Education Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of Practicing Educators’ Personal And Collaborative Experiences Within A Climate Of High Stakes Individual Accountability, Kathy L. Stewart

Dissertations

With the national focus in education turning to increasing student achievement and closing achievement gaps between demographic groups, federal and state policy has extended responsibility and high stakes accountability for student growth and achievement. Overall, student achievement status and elimination of achievement gaps between demographically defined sub-groups of students remain cornerstones of accountability under ESEA and now ESSA. Under the Obama Administration, however, accountability for academic growth was extended to individual classroom teachers and school and district-level administrators through federal policy provisions tying student growth to performance evaluation. As a result, many states, including Michigan, enacted legislation to mandate high …

The Impact Of Denominational Affiliation On Organizational Sense Of Belonging And Commitment Of Adjunct Faculty At Bible Colleges And Universities, Kimberly M. Pilieci

Dissertations

The majority of faculty in higher education, including secular and biblical institutions, are adjunct faculty. The literature suggests that adjunct faculty are less effective and satisfied, and have weaker organizational sense of belonging (OSB) and affective organizational commitment (AOC). Denominational affiliation (DA) and religious commitment (RC) might mitigate the adjunct faculty’s feelings regarding OSB and AOC, but no research has pursued this set of questions. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of denominational affiliation and religious commitment on organizational sense of belonging and affective organizational commitment among the sample population, adjunct faculty at colleges and …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Whether Elementary Teachers’ Science Kit Usage And Beliefs Can Predict State Science Assessment Scores, Tony E. Rice

Dissertations

The purpose of this survey was to describe and analyze the perceptions of elementary school teachers’ in a Midwestern state concerning their use of a science kit program, including to what extent a school’s state science assessment scores can be predicated from the level of science kit usage.

Prior research indicates that elementary school teachers lack the confidence in teaching science primarily because of their weak undergraduate training in inquiry-based instruction and the lack of a strong science background. Authors such as Dickerson et al. (2006) and Riggs and Enochs (2006) argued that science kits and the materials included in …

Guided Educational Tourism As Informal Science Education: An Empirical Study, Joseph Martin Lane

Dissertations

The scientific research and education communities have long had the goal of advancing the publics’ understanding of science. Informal science education is a powerful mechanism for shaping human conduct, enhancing quality of life, and advancing the publics’ understandings and values regarding science. Guided educational tours (that present science content) provide visitors with unique opportunities to observe and discuss scientific phenomena in the field. Available empirical research related to learning science from guided educational tours is, at best, limited. Research leading to the development of effective guided educational tours that present and interpret scientific information is of interest to both non-profit …

Preservice Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge For Nature Of Science And Nature Of Scientific Inquiry: A Successful Case Study, Gunkut Mesci

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation project is to explore preservice science teachers’ development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for targeted aspects of nature of science (NOS) and nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). Through multiple data sources, it is examined how preservice science teachers’ understanding of NOS and NOSI have changed over the program, and manifests itself in their classroom practice. This is an exploratory multiple case study of participants’ experiences and developments during a teacher development program. Data is collected in the form of open-ended surveys, interviews, observations, lesson plans, video materials, and teaching documents. After all data is collected, …

The Experience Of Teachers And Deans In An Intensive Weekly Observation/Feedback Model, Kathleen A. Grinwis

Dissertations

This phenomenological study looked at the lived experiences of 12 teachers and deans participating in an intensive weekly observation/feedback model in several charter school academies. In this model, teachers and deans work to grow as educators and to reach their professional development goals. While we know that a major factor in increasing the proficiency rate of our students is improving teacher effectiveness, not as much is known about how to provide the necessary guidance for teachers’ professional growth and efficacy development. The challenge for leaders is to develop effective systems of supervision that support teachers and administrators as they work …

The Relationship Between Student Achievement And Professional Learning Communities At The Middle School Level, Michael S. Burde

Dissertations

For nearly two decades, schools throughout the United States and beyond have utilized the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model to foster teacher collaboration in hopes of improving student achievement outcomes. At the turn of the century, much of the research suggested a positive relationship between student achievement outcomes and the implementation of PLC’s in the school setting. The more recent research suggests little to no relationship between PLC’s and student achievement outcomes.

In an effort to bring clarity to the conflicting research, data was collected from a sample of 12 schools which included 275 teachers and nearly 6,000 students. Teacher …