, 2016) to collect stories and explore the meaning six fine arts school graduates found in their arts-integrated learning (AIL) experiences in their science classes, vignettes (Seidman, 2019) of participants were developed to tell their stories and maintain the context (Maxwell & Miller, 2008) of their unique experiences while coding and categorizing strategies were used during data analysis to construct four themes that ran across participant experiences. Themes focused were supported by participants’ qualitative data (Maxwell, 2013) that were gathered using Seidman’s (2019) three-phase interview series and analyzed using Saldaña’s (2015) in …

Using Virtual Simulation To Replicate Instructional Coaching Experiences, Jeffrey Keese

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study employed a crossover randomized control trial design to compare the experiences of a diverse group of in-service teachers preparing to be instructional coaches as they engaged in virtual simulation activities (treatment condition) and a standard online module of materials (control condition). Analyses performed on quantitative and qualitative survey data collected following their engagement with both conditions showed no statistically significant differences in self-reported measures of preparedness to coach or in the helpfulness of the activities. Both conditions were seen as highly beneficial by the participating teachers and they identified ways in which the virtual simulation activities could be …

A High-Leverage Practice Rubric For Conducting An Assessment-Focused Parent-Teacher Conference, Deana J. Ford, Sara E. Luke

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study addresses the critical need for systematic tools in teacher education programs to teach and assess High Leverage Practices (HLPs) effectively. While HLPs are established as foundational teaching practices, varying levels of research support their efficacy. Rubrics, widely used in higher education, are underexplored in terms of validity and reliability in education. Authentic assessment, characterized by real-life tasks, offers a solution to academic misconduct while providing learners with autonomy and engagement. This study introduces the High Leverage Practice Rubric for Assessment (HLPR-A) as an analytic rubric tailored for assessing special education preservice teachers during parent-teacher conferences, a crucial aspect …

21st Century Coaching Through The Lens Of Social Justice, John S. Murphy, Delores Liston

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The demand for coaches at every academic level to help tear down chronic social barriers and ultimately help elicit equitable outcomes is more important than ever. With contemporary mainstream cycles of misrepresentation, hyperbole, and polarizing stands by educators to satisfy political outcomes rather than community needs, we are at a crossroads as a nation. Coaches have the ability to work within multiple forums athletically, academically, and socially within our towns and cities throughout the US. Such educators can have an invaluable impact in positively stirring the souls of young people by stimulating empathy, perspective, and eventual synergy with their peers …

The Importance Of Stem In Early Education, Haley Neuhausen

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The Importance of STEM in Early Education

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education has gained widespread recognition as a critical component of early childhood education. This abstract highlights the significance of integrating STEM concepts and skills into the early education curriculum and the benefits it offers to young learners.

Early childhood is a crucial period for cognitive and skill development, and STEM education provides a foundation for fostering curiosity, problem-solving abilities, and a love for learning from an early age. By introducing STEM concepts to young children, educators can help them develop a strong foundation in these disciplines and …

Publishing With The Journal Of Case Learning And Exceptional Learners (Jclel), Devon Jernigan, Katy Haughney

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This presentation outlines a new opportunity for practitioners and researchers to publish case studies describing students with moderate to extensive support needs (M-ESN). The Journal of Case Learning and Exceptional Learners (JCLEL) is designed to provide high-quality case studies with consistent and thorough descriptions of real learning experiences. For researchers, this journal is an opportunity for professionals in special education and individuals with disabilities to collaborate in anonymous information sharing with a national reach.

Attendees will learn about publishing opportunities and examine quality case study components and the JCLEL website resources.

Should We Teach Handwriting In Elementary School? A Meta-Analysis, John Hobe

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Should we teach handwriting during elementary school? This complex activity is

debated and left out of some elementary school curriculums. Babarro & Perez

Lopez (2022) provide evidence explaining handwriting should be taught in

elementary school using a meta-analysis and meta-synthesis of research from

2000 to 2020. The authors selected 31 studies including 2,030 students in grades

kindergarten through 6. When compared to no instruction different handwriting

interventions yielded a 0.64 effect size. Strategies used to improve handwriting

fluency provided a 0.49 effect size. Hemphill (2003) supplied quantitatively based

guidelines from two meta-analyses to explain an effect size of .30 and …

Theater Therapy : Using Stage Management To Teach Students With Disabilities, Melvin S. Marsh

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

While much of theater therapy has focused on acting, there are other sections of the theatrical world which might be useful to help teach and focus other useful skills to students who have special needs. Stage managers, the unsung and often times unnoticed heroes of the theater community, require many basic skills that could be very helpful for students to learn and practice including organization skills, time management, social skills, basic leadership skills, and at higher ends project management. While not every student with special needs will be able to manage and master all of the skills that a stage …

Faculty Internationalization Perceptions: Comparing Disciplines, John P. Girard, Laura Thomason, Chris Tsavatewa

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This project examined faculty internationalization perceptions at a medium-sized public university. In this phase of the project, the researchers focused on the potential differences between distinct faculty groups. The groups under review were based on the university's academic schools of Arts & Letters, Aviation, Business, Computing, Education & Behavioral Sciences, and Health & Natural Sciences. Two sets of data were collected and analyzed. The first collection was exploratory in nature and was collected in the first quarter of 2020. The second dataset was meant to confirmatory and was collected in the fourth quarter of 2020. In hindsight, we now know …

Let’S Normalize Mental Health Days, Lateshia Warren, Virginia Wilcox

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a vast amount of unprecedented challenges, many of which appear to be disproportionately affecting the mental health and well-being of young adults. While there is research to suggest university students experience high rates of mental health disorders, less is known about the specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and how they are coping with this stress (Prowse et al., 2021). This study involved Elementary Education professors purposefully embedding mental health days in certain education courses throughout the 2021-2022 school year. This study was conducted with undergraduate students at an all women's …

Seeking The Way Back To Normal: A Longitudinal Qualitative Investigation Of Teacher Experiences Through Covid-19, Jeffrey Keese, Karen Mcintush

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This qualitative study represents the final report of a three-year longitudinal investigation of teacher experiences since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring semester of 2020. Teachers from a diverse set of school contexts discussed their experiences returning to fully in-person instruction of students in individual interviews and a focus group. The transcripts of those conversations were analyzed using a hybrid qualitative approach to uncover emergent themes and compare experiences across three school years across a priori themes including teacher well-being, student concerns, and instructional technology use. Emergent themes included student impacts (e.g., poor habits developed by students) …

No Dejes Nada En La Puerta: Achieving Equity Through Asset-Based Peer Support, Brooklyn Herrera

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Higher education institutions are becoming increasingly diverse, and Latinx students are a major contributor to this diversity, as they are the largest and fastest growing minoritized population in the United States. Nevertheless, retention and completion gaps for Latinx students persist (Kolluri, 2021). Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) play a pivotal role in promoting educational equity for Latinx students, but they have traditionally been concentrated in urban areas and a small number of states. In future years, new HSIs will emerge largely in rural environments and states with rapidly growing Latinx populations, such as Georgia.

Informed by community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), this …

Examining Social Justice Ideas In Science Teachers Through An Online Book Club, Suzanna Roman-Oliver

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study explored the experiences of four pre-service science teachers while participating in a virtual book club. The participants were science education MAT students that were enrolled in a “Learner Differences” course during the summer semester. The participants read “Teaching Science for Social Justice” from Angela Calabrese Barton. They met virtually for an hour each week to discuss the ideas presented within the different book chapters. A total of 13 science education MAT students were part of the book club, but only four agreed to participate in the study. Data was collected in the form of course artifacts that included …

Facing Some Hard Truths: A Caep Action Research Project Results In Reflexivity, Reflection, & Revision, Melissa Comer, Nancy Kolodziej

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Per Ojeda (2010), for reflection to be effective it must include opportunity to improve performance. Writing the self-study report for the Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP) provided a perfect chance for the researchers to put effective reflection into action. Situated within a graduate-level literacy program, they implemented a collaborative action research project simultaneously with writing the CAEP self-study report. Guided by the research questions below, they learned valuable lessons, validated the program’s strengths, and faced some hard truths about its weaknesses.

• What practical applications can be learned from the CAEP self-study report?
• How can critical reflection be …

Black Stem Mentors Matter: A Qualitative Case Study Examining The Contextual Factors Of Mentoring Relationships In Stem At A Private Hbcu That Contribute To African American Student Persistence Within Stem Majors, Brittany Chambers

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

As science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields continue to drive the nation forward, there remains a need for more diversified STEM minds. While there have been many interventions geared toward supporting minorities at predominately white institutions (PWIs), seldom do researchers investigate where African American STEM students experience the most success, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Therefore, this qualitative case study aimed to examine the contextual factors that make up mentoring relationships in STEM at a HBCU that contribute to African American student persistence in STEM. An exploratory, qualitative approach was utilized to focus on STEM students at a …

2022 Conference Program, Gera Conference

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Conference Theme: Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century

Shades Of Gray: The Nuances Of Telling Among Elementary Preservice Teachers In The Mathematics Classroom, Montana Smithey

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) often prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach in ways they may not be familiar—including facilitating conversations that are responsive to children’s mathematical thinking (Robertson et al., 2016). Specifically, MTEs support PSTs in understanding what it means to take on the mathematical work for children and ways children can engage in sense-making (Baxter & Williams, 2010; Wood, 1998). Telling, a teaching move that can be used to take on the mathematical work for children, is often used by PSTs (Moyer & Milewicz, 2002). Thus, MTEs focus PSTs learning of more productive teaching moves such as exploring details …

Accepting Responsibility For A Teen Reading Crisis: What Role Does Text-Relatability Play In Secondary Students’ Reading Enthusiasm And Comprehension?, Madhavi T. Clark, Winifred C. Nweke

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Educational responsibility requires that culturally relevant curriculum be taught to students. Unfortunately, in many secondary ELA classrooms, content continues to revolve around canonical texts written mostly by white males. With increasing negative reading attitudes and poor reading skills among adolescents, the authors sought to investigate how text-relatability may affect students’ reading enthusiasm and comprehension. They asked: Would students relate to or have higher reading enthusiasm for a contemporary adolescent text that reflected their teen culture? In this study, 16 students from a Title I school read a contemporary adolescent text and a classical text over a 6 week period. Students …

Conference Program For Gera 2021, Gera Conference

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Conference Program

Becoming Inclusive: A Collection And Analysis Of The Perceptions Of Newly Qualified General Elementary Education Teachers On Their Preparedness For Teaching In Inclusive Settings, Brooke Armesto

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Abstract

The main research question this study will focus on is “How do newly qualified general elementary education teachers perceive their preparedness to teach in inclusive settings?” The goal of this study is to discover what areas teachers felt like they needed to build more proficiency in to successfully teach inclusion. The topics which will be explored include perceived preparedness for teaching in inclusive settings, ways to measure preparedness for teaching in inclusive settings, current ways teachers are being prepared to teach in inclusive settings and effective strategies for preparing teachers to teach in inclusive settings. After researching this topic, …

The Classroom As A Catalyst For Change: Anti-Racist Pedagogy In The Upper Elementary Classroom, Madison Setchell

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing research on anti-racist education and then synthesize that information to develop strategies that teachers can use to promote tolerance in their classrooms. Review of the literature in this area reveals gaps in current curriculum and teaching practices. The literature on teaching tough topics concludes that difficult subjects should be used as a guide for discussion. The design of this study is to create four tolerance-centered lesson plans using the Inquiry Design Model (Grant, 2017). This model highlights key ideas of a topic, presents three supporting questions related to the …

Promoting Social Justice Through Teacher Education And Curriculum Development And Implementation, Beverly A. King Miller, Ming Fang He, Amber Whitfield, Ru Li

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

UNESCO 2030 (UNESCO, 2015) sustainable development goal 4 highlights the need for inclusive educational practices in order to dismantle the present exclusionary practices in education. These goals are designed to ensure that by 2030, benchmarks are met requiring all children with diverse socio- economic, race and gender backgrounds receive an equitable and quality education. To meet the needs for inclusive educational practices two areas in education are under consideration: teacher training and curriculum development and implementation. This presentation will highlight the work by two professors working with their students to promote an inclusive social justice education and curricula framework.

Specifically, …

Toward An Understanding Of Georgia Faculty Internationalization Perceptions, John P. Girard, Laura Thomason, Chris C. Tsavatewa

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This paper summarized the results of a faculty internationalization perception survey completed by 78 faculty at a Georgia university. The primary objective of this project was hypothesis generation. By applying a data exploration methodology, we visualized and repeatedly tested the data using the R environment for statistical computing and graphics. Following the visualization and testing, we generated three hypotheses to be used in future projects.

The Power And Purpose Of Choice In Digital Teacher Education, Aimee M. Cribbs

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

With the call for critical thinkers and problem-solvers, primary and secondary educators are encouraged to use student-driven instruction and performance-based assessment. At the same time, teacher education programs often include lecture-based delivery with formal papers as the primary form of assessment. The changing landscape of virtual learning in the era of Covid-19 provides an opportunity to refine teacher education to mirror the same research-based practices suggested for primary and secondary classrooms. Within a participatory action research model, this author shares the experience of delivering an online graduate-level curriculum design course framed in student choice. Education Specialist candidates chose content and …

Responding To The Dialogue: Critical Digital Pedagogy Of Elementary Teachers, Aaron R. Gierhart

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Critical pedagogy has the power to transform learning experiences for all students, but also create seismic impacts on the futures of students; however, critical approaches to designing and implementing instruction in which digital technologies are integrated eludes many elementary teachers. Pedagogy is formed and evolves a lifetime of experiences and is never fully mastered. To understand how certain elementary teachers develop critical digital pedagogy, it was imperative to tell their stories. The purpose of this study was to describe the life stories of two elementary teachers who utilized critical digital approaches in their instruction. Each participant participated in an life …

The Time Is Now: Building Educators’ Capacities To Teach For Social Justice And Equity, Felicia Baiden

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The recent killings of Black Americans namely Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks by police officers or vigilantes have increased racial tension and social unrest locally and nationally. Protests have ensued around the world for racial justice and equity. As educators, it is imperative now more than ever to examine and interrogate our education system and determine more equitable and socially just teaching practices that will better serve a culturally and linguistically diverse student population and ultimately contribute toward the public good of society. Research has suggested that educators need support and professional learning on how to …

Is It "Just" A Methods Course? - Developing Elementary Teacher's Social Justice Advocacy Competency, Karyn A. Allee-Herndon

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study/survey was born from the construct that social inequities have a long history in the United States and beyond, impacting our social, historical, and cultural growth, and our ability to create a welcoming community. This is a continuation of a study begun at another institution and will add to our understanding of how best to support teacher candidates in their preparation and development as advocates. This study uses a pre-post survey design using purposive sampling of teacher candidates in an elementary writing methods course.