Education Commons^™

America Reads-Mississippi Future Teacher Corps: A Study Of Program Completers' Perception Of Factors Influencing The Decision To Become And Remain Classroom Teachers, Deborah Green Moore

Dissertations

Despite the number of programs in Mississippi that focus on developing and training teachers, the State continues to face a critical teacher shortage. This non-experimental, ex-post facto, quantitative study investigated the America Reads- Mississippi (ARM) Future Teacher Corps (FTC) program, an AmeriCorps program in Mississippi with a mission to improve the reading skills of students, encourage public awareness, support literacy, and help increase the number of certified teachers in Mississippi. FTC, a sub-corps of ARM, was created in 2007 to address teacher shortages through structured community education and teacher-specific training, with the goal of increasing the number of certified teachers …

Influence Of Teacher Qualifications, Experience, Instructional Methods, And Professional Development On Student Achievement On The Mississippi Writing Assessment In Grades Four And Seven, Stacy Kihneman Garcia

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if teacher qualifications, experience, instructional methods, and professional development influenced student achievement on the Mississippi Writing Assessment in grades four and seven. The study was conducted in the three coastal counties of southern Mississippi. Participants were fourth or seventh grade teachers who taught in one of the eight school districts that were included in the study.

Participants were asked to provide information regarding their qualifications, amount of classroom experience, preferred instructional methods, and feelings on professional development. Also requested from each teacher was his/her classroom average on the Mississippi Writing Assessment from …

An Examination Of Mississippi Public School Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Their Professional Development Experiences In Raising Student Achievement, Daniel Martin Rushing

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the elements needed to produce a high quality professional development program for teachers. The researcher sought to determine possible factors that had a significant relationship to Mississippi public school teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their professional development experiences in raising student achievement. Furthermore, the researcher wanted to identify possible inequities with professional development opportunities for teachers in Mississippi. It is the hope of the researcher to highlight the characteristics of effective professional learning defined by research that would kindle a desire in classroom teachers to advance their skill levels …

Practitioners Or Researchers: Ed.D. Or Ph.D.? An Analysis Of Educational Leadership Doctoral Programs, Michael Dwyane Kennedy Jr.

Dissertations

This mostly descriptive study was conducted to analyze differences in doctoral degrees in educational leadership programs across the United States based on U.S. News and World Report (2011) rankings for Graduate Schools of Education. Specifically, this study explored admission, program, and final requirements as well as curriculum and faculty roles to determine the trends that have been evolving, increasing, decreasing, or remaining consistent in certain schools of the United States since the release of the Levine study of educational leadership programs in 2005. Five groups were used: 1) higher ranked 20; 2) lower ranked 20 graduate education schools; 3) top …

Implications Of The No Child Left Behind Legislation On Career And Technical Education, Thomas Kyle Wallace

Dissertations

The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001 brought about a multitude of education reform policies for education institutions that made the future of Career and Technical Education’s (CTE) role in secondary educations unclear. These mandates forced educational leaders to emphasize student enrollment in tracks that prepare them for post-secondary educational opportunities that require a stronger background in academic courses. The standards-based mandates required by NCLB legislation make promotion of CTE courses more difficult because these courses are primarily elective courses and have caused educational agencies to look at what CTE programs provide in terms of meeting …

A Study Of Factors Related To Teacher Attrition, Leslie Ann Beaugez

Dissertations

This study examined factors related to teacher attrition. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the level of teacher satisfaction that could motivate a teacher to remain in the profession in a national sample could be predicted from selected factors. Furthermore, this study examined teachers’ perceptions of worry/stress based on student performance on state and/or local tests.

The participants in the study were in two groups: teachers in a national sample that responded to items on the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey and certified teachers from a southeastern school district who also responded to one of the items …

High-Stakes Testing And Its Relationship To Stress Levels Of Coastal Secondary Teachers, Sheneatha Lashelle Alexander Mcdaniel

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between high-stakes tests and stress with secondary teachers. Furthermore, this study investigated whether veteran teachers experience more stress than novice teachers and whether or not self efficacy, gender, accountability status, and years of experience influence teacher stress as it relates to high-stakes testing. This contributed to the existing literature that relates to teacher stress and high-stakes testing.

The participants for the study included Mississippi public coastal secondary school teachers who have administered the Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program system. The districts chosen were all secondary coastal schools. There was a …

Teacher Certification And Student Achievement, Patricia Lewis Moss

Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine if there is a significant difference between the achievement of students who are taught by traditionally prepared teachers and that of students who are taught by alternatively prepared teachers. The study further addressed the perspectives of both groups of teachers regarding selected dimensions of teaching.

The findings indicated that, overall, no significant difference existed in student achievement on MCT2 math scores for teachers who were alternatively prepared or traditionally prepared. However, there were significant differences in student achievement in grades 6 and 7 when examined by teacher preparation type. There was …

A Study Of Satp Scores And Principals’ Perceptions For Traditional And Alternate Routes To Teacher Certification, Eddie Eugene Moore

Dissertations

This study explores the differences between traditional and alternate route certification by focusing on the achievement of students who have been instructed by teachers from each program. In addition, this study identifies the strengths and weaknesses of teachers from each certification route through surveys and interviews with principals in the sample. Previous studies on this subject have focused on elementary or middle schools, which limits the information available for the high school level. This study was directed toward high school teachers in core subject areas tested in Mississippi’s accountability model. The purpose of this study was to connect student test …

Retaining Urban Middle School Teachers: An Investigation Of Influencing Factors, Jacqueline Elaine Richardson

Dissertations

President William Jefferson Clinton is often credited with beginning a new era of improving teacher quality. Since the late 1990‘s, the federal government has presented a number of reforms that have encouraged states to develop methods to address the revolving door of teachers entering and exiting schools yearly. Retaining teachers has been documented as a historical problem, specifically at the urban middle school level where the most at-risk students need and deserve more stability and effectively trained teachers. Students at-risk of failing need a high-quality teacher in order to attain high standards and graduate with the necessary skills to succeed …

Pre-Kindergarten Education: Is There A Relationship Between Pre-Kindergarten Participation And Student Achievement?, Carol Goldate Barlow

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the intervention of attending public school pre-kindergarten had an impact on student achievement as measured by the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) considering gender, socioeconomic status, and grade retention. This research study included both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data included all 2009-2010 fourth-grade LEAP math and English language arts scaled scores collected from a specified public school district. To determine the impact of pre-kindergarten attendance on student achievement, the LEAP scores of students who attended public school pre-kindergarten were compared to LEAP scores of students in the same school district …

Roadblocks To Integrating Technology Into Classroom Instruction, Courteney Lester Knight

Dissertations

Although research has concluded that technology can enhance the teaching and learning processes, teachers have not yet fully adopted technology to support their teaching methodologies. In the last decade or so, as the accessible gap narrowed, the focus switched to other factors. This study attempts to answer the question: Why teachers do not fully integrate technology into their classroom instruction?

Recently a preponderance of the literature on technology integration has inquired into teachers’ knowledge of technology, the role of the administrator, the curriculum and teachers’ perception of the benefits of technology in instruction. The problem was to determine the relationship …

The Effect Of Teachers’ Expectations And Perceptions On Student Achievement In Reading For Third And Fifth Grade Students, Alfreda Ragland Williams

Dissertations

All too often, a student’s lack of success is blamed on his or her background, and/or the parent or the parent’s educational level. Many factors such as socioeconomic conditions, student behaviors, attendance, and teacher demographics can directly or indirectly affect class environment, classroom management, interaction with students, and equal treatment of students. In addition, a teacher’s perception of students plays a vital role in the teacher’s expectations, interactions, and relationships with his or her students. The purpose of the study was twofold. First, this study investigated the relationship between teachers’ expectations of equal treatment of students, class environment, interaction with …

Classroom Management Styles: The Differences Among Traditionally-Licensed Teachers Who Were Formally Paraprofessionals And Alternatively-Licensed Teachers, Caterria Beasley Payton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine ifthere was a difference in the attitudes and beliefs of traditionally certified teachers who were previously assistant teachers and alternatively certified teachers regarding classroom management. The instrument used in the study was the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory -Revised and Revisited (ABCC-R) (Martin, Yin, & Mayall, 2008). The sample included 171 participants. Seventy seven of those participants were traditionally certified teachers who were previously assistant teachers, and 94 alternatively certified teachers from four school districts across the state.

The study focused on two dimensions of classroom management: Instructional Management, tasks …

Assessment Of A University Faculty Development Program On Speaking And Writing Pedagogy Through Direct Measurement Of Student Learning Outcomes, Julie Gissendanner Howdeshell

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess a faculty development program through direct measurement of student learning outcomes through investigating the relationship between participation in a faculty development program on speaking and writing pedagogy and student learning outcomes in oral and written communication. Faculty and students enrolled in senior capstone courses in Spring 2011 were asked to participate as part of requirements for internal assessment and external accreditation. Of the 1,448 students enrolled in capstone courses that semester, 1,002 papers and 727 recordings were received, representing 69% and 50% of those enrolled respectively. A sample of 400 papers and …

Teacher Perception Of Their Initial Traditional Or Alternitive Teacher Training Program, Daphne Yolanda Lowe

Dissertations

This study was conducted to identify if there was a need for reform within initial traditional teacher and/or alternative route teacher training programs. The purpose of this study was to gather data about teachers’ perceptions of their initial teacher training program (traditional undergraduate or alternative route) as adequate training to prepare them to complete their actual teacher job tasks. The study compared the perceptions of teachers with varying years of teaching experience (one to two, three to four, and more than five) to identify if there was a difference and/or how years of teaching experience impacted teachers’ perceptions of their …