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Full-Text Articles in Education
Navigating The Chasms Between Real And Ideal Literacy Professional Development, Poonam Arya, Kathryn L. Roberts
Navigating The Chasms Between Real And Ideal Literacy Professional Development, Poonam Arya, Kathryn L. Roberts
Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts
In this study, we examine the supportive and hindering factors that influenced 26 teachers’ implementation of pedagogy learned through a research-based, resource-intensive literacy PD initiative (100+ hours). Through post-intervention interviews, we explore the space between learning and enactment of new practices for literacy teaching and learning. Specifically, we ask, What are teachers’ perceptions of the contextual factors that support and hinder their moving from learning to implementation of literacy PD? Results indicate four primary supportive factors (PD facilitators, communities of practice, schools/administrators, and student affective responses) and three primary hindering factors (circumstantial factors, lack of resources, and mismatches between school …
Literacy Coaching For Instructional Change In Guided Reading: Navigating Form And Function, Denise N. Morgan, Celeste C. Bates, Robin Griffith
Literacy Coaching For Instructional Change In Guided Reading: Navigating Form And Function, Denise N. Morgan, Celeste C. Bates, Robin Griffith
Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts
The purpose of this research was to examine how one teacher’s guided reading instruction evolved while engaged in a job-embedded professional development experience across the school year. The teacher taught and debriefed multiple guided reading lessons per visit with a literacy coach. The authors employed qualitative methods to analyze the transcripts from interviews and pre- and postconferences, written reflections, and field notes from the lessons. Findings demonstrate that the teacher shifted from being hyper-focused on the form of guided reading to the actual function of guided reading. Initially, she concentrated on text level, time and planning, and management, which the …
Teacher Perceptions Of Competence In Supporting Lgbtq+ Students, Christina Beushausen
Teacher Perceptions Of Competence In Supporting Lgbtq+ Students, Christina Beushausen
Dissertations
LGBTQ+ students continually express concerns about safety in school. This population experiences various forms of bullying and harassment from not only their peers, but from their teachers. Teachers are unaware of the unconscious bias and heteronorms they carry into their classroom that alienate these students. Teachers express that they do not have adequate training to feel confident in their competence to intervene in the issues their LGBTQ+ students face. This study examined how teachers’ perceptions of their competency changed after participating in role-playing simulations as part of professional development. Participants included Midwestern middle school teachers who voluntarily participated in role-playing …
Investigating The Connection Between Teacher Professional Development And The Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett
Investigating The Connection Between Teacher Professional Development And The Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett
Dissertations
School districts across the country are facing increasing pressure to raise student achievement, specifically on state standardized tests (Buzick & Jones, 2015; Marsh & Farrell, 2015). Many states, including Michigan, connect teacher and administrator evaluations to student achievement (Revised School Code Act 451, 2003). The primary strategy school districts use to improve student achievement is professional development for its staff (Guskey, 2009). Professional development can consist of a variety of strategies to support educators in increasing their knowledge and skills, resulting in improved instruction and ultimately improved student achievement. This instrumental case study sought to explore how teachers experience the …
Influential Fellows: A Professor And Writing Fellows Reflect On Identities, Feedback, And Communities, Sharlene Gilman, Paxton Beck, Nancy Zola
Influential Fellows: A Professor And Writing Fellows Reflect On Identities, Feedback, And Communities, Sharlene Gilman, Paxton Beck, Nancy Zola
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
Insufficient attention has been directed to first year and first generation developmental writing students whose courses involve embedded peer and near-peer tutors. This article explores the learning communities and learning and teaching identities mutually constructed by one professor of developmental composition and two Writing Fellows who are secondary English education majors through working together with our population, and how relationship dynamics impacted identities and curricular choices.
Teachers’ Experiences Providing One-On-One Instruction To Struggling Readers, Meghan D. Liebfreund, Steven J. Amendum
Teachers’ Experiences Providing One-On-One Instruction To Struggling Readers, Meghan D. Liebfreund, Steven J. Amendum
Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts
This study examined the experiences of 12 kindergarten, first-, and second-grade classroom teachers who provided one-on-one intervention instruction for struggling readers within the general classroom context. Teachers were interviewed at the end of the project. Interview statements clustered into four themes: Managing One-on-One Intervention, Observing Student Growth, Acquiring Knowledge about Teaching Reading, and Discovering Specific Characteristics of Good Teaching. Results indicated that positioning the classroom teacher at the center of a reading intervention with support may be a beneficial form of professional development. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Exploring Effective Professional Development Strategies For In-Service Teachers On Guiding Beginning Readers To Become More Metacognitive In Their Oral Reading, Sharon M. Pratt, Anita M. Martin
Exploring Effective Professional Development Strategies For In-Service Teachers On Guiding Beginning Readers To Become More Metacognitive In Their Oral Reading, Sharon M. Pratt, Anita M. Martin
Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts
This case study explored professional development centered on explicit teaching strategies with in-service first-grade teachers as they engaged beginning readers to consider stronger self-awareness of their thinking processes as they read. In this paper, we report on how teacher beliefs shifted regarding the impact of explicit versus implicit instructional practices that increased their students’ metacognitive awareness and regulation. Teachers adopted specific instructional strategies over the course of the professional development that positively impacted their students’ achievement, including one teacher’s use of peer coaching. As teachers observed their students doing more than they thought they were capable of, their beliefs about …
The Impact Of A Student Device Technology Integration Professional Development Program On K-6 Performance Data, Peter Grostic
The Impact Of A Student Device Technology Integration Professional Development Program On K-6 Performance Data, Peter Grostic
Masters Theses
When schools choose to secure devices for their students to integrate into class, they are engaging in a student device technology integration initiative. Results of such initiatives so far have been inconsistent (Bebell & Kay, 2010, Gulek & Demirtas, 2005). These inconsistencies may be, in part, due to poor professional development and/or incomplete data collection. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a professional development program for teachers on the effectiveness of a student device technology integration initiative. “Effectiveness” will be defined by standardized test data as well as student attendance data and student behavior referral …
Creating In A Participatory Culture: Perceptions Of Digital Tools Among Teachers, Emily Howell, Rebecca Kaminski, Sarah Hunt-Barron
Creating In A Participatory Culture: Perceptions Of Digital Tools Among Teachers, Emily Howell, Rebecca Kaminski, Sarah Hunt-Barron
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
The following embedded case study examines teachers’ perceptions of using digital and Web 2.0 tools for literacy instruction. These perceptions are important if teachers hope to enact a more participatory culture of creation rather than consumption called for by scholars such as the New London Group and the New Media Literacies scholars. Case study participants were teachers involved in a NWP site’s Invitational Summer Institute (ISI), with embedded cases of rural teachers in a high-poverty school district. The findings suggest teachers still face extrinsic barriers to enacting a participatory culture, and professional development is needed to help teachers effectively use …
Reimagining Instructional Practices: Exploring The Identity Work Of Teachers Of Writing, Melody Zoch, Joy Myers, Claire Lambert, Amy Vetter, Colleen Fairbanks
Reimagining Instructional Practices: Exploring The Identity Work Of Teachers Of Writing, Melody Zoch, Joy Myers, Claire Lambert, Amy Vetter, Colleen Fairbanks
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
This article provides a cross-case analysis of three teachers who participated in a two-week professional development (PD) on the teaching of writing that addressed their own identities as writers. This is an area that is commonly overlooked and how teachers view themselves as writers may play an important role in how they help their students to think of themselves as writers, may shape the conversations they have about writing, and may influence the kinds of writing opportunities they provide. Drawing on an identity perspective, the findings illustrate how the opportunity to construct and enact writing identities shaped how the teachers …
Transforming Writing Teachers: Two Professional Development Possibilities, Jessica Gallo, Bailey Herrmann
Transforming Writing Teachers: Two Professional Development Possibilities, Jessica Gallo, Bailey Herrmann
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
This article focuses on two professional development opportunities, The National Writing Project and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, that provide transformative experiences for teachers. These two programs offer opportunities for meaningful, situated, and complex professional development that focus on the person and the professional.
A “Great Balancing Act:” Becoming Dexterous And Deft With New Literacies Pedagogy, Jill Mcclay, Shelley Stagg Peterson, Christine Portier
A “Great Balancing Act:” Becoming Dexterous And Deft With New Literacies Pedagogy, Jill Mcclay, Shelley Stagg Peterson, Christine Portier
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
In response to recent mandates in literacy curricula, literacy teachers must integrate Web 2.0 and new literacies perspectives into their writing instruction. Such transitions in their pedagogy, however, are often accomplished without adequate support or opportunities for professional development. How do teachers approach the difficult task of changing their perspectives to take new literacies practices into account? This article traces the learning and pedagogical practices of five teachers who worked with the authors in a dual-sited action research study (one in a large urban district, one in a small rural district) for more than two years. We present two themes …
The Influence Of Teacher Leadership And Professional Learning On Teachers’ Knowledge And Change Of Instructional Practices In Low Performing Schools, Christen Conklin Topolinski
The Influence Of Teacher Leadership And Professional Learning On Teachers’ Knowledge And Change Of Instructional Practices In Low Performing Schools, Christen Conklin Topolinski
Dissertations
A cross-sectional survey was utilized in this study to explore the perceptions of teacher in low performing schools. These perceptions concerned the influence of teacher leadership and professional learning on their changes in knowledge and instructional practices. Research advises that in order to help students grow, teachers must engage in professional learning activities which help them to develop and master new instructional strategies (Bredeson & Scribner, 2000; DuFour & Marzano, 2012; Harrison & Killion, 2007). Research also suggests that distributed leadership can have a positive influence on the professional culture in a building, creating a positive learning environment for both …
Exploring Identity-Based Challenges To English Teachers’ Professional Growth, Heather C. Camp
Exploring Identity-Based Challenges To English Teachers’ Professional Growth, Heather C. Camp
Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education
This study explores identity-based challenges that can hinder secondary English teachers enrolled in Master’s degree programs from experiencing professional growth. It illustrates how identity conflicts can prevent teachers from integrating a disciplinary identity into their professional sense-of-self, thereby limiting the benefits they might gain from graduate coursework. In particular, the study suggests that dissonance between discourse norms and values, concerns about community allegiances, and assumptions about language, difficulty, and power can impede teachers from appropriating disciplinary discourse and hinder them from combining it with more familiar discourses that circulate in schools and shape teachers’ identities.