Education Commons^™

Professional Development For Teaching In The Digital Age: Addressing Teachers’ Digital Competency, Blanca Nery Ibarra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify teachers’ digital skills proficiency gaps in order to determine preparedness for teaching in the digital age. Using a survey research design helped identify teachers’ digital skills self-confidence, attitudes towards the use of technology in the classroom, and current uses of technology for instructional purposes. The participants in this research study consisted of 320 middle school teachers from a border school district in south Texas. The data was collected using a survey instrument consisting of the TPSA C-21 and researcher-developed items. The data was analyzed using the Spearman-rank order correlation to describe the …

Teachers Report Card 2021: Teachers’ Perceptions Of Education And Their Profession, Australian College Of Educators

Australian College of Educators - National

Teachers play a central role in the development of Australia’s young people. It is essential that their voices are heard by those who make and decide policy, and by others who influence their learning and development. The NEiTA-ACE Teachers Report Card 2021is based on a survey of amplifying the voices of teachers on the state of education and on their profession.

Defining Inclusion: Surveying Educator Perceptions And Practices In Chile, Christina A. Bosch

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite earlier attempts to arrive at unified theories or conceptualizations, the international literature on inclusive education has increasingly documented the proliferation of operationalizations of inclusion in and even within single instances of policy, research, and practice, and called for further scholarly attention to such subjectivity. Specifically, there is a dearth of international research linking definitions to perceptions to practices within special and/or inclusive education, and findings on the efficacy of interventions to promote inclusive education practices in Spanish-speaking contexts or literature are similarly sparse. This study investigates how Latinx educators in K-12 schools conceptualize and practice inclusion with respect to …

Professional Learning Modes. Literature Review, Anna Dabrowski, Pru Mitchell

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This literature review summarises evidence from education research to describe and compare different modes of professional learning. It applies the findings to the question: ‘what works best, and for whom’ in terms of modes of professional learning for Australian teachers, with particular focus on early childhood teachers, casual relief teachers and teachers in rural and remote teaching contexts. A key professional learning challenge common to these teachers is isolation – which can be physical, pedagogical, technological and/or social isolation. The review sought to identify research on modes of professional learning and in particular any studies that compared different modes of …

Educators Perceptions Of Ebd, Inclusion, And Evidence-Based Practices, Andrea Larmon

Doctoral Dissertations

The field of education has been changing with regard to inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Not only are we seeing more students with disabilities being educated in public schools, but we are seeing students with more significant special education needs. Although schools are expected to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), many of the staff within the school, such as special education teachers, general education teachers, related service providers, paraprofessionals, and even administrators, aren’t sure how to provide the services and implement the strategies to allow the students …

The Dark Side Of Assessment Literacy: Avoiding The Perils Of Accountability, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Educational measurement and evaluation experts generally agree that increasing stakeholders’ assessment literacy will yield a variety of positive benefits, especially broadening the range of assessment formats teachers use to measure students’ mastery of high level, more cognitively complex learning outcomes. But in the context of education accountability as currently structured in American schools, such efforts also may lead teachers to become more sophisticated in test preparation activities and to narrow both their instruction and classroom assessment practices specifically to enhance students’ performance on prescribed, annual high-stakes accountability assessments. This article explains why that is so, describes the process by which …

The Difference Between English And Math High School Teachers' Attitudes And Perceptions Toward The Inclusion Of English Language Learner Students, Ashley Sibert Williamson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Within the last 10 years, the United States experienced an influx of non-English speaking students, which challenged teachers, administrators, and other educational stakeholders on how to successfully accommodate these English Language Learners (ELL). This causal-comparative study examined the attitudes and perceptions of secondary English and math teachers in relation to ELL inclusion. Specifically, the study presented the main question of whether there is a difference between English and math teachers’ attitudes and perceptions toward the inclusion of ELLs. Teacher attitudes have been found to play a role in determining student academic achievement; therefore, assessing teacher attitudes toward ELLs could be …

Teachers Report Card: Teachers' Perceptions Of Education And Their Profession, Australian College Of Educators

Australian College of Educators - National

The inaugural ASG-ACE Teachers Report Card, a joint initiative between ASG and the Australian College of Educators (ACE) surveyed teachers on a range of issues including testing, curriculum, stress, wellbeing, support, engagement, satisfaction, technology and opportunity at schools. The report confirmed teachers are passionate about their job, with 96 per cent of respondents saying they find teaching rewarding, and 91 per cent of teachers either 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' with their profession. Nine out of 10 teachers reported a sense of pride about their profession and speak positively about their jobs to their friends and family. This is not surprising …

Teacher Affective Attitudes Inventory: Development And Validation Of A Teacher Self-Assessment Instrument, Holly M. King

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study developed a teacher self-assessment instrument in the form of six factors across two overarching constructs, resulting in one Positive Relationships scale with three factors; and three related, but separate, scales measuring elements of the Classroom Environment. Many teacher skills and qualities are known to contribute to effectiveness in the classroom, such as teacher self-efficacy, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and instructional knowledge. The inclusion of affective dimensions of teacher effectiveness can complement the prevailing focus on other measures of teacher effectiveness, through the consideration of critically important, but relatively ignored, aspects of effective teaching. This study examined teacher attitudes …

The Difference In Attitudes Of Regular And Special Education Teachers Toward Inclusion, Janice Lorraine Brown-Oyola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inclusion has been introduced throughout the educational community as a method to increase math and reading scores of underachieving schools on standardized tests. The problem was that teachers were not effectively implementing inclusion. Guided by Bandura's (1994) self-efficacy theory, which hypothesizes that a person's sense of efficacy provides information of their capability and the ability to assess their performance, the purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to determine if there was a significant difference in attitudes on inclusion between regular and special education teachers using the 4 subsections of the Scale of Teachers: Attitudes Toward Inclusive Classrooms through an …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Factors Associated With Teacher Attitudes And Perceptions Towards Job Satisfaction, Shelby L. Cunningham

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the factors associated with teacher attitudes and perceptions towards job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. While taking into consideration other reasons for teacher shortages, this study sought to determine if teacher attitudes and perceptions of organizational and workplace conditions influence job satisfaction.

Data in this study were gathered using the 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), administered through the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). The power in using this instrument is that it samples a large number of teachers across the United States, from both public …

Designing For Problem-Based Learning: A Comparative Study Of Technology Professional Development, Lei Ye, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather Leary

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of this article is to present two "design-oriented" TTPD (technology-related teacher professional development) designs and investigate the designs' impact on teachers. In one TTPD (tech-only), teachers learned technology skills to create activities using online learning resources. In the other (tech+PBL), teachers learned to create PBL (problem-based learning) activities using online resources. All teachers …

Mixed-Methods Exploration Of Teacher Perceptions: Background, Practices, And Attitudes Related To Student Achievement, Deborah Isabell Faust

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Education policy has focused on teacher quality and student achievement since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, which defined teacher quality in terms of teachers' professional qualifications and certification. This is consistent with a history of econometric studies examining the effects of teacher background characteristics on student achievement. More recently, researchers have argued that investigations of teacher effectiveness should examine what actually happens in the classroom, and that teacher attitudes and instructional practices are conspicuously missing from the prior research.

This study uses a two-phase parallel mixed methods design to explore teacher perceptions of the influence of …

An Investigation Of Higher-Order Thinking Skills In Smaller Learning Community Social Studies Classrooms, Christopher Fischer, Linda Bol, Shana Pribesh

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study investigated the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are promoted in social studies classes in high schools that are implementing smaller learning communities (SLCs). Data collection in this mixed-methods study included classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that higher-order thinking was rarely promoted in SLC classes. Interview data suggests several factors affecting teaching for higher-order thinking in SLC social studies classrooms. These include: high stakes testing, pacing pressures, teachers' dispositions and training, and teacher autonomy.

Staff In Australia’S Schools 2007, Phillip Mckenzie, Julie Kos, Maurice Walker, Jennifer Hong, Susanne Owen

Dr Julie Kos

The SIAS project, undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research in collaboration with the Australia College of Educators, gathered information from over 13,000 secondary and primary school teachers and leaders across the country. It aimed to address key gaps in the data available to characterise the teaching profession to support workforce planning. The project's findings and recommendations are presented in two components: the Staff in Australia's Schools data survey; and a report on Teacher Workforce Data and Planning Processes in Australia. The reports produced through the SIAS project provide a wide range of comprehensive data and advice on a …

An Examination Of The Use Of Portfolios For Faculty Evaluation At Community Colleges, Becky Sain, Mitchell R. Williams

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study provides community college leaders with insights regarding how administrators and faculty members perceive faculty portfolios as an evaluation tool in two-year colleges. Utilizing a qualitative design, this study focused on perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the use of portfolios as the primary instrument for faculty evaluation. Overall, faculty and administrators found portfolios useful when the process encouraged and allowed for faculty self-reflection and honest feedback from administrators.

Asg Student Social And Emotional Health Report, Michael. E. Bernard, Andrew Stephanou, Daniel Urbach

Wellbeing

This report presents the results of sophisticated Rasch measurement analysis and multi-level modelling to validate and support the use of the ACER Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) student and teacher surveys for reporting on the social and emotional well-being of students from the early years of schooling through to senior secondary school levels. It describes the social and emotional well-being of over 10,000 students attending 81 schools across Australia. Among the more important findings of this research are the characteristics of students with low levels of social and emotional well-being compared with students with higher levels of social and emotional …

How Teacher Attitudes And Administrator Behaviors Affect Levels Of Technology Integration In The Classroom, Sheri Leigh Bradshaw

Dissertations

Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well teachers’ attitudes predict levels of technology integration into the classroom. This study also investigated whether perceived support from the administrator as the instructional leader was related to teachers’ levels of technology integration into the classroom. The population for this study included identified school districts in rural North Georgia. Utilizing the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the 2002-2003 school year, the researcher identified 5 peer districts: Franklin County, Gilmer County, Stephens County, Union County, and White County. All middle and high school teachers within a district were invited to …

Creation Of A Faculty Task List For Teaching In A Televised Distance Learning Environment, John E. Turner, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop a task list from which a self-check readiness evaluation tool could be developed to assist faculty who were unfamiliar with televised distance instruction. The study's results should provide guidance to new faculty in identifying both self-directed and assisted staff development activities in preparation for implementing distance education. A survey of experienced distance learning faculty at a major eastern university was utilized for data collection. Initial survey items came from distance learning literature, as well as interviews and feedback from six faculty members experienced in televised instruction. At the request of the researchers, …

A Study Of Elementary Teachers' Abilities, Attitudes, And Beliefs About Problem Solving, Nancy Mullins Brown

Legacy ETDs

Problem solving has been alternately viewed as the justification for the study of mathematics or as the impetus and means for studying mathematics. This study examines characteristics—attitudes toward problem solving, beliefs about problem solving, and abilities to solve problems—of elementary teachers of grades three, four, and five that relate to problem solving.

Participants completed a two-part survey to quantify their attitudes and beliefs and a problem-solving activity which quantified their problem-solving abilities. Four participants were subsequently interviewed. Analyses showed that these teachers had generally positive attitudes toward problem solving, generally positive beliefs about problem solving, and generally poor problem-solving abilities. …

Science, Technology And Society In Science Education, Debra Tedman

Shannon Research Press

This study had four major purposes. First, the study developed and used scales to measure the strength and coherence of students', teachers', and scientists' views, beliefs and attitudes in relation to science, technology and society (STS). Second, the factors which influenced the development of strong and coherent views on STS by students, were examined. Third, the study investigated whether male and female students differed in the strength and coherence of their views on STS. Fourth, structured group interviews with teachers provided information for the consideration of the problems encountered by teachers and students in the introduction of STS courses.

Defining Humanistic Philosophy, Pedagogy And Teaching Practices In Relation To English Language Teaching, Robert G. Emigh

MA TESOL Collection

The intentions of this study was to arrive at a better understanding of how teachers define humanistic education, and how this understanding informs and influences their approaches to language teaching. The first section of this paper overviews the thoughts of three prominent humanistic educators. This is meant to serve as a grounding for the second part of the paper which reports and analyses the results of a study of eleven practicing EFL and ESL teachers. The teachers responded to a questionnaire and submitted to an interview regarding how they viewed humanistic education and how those views translated into teaching practices.

The Relationship Between Teacher Attitudes And Student Perceptions Of Classroom Climate, Jacques S. Benninga, Thomas R. Guskey, Kathy R. Thornburg

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Individual Education: Being An Account Of An Experiment In Operation At The Thebarton Technical High School, South Australia, Charles Fenner, A.G. Paull

Australian Educational Studies

The experiment which is dealt With in this paper arose out of a stimulating discussion regarding the "Dalton Plan," which took place in the Education Section at the Perth meeting of the Association in 1926. The experiment at the Thebarton Technical High School was put into operation from the beginning of 1927, and a preliminary account was read at the Hobart meeting in 1928. That account was published in abstract in Volume XIX of the Proceedings of the Association, and in full as Bulletin No. 2 of the South Australian Education Department (S.A. Education Gazette, 1928, pp. 148-150 and 182-184). …