Education Commons^™

A Community Of Practice Approach To Teacher Learning, Jayne L. Tanis

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Teacher effectiveness has been targeted by government agencies and educational think tanks for raising student achievement and providing equitable education for all. Exploring how teachers enacted their development of practice in a teacher-initiated learning community of practice to improve student achievement in mathematics exposed mediating factors responsible for teacher learning. This qualitative study drew upon Aristotle’s discussion of phronesis and Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral participation to interpret how artifacts produced within and across communities of practice reified the elements of collaborative teacher learning that lead to changes in instructional practice during a reform initiative. These findings …

Using Video To Reframe The Teacher Evaluation Process As A Professional Learning Experience : An Action Research Study, Andrew C. Matteo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this action research study was to work with a group of teachers to refine an organizational routine dealing with teacher evaluation with the dual goals of (a) increasing the teachers’ sense of professionalism and improving the technical core of their work—instruction— and (b) moving toward a routine that the district will be able to use in the future. The research question that guided this work was, “How do we experience the organizational routine that I developed using video for teacher evaluation for improving teacher practice as compared to the existing teacher evaluation system, and how does our …

Grassroots Professional Learning : The Homegrown And Human Dimensions Of Teacher Learning, Heather A. Frank Matteo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study was prompted by the current climate of teacher accountability and educational reform efforts focused on teacher quality and effectiveness in the U.S. Initiatives, at both the national and state levels, reflect top-down professional development policies that tend to prioritize one-size-fits-all approaches to teacher development and ultimately serve to deprofessionalize teachers. As a result, little attention has been paid to understanding teachers’ professional learning in a grassroots sense. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how a group of elementary school teachers of literacy engaged collectively in grassroots professional learning in the context of top-down professional …

The Social Capital In Teacher Leadership Activities, Kristen Trabona

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This dissertation presents findings from a qualitative case study of two K-12 science teacher leader fellows involved in a corporate grant funded professional development program. I specifically examined how teacher leaders used social capital as they facilitated professional development in their schools. I explored the following question: How do teacher leadership activities facilitated by novice teacher leaders who participate in a grant funded teacher leadership professional development program rely on social capital to enact change? The following main themes emerged in the data: (a) intentionality plays a critical role in teacher leadership; (b) teacher leadership activities require an introspective lens; …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy : The Views Of Latinx Students Inform Teacher Professional Development On Critical Consciousness, Florita Cotto

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The number of Latinx K-12 students has grown dramatically over recent years. There are approximately 12.5 million Latinx students in U.S. public schools. Despite these large population gains, inner city Latinx students continue to struggle academically. Their dropout rate is almost two times higher than that of white students, making it the highest of all ethnic and racial groups. In the past several decades, there has been a focus on accountability, school choice, and various other educational reforms that have been implemented with an aim to improve student performance. However, these reform efforts have not yielded the desired change and …

Institutional Racism And The Transformative Practices Of Black Women Educators In New York City Alternative Education, Gail M. Perry-Ryder

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

How does a teaching practice meet structural violence and oppression? And, how do teachers navigate systems they wish to change, in which they are also participating? This study is a qualitative investigation of institutional racism and power in U.S. alternative educational settings, and the knowledge and experiences of six Black women educators working to counteract the problem from the inside. There is a vast literature on preparing teachers for diverse classrooms; however, it has not adequately represented teachers who deploy transformative practices to directly challenge institutional racism in nontraditional educational settings, nor has it addressed the costs associated with doing …

Understanding Epistemic Cognition : Aspects That Emerge When Early Childhood Teachers Consider Materials And Plan Instruction For Literacy Learning, Kit Marie Saiz De La Mora

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight into early childhood teachers’ engagement in epistemic cognition in the context of literacy instruction practices. Early literacy instruction was an important context to examine epistemic cognition because of the complexity of the teaching task. Early literacy instruction involves the simultaneous consideration of knowledge about multiple components of language structure in addition to knowledge of pedagogy, child development, and understandings of immediate socio-cultural context.

Teacher educators need to know how teachers think about knowledge in these multiple areas when they are planning early literacy instruction so they can effectively prepare them …