Education Commons^™

Are They Ready? Do Teacher Preparation Programs Adequately Prepare Students To Implement Culturally Responsive Teaching?, Frances A. Aboushi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

A narrative study was used to examine the lived experiences of novice teachers and their knowledge base of culturally responsive pedagogy and its implementation in the classroom. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews of 12 participants who completed a teacher preparation program. Through coding analysis, data was analyzed around the tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy and the impact of self-efficacy in its implementation. Although their knowledge about culturally responsive pedagogy varied, their responses illustrated the need for teacher preparation programs to provide a framework of uniformity and accountability.

The level of training obtained substantially impacted their self-efficacy in adopting CRP …

How Preservice Teachers Develop Awareness And Beliefs About Design Features And Academic Language Features When Choosing And Evaluating Digital Math Games For English Language Learners, Allison L. Roxburgh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This mixed methods study examined how preservice teachers developed awareness and beliefs about design features and academic language features when choosing and evaluating digital math games for English language learners. The overarching research question for this study was, “How do preservice teachers develop awareness and beliefs about design features and academic language features when choosing and evaluating digital math games for English language learners (ELLs)?” During the study, 21 elementary preservice teachers participated in online learning modules about design features and academic language features in digital math games. During the modules, preservice teachers chose and evaluated three digital math games …

Using Online Video Observations And Real Time, Peer Reflective Analysis Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Pedagogy In A University Teacher Preparatory Program For Preservice Teachers, Adrian E. Cortes

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This research aimed to understand the impacts of using online video observations and real-time peer reflection to teach and address culturally responsive teaching in a Pacific Northwest university’s teacher preparatory program. Six active university students enrolled in a university’s new teacher preparatory program (i.e., preservice, new teacher candidates) actively participated in all areas of this study (i.e., nonrandom sampling) and provided both quantitative and qualitative data. Study participants completed self-evaluative pre- and post-surveys in a research group session. Surveys were built using the ready 4 rigor framework (Hammond & Jackson, 2015) and the four areas of culturally responsive teaching as …

Perceptions Of Preservice And Mentor Teachers Of Gaining Pedagogical Content Knowledge In Phonics And Phonemic Awareness, Penelope Maureen Montfort

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has shown that, although phonics and phonemic awareness predict reading success, a majority of early learners still lack these skills. Research also showed that a majority of preservice teachers (PSTs) in early childhood education teacher (ECTE) may not have gained adequate pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in phonics and phonemic awareness during their mentored practicums. This may have contributed to kindergarten students’ poor performance in phonics and phonemic awareness on the national literacy assessments between 2015 and 2018 in one education district in Guyana. These students are not prepared for reading success. Using a basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were …

Developing New Teachers' Pedagogical Content And Relationship Knowledge (Pcrk) During A One-Year Urban Residency Teacher Preparation Program, Daryl Essensa

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined how participation in a full public school year-long urban teacher residency program influencedthe perceptions of 17 new middle and high school teacher candidates about the use of affective qualities of learning within their classroom practices as teachers—Pedagogical Content and Relationship Knowledge (PCRK).The preservice teachers in this study explored the relationship between pedagogy and student learning of subject matter through a variety of course-related assignments, which included classroom-based application of the pedagogical strategies learned in coursework, readings, and reflections. Individual interviews were used to evaluate how the course and the assignments influenced the instructional practices of the preservice …

Bridging The Gap Between Doing Math And Teaching Math: Supporting Mathematically Competent And Confident K-6 Preservice Teachers., Athena Novack

Doctorate in Education

Teachers with math anxiety can inadvertently pass along their own anxiety to the younger generation, creating a cycle of math anxiety. This study aims to interrupt this cycle by learning more about math anxiety and self-efficacy of the preservice teacher. This sequential, mixed methods action research study sought to explore ways to decrease math anxiety and increase self-efficacy among preservice teachers by examining how the use of self-recordings and mircoteaching throughout a semester-long course for preservice teachers at a small midwestern university impacted their math anxiety and self-efficacy.

Using the abbreviated Math Anxiety Rating Scale (A-MARS) 20 participants realized an …

Elementary Preservice Teachers Self-Efficacy And Confidence Teaching Engineering, Andrea Perrin

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

Engineering has become a popular topic within science standards in recent years. However, many teachers do not have experience teaching or doing engineering. With the possibility of engineering becoming a major part of the science curriculum, it is important that teachers are prepared and well equipped to teach and instruct engineering activities, lessons, and support. This quantitative study studied elementary preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and confidence with teaching engineering in the classroom after experiencing and teaching engineering activities. Overall, the implementation of the engineering activities had both positive and negative impacts on preservice teachers’ perceptions of themselves and teaching engineering in …

Preservice Teacher Action Research : Making Meaning And Generating Knowledge Through Inquiry, Rachel Ginsberg

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study, situated in a large state university, investigated how the experiences of preservice teachers conducting action research in their full-time clinical placements as part of a seminar course in a teacher education program fostered a critical teacher inquiry stance. I examined how action research allowed preservice teachers to generate personal and educational knowledge and how their inquiry influenced the ways in which they thought about how teachers make meaning and generate knowledge. Using critical teacher inquiry as a framework allowed a critical lens that prioritized the need and importance of viewing teachers’ inquiry in the classroom as a …

Preparing Preservice Teachers To Facilitate Courageous Conversations: A Case Study Of Social Studies Teacher Educators' Perceptions And Practices, Ariel N. Henry

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars and associations committed to powerful social studies education have long advocated for students to explore controversial issues so they grow into informed, ethical, and participating citizens. Yet, teachers avoid undertaking this work due to a lack of training, confidence, or experience in facilitating courageous conversations about tough issues. Teachers may fear facing complaints and retribution. They may worry about how to defuse classroom tensions and manage strong emotions. While scholarship on teaching controversy has primarily focused on preservice and in-service teachers’ views and experiences, research examining teacher educators’ perceptions and practices has been limited. The purpose of this qualitative …

“If You’Re Not Disrupting It, Then Who Is?”: Understanding The Effects Of Participating In Anti-Sexism Workshops On Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices, Kimberly J. Pfeifer

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological-inspired study seeks to understand both how preservice teachers make sense of their roles as anti-sexist educators and what effects participating in anti-sexism professional development (PD) may have on preservice teachers’ beliefs and practices, specifically as they connect to gender. Through four video-recorded workshops centered on an anti-sexist curriculum, questionnaire data, and subsequent individual semi-structured interviews, this study found four distinct yet interconnected themes. The first two themes: (1) Hesitancies and (2) There, Not Here, elucidate the precariousness of the teacher candidate role. While the following themes: (3) Shifts and (4) More, demonstrate the effects of participating in this …

Valuing Voices: Construction Of Meaning Through Discursive Interactions During A Critical Service-Learning Partnership, Jane Helen Noble

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As teacher educators strive to prepare preservice teachers for careers as literacy instructors and advocates of social justice in education, critical service-learning pedagogy has been considered as an approach for teacher education programs. Tenets of academic study, reflective practice, social change, and the development of authentic relationships between universities and communities outline the structure for critical-based field experiences. What are preservice teachers learning in these spaces? How do they grow as part of critical service- learning courses? How do community organizations and members interpret experiences in the partnership, and how do they describe their roles?

This study highlights the voices …

Video Analysis In Educator Preparation And Its Impact On Teacher Performance Assessment, Kirsten Koetje

Education Dissertations

The researcher analyzed data from two online cohorts of preservice teachers at a small, liberal arts university in Washington State. The researcher conducted a correlational analysis to determine if standardized writing scores and the quantity of video analysis conducted during the educator preparation program (EPP) predicted performance on the national Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). Contrary to the researcher’s hypothesis, academic writing ability did not have a predictive positive relationship with edTPA performance, r = -.004, p = .98. The total quantity of video analysis, both of self and of other, resulted in a statistically significant positive correlation with …

Leadership Preparation Of Preservice Teachers, Kelly Lenarz

Ed.D. Dissertations

Educator preparation providers are passionate about developing the best teachers. It is important for teacher preparation programs to explore how teacher leadership can help attract and retain a diverse and quality educator workforce, however research on teacher leadership at the preservice level is limited. This quantitative study examined the preparation of preservice teachers for leadership. One hundred student teachers completed an online survey using Survey Monkey® to determine the relationship between teacher licensure area (elementary, secondary, K-12, and special education) and leadership behaviors, opportunities, and aspirations. Data analysis was completed using measures of central tendency and variance. No statistically significant …

The Perspectives Of Early Childhood College Faculty On The Role Of Play, Susan Paula Mckoy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEarly Childhood and Care Education (ECCE) educators are expected to understand the role of play and implement play in their classrooms, but specific classes on the role of play at the college level are not offered. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of full-time ECCE faculty at a Southeastern state technical college teaching preservice teachers to determine their students’ understanding of the role of play, the inclusion of play in their lesson plans, and how play is being implemented in their classrooms. The conceptual framework guiding the study was Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. …

No Habla Espanol: Are Monolingual Teachers Getting The Support They Need?, Rosa I. Castillo-Rocha

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researchers investigated how monolingual teachers view the support and resources they received to teach English Language Learners (ELL) and what they thought could be done to improve their teaching effectiveness. An evidence-based argument is offered that monolingual teachers were not being provided with effective support and resources. More specifically, three themes emerged from an analysis of the data obtained from interviews of monolingual teachers and administrators. Based on the emergent themes, an action was undertaken to help monolingual teachers better address the needs of ELLs. This is an important issue for monolingual teachers because the …

Preservice Teachers Knowledge Of Adolescent Suicide, Annette N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to prepare future teachers to teach

and mentor students through their academic years. With the rise of suicide in school age children, responsibility has fallen to teachers to better recognize and understand students who may be suicidal. This study sought to answer the question: to what degree does teaching certification, teaching experience, and suicide awareness embedded coursework predict preservice teachers’ knowledge of suicide awareness and prevention? Data from the Adolescent Suicide Behavior Questionnaire and a demographic survey which asked about participants’ preservice training was sent to universities and colleges in Texas with an undergraduate …

Culturally Related Curriculum And How It Influences Preservice Teachers, Ana-Alicia Gonzales

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Variation in the way that teacher preparation programs implement culturally related curriculum leads to different preservice teacher perceptions on preparedness to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. Research has indicated that preservice teachers can feel prepared after taking a culturally related course, but there is a gap in understanding how culturally related curriculum influences preparedness. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, explanatory study was to explore how preservice teachers' perceived intercultural competence and self-efficacy, which contribute to preparedness, are influenced by forms of culturally related curriculum in a U.S. university teacher preparation program. Deardorff's model of intercultural competence, Bennett's developmental model …

Discovering The Self That Teaches: Multimedia Reflective Journaling And The Education Stories Of Beginning Preservice Teachers, Meredith Paula Allard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Who is the self that teaches (Palmer, 1998)? One way of uncovering a teacher’s self may be to allow beginning preservice teachers the opportunity to share their education stories, which may then allow them to explore their initial self-concepts of their roles as future teachers. This study used narrative inquiry and the arts-based activities of a multimedia reflective journal and a memoir reflective assignment as tools to help beginning preservice teachers discover and learn from their education stories. The frameworks of arts-based education research, transformative learning, and transformative teaching provided a unique lens through which to explore the education stories …

Surveying Educations Professionals To Explore How To Incorporate Trauma Education In Ucf's Teach Preparation Program, Jordan Doman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Traumatic events do not discriminate based on economic status, race, culture, or age. This is true for the hundreds of thousands of students who walk into classrooms every day having experienced trauma. Our teachers are then challenged to support these students in a time when their ability to learn may be affected by trauma.

The goal of my thesis is to show the need to educate preservice teachers in the University of Central Florida's elementary education teacher preparation program about students experiencing trauma and how to best support these students. By analyzing existing literature and through interviews with professionals working …

An Examination Of The Instruction Of Religion Clause Issues In Massachusetts Teacher Education Programs, Matthew E. Henry

Educational Studies Dissertations

The prevailing research, as well as reported complaints of academic, civic, personal, and social harm, indicates that public school teachers do not exhibit the professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes grounded in the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution. This study investigated how TEPs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts document their instruction of preservice teachers on religion clause issues as they apply to grade 6-12 content area pedagogy, curriculum, and professional ethos. The institutional documents presented to preservice teachers were collected from four teacher education programs in the Commonwealth. An evaluation tool— synthesized from the leading scholarship and research on the …

Exploring Teacher Candidates’ Civic Efficacy Through Civic Engagement And Critical Literacy In A Literacy Methods Course, Dana M. Karraker

Theses and Dissertations

Public school spaces play a large role in developing people’s understandings of civic knowledge and responsibility. Teachers, administrators, and policy-makers design school curriculum to reflect the types of citizens they believe a society needs, and thus, determines approaches to teaching and curriculum development (Labaree, 1997). This action research study examined the civic efficacy and critical literacy understandings of seven elementary education teacher candidates enrolled in a content area literacy course. The course and the study were designed using a critical literacy and civic efficacy framework as literacy practices are closely connected to the ways in which people are able to …

The Effect Of Instructional Strategies On Math Anxiety And Achievement: A Mixed Methods Study Of Preservice Elementary Teachers, Janelle K. Lorenzen

Dissertations

This study addressed how different instructional strategies affected preservice elementary teachers’ levels of math anxiety and their achievement in a math content course while considering descriptions of their experiences in the course in relation to their math anxiety and achievement. The instructional strategies used were traditional teaching methods and inquiry-based learning (IBL). A mixed methods embedded design was used in which the major design of the study is a nonequivalent control group design, where the collection of data occurred before, during, and after the intervention. There were 103 participants who were elementary education preservice teachers with 58 of them being …

Responses Of Education Preparation Program Instructors Toward Mental Health Legislation, Alison Bradford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, Texas State legislature passed Senate Bill 460 which implemented a law that requires the inclusion of knowledge relating to students’ mental health status in teacher preparation curriculum. This requirement is explained in Texas Education Code (TEC) §21.044(b). The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of awareness of the new requirement and the attitudes toward mental health among Education Preparation Program (EPP) instructors. In addition, faculty were asked about their implementation plans for the new requirement.

A survey was developed to address these research questions. Thirty-five public and private universities in Texas were targeted, which resulted …

First-Year Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Readiness For The Classroom, Kathryn Elizabeth Pritchard

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study addresses the impact of teacher preparation programs on novice teachers’ perceived readiness for the classroom. An explanatory sequential mixed-method, three-phase design was used involving two collections of quantitative data and a focus group convened to explore themes that emerged from quantitative data. Data collected suggest whether the type of teacher preparation program completed by a preservice teacher impacts a novice teacher’s perceived sense of readiness for teaching. Butin (2010) discussed “translating research into effective practice has been the weak link” (p. 4) in research studies. Studying a potential connection between teacher sense of readiness for the classroom and …

A Mixed-Methods Study Of A Teacher Preparation Program: Preservice Teachers' Perceived Preparedness To Integrate Technology Effectively, Erin Banks Davis

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which preservice teachers within a teacher preparation program perceived themselves to be prepared to integrate technology, specifically examining the level of confidence preservice teachers perceive themselves to have towards TPACK-related skills needed to integrate technology into their instruction. Participants in this research study were solicited based on their enrollment in the selected teacher preparation program within the last 5 years; also included were current seniors enrolled in their final semester before degree completion. This research study contains a sample size of 20 participants from a small, private university in …

An Investigation Into The Self-Efficacy Of Jamaican Preservice Teachers For Working In Inclusive Classrooms, Sharon A. Anderson Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this applied dissertation was to examine changes in the self-efficacy of preservice teachers on completion of a special needs course and to determine whether there is a correlation between self-efficacy and several demographic variables. Studies conducted in several countries revealed that, despite participation in a special needs course, preservice teachers often expressed low levels of confidence for the inclusion of students with special needs in their general education classrooms. Because there is not much research in the Caribbean on this subject, this study sought to further explore this issue within a different cultural context. The case study, …

Exploring The Role Of Feedback And Its Impact Within A Digital Badge System From Multiple Perspectives: A Case Study Of Preservice Teachers, Erin D. Besser

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the role feedback plays within the instructional process, and how students are using feedback to inform their course work within Digital Badge contexts. Educators are looking toward Digital Badges as a way to increase student engagement (Abramovich et al., 2013; Glover & Latif, 2013), develop mastery with critical concepts (Mehta et al., 2013), and reduce gaps in student knowledge (Bowen & Thomas, 2014; Guskey, 2007). Feedback is emphasized as a critical component (Bloom, 1968, 1976; Guskey, 2007; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Slavin & Karweit, 1984). Instructors need to be able …

Performing Critical Consciousness In Teaching: Entanglements Of Knowing, Feeling And Relating, Kathleen A. Mcdonough

Doctoral Dissertations

At a time when education reform is guided by neoliberalism, accountability and standardization have reshaped teaching as highly technocratic and threatened the democratic possibilities of public education. Even so, many teacher education programs have taken up the call to prepare teachers to teach for social justice, whether framed as multicultural education, critical literacy, or critical pedagogy. A construct that ties these pedagogical approaches together is critical consciousness, with the aim of some teacher education efforts to evoke critical consciousness among preservice teachers. This study focuses on exploring how nine educators from elementary grades to higher education experience and enact critical …

Exploring Stakeholders' Perceptions Of The Evaluation Of Early Fieldwork Experience In An Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program, Amber R. Peacock

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a qualitative meta-evaluation of the early field experience (EFE) program at a small, private, undergraduate teacher preparation program in Virginia focusing on the perceptions of preservice teachers, cooperating teachers and course instructors about the EFE evaluation objectives, evaluation experience, and resulting data usage. The EFE evaluation protocol at the study site is explored using a participatory-oriented evaluation model that solicited the perceptions of stakeholders. Analysis of EFE evaluation documents and semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to explore the extent to which (1) official EFE objectives are congruent with the EFE evaluation, (2) the intended evaluation …

A Comparison Of Preservice Teachers' Responses To Bullying Scenarios, Cynthia Louise Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This nonexperimental study was conducted to determine differences that exist between PreK to 4th grade preservice teachers' beliefs about the severity of bullying, their empathy with victims of bullying, beliefs about their ability to cope with bullying in the classroom, and their ability to intervene in bullying issues. Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Ajzen's theory of planned behavior provided the study's theoretical base and demonstrated a connection between participants perceived ability to cope with bullying behavior and willingness to intervene. The participants (N = 112) were students in a 2-year community college PreK to 4th grade education transfer degree program. Data …