Education Commons^™

The Relationship Of Mentorship And Professional Development On Special Educators’ Intent, Christine S. Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Current literature in special education has examined professional development (PD) and mentorship separately; however, no studies have investigated the relationship between PD and mentorship on special education teachers’ intent. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which participating in PD and mentorship opportunities predicted the likelihood of Early Career Special Education Teachers' (ECSETs) intent to leave the teacher workforce while examining factors related to duration and quality. Based on two conceptual models, Desimone’s (2009) best practices for professional development and Nick et al. (2012) best practices for academic mentoring, this study identified key features and characteristics …

Seeing Themselves: White Preservice Teachers As Raced Individuals And As Members Of Their Future School Communities, Laurie Koth

Theses and Dissertations

Students of color, of poverty, with disabilities continue to slide into the school to prison pipeline (STPP.) Very often, an antecedent step is harsh exclusionary discipline that removes them from the classroom. Teachers, who play a major role in the decision whether to keep students in or eject them from the classroom and the school, are among multiple forces driving students toward or away from the STPP. A salient feature of the issue is that nearly 80% of teachers are white and their most vulnerable students are not. Rooted in critical race and care theories, and buttressed by self determination …

Reflections On Preservice Preparation And Professional Development Among Instructors Of Adult Emergent Bi/Multilingual Learners, David A. Housel

Theses and Dissertations

The preservice preparation and ongoing professional development for instructors of adult emergent bi/multilingual learners (EBLs) in the United States has been characterized as “deeply uneven,” lacking uniformity, consistent academic rigor, and practical application to bolster instructors’ feelings of self-efficacy and agency in addressing their students’ complex learning needs. Using the Standards for ESL/EFL Teachers of Adults (2008) as a foundation, this explanatory sequential mixed methods research study explored the reflections of instructors of adult EBLs regarding their preservice preparation, ongoing professional development, and the guidance and support received from teaching colleagues and supervisors. The survey instrument developed contained a combination …

Looking For Hope: The Experience Of Early Career Teachers Engaged In A Collaborative Community Of Reflective Practice As A Model Of Induction And Professional Development, Donia E. Spott

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching has always been an isolated profession and many professional development programs are seen as disconnected from the realities and daily needs of teaching. With the pressures of standards, paperwork, classroom management, and learning to teach, early career teachers can be especially vulnerable to becoming discouraged, disillusioned, and demoralized. This study used a qualitative, narrative inquiry approach to tell the stories of seven early career teachers’ experiences with induction and the development of a reflective community to support early career teachers in their professional practice. As part of the action research approach taken in designing the program, the discussions and …

Coaching Paraeducators To Accurately Record Student Response Data During Direct Instruction, Paige J. Carter Phd

Theses and Dissertations

Paraeducators serving students with disabilities outnumber special education teachers in the United States (Stewart, 2019; U. S. Department of Education et al., 2018). Paraeducators regularly provide instruction without the benefit of regular and effective training. One of the duties associated with instruction is the collection of instructional data. The purpose of this study was to examine a combination of training and coaching on the accuracy of recording student responses. In addition, a teacher-as-coach model was examined for feasibility with existing time and resources. A multiple baseline across participants design was planned. Special education teachers and paraeducators at a public separate …

A Grounded Theory Of Professional Development Preferences Of Millennial Educational Professionals, Bobbie M. Downs

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded research study is to answer the question: How should professional development be designed to best meet the preferences of educational professionals of the millennial generation? As the workplace, including the field of education, becomes more generationally diverse, it is education leaders who must learn the unique needs of their staff members and develop meaningful professional development opportunities that meet these requirements. Both generational cohort theory and transformative learning theory became the underpinnings of the research. The research was conducted primarily through qualitative interviews at an educational services commission in New Jersey. A theory about millennial …

A Critical Examination Of Secondary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Liberatory Pd, Christine C. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to develop an understanding of secondary teachers’ perceptions of liberatory (justice-oriented) professional development at three school sites in a single school district. As participants shared their perceptions, three significant themes emerged; they described 1) facing contextual constraints that limited their agency 2) desiring to be reframed as knowledge producers, yet 3) struggling to envision how their agency could support their liberation. These key findings led to an emergent theory of the Cycle of Professional Development Stagnation, a cycle involving barriers that perpetuate the framing of teachers as passive recipients of knowledge. As evidenced in this qualitative …

Outcomes For Professionals And Companies Through Student-Professional Reverse Mentoring Sessions, Nicholas Burr Gubler

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry explores the outcomes that professionals, and their companies, experience when they participate in a student-professional reverse mentorship. Professional development is used across all trades and professions as a way to increase employee skills and improve product/service quality. Reverse mentoring, where a novice teaches the more experienced individual, is a relatively new approach in professional development. When the reverse mentoring scenario is between students and professionals, instead of professionals and their colleagues, we know that students benefit from the reverse mentoring process but little is known about what outcomes the professionals experience. This research reports that professionals experience …

A Validity Study Of The Cognitively Guided Instruction Teacher Knowledge Assessment, Debra Smith Fuentes

Theses and Dissertations

This study reports the development of an instrument intended to measure mathematics teachers' knowledge of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a mathematics professional development framework based on how students think about and solve problems and how that knowledge guides instruction for developing mathematical understanding. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze and revise the original CGI Teacher Knowledge Assessment (CGI TKA), (b) administer the revised CGI TKA, and (c) analyze the results from the revised CGI TKA. As part of the revision of the original CGI TKA, distractor analysis identified distractors that could be improved. Experts in …

The Principal’S Impact On The Success Of Mathematics Professional Development, Michael Chad Staheli

Theses and Dissertations

Principal involvement is recognized as a key component to success in professional development implementation. Both the principal efforts undertaken, and the visions stated influence teacher development and student achievement. Using the instructional, transformational, and learning-centered models of leadership, as well as frameworks in vision, and organizational theory, this research sought to clarify the impact of principal involvement on student performance. Interview data was collected from 16 principals participating in a mathematics professional development program entitled the Comprehensive Mathematics Initiative. Of the participants, 9 of the principals were from schools that achieved high levels of student performance on standardized mathematics tests …

District Leadership Building Principal Capacity In Improving Teacher Quality: Implementing Effective Professional Development, Karen Mitterling Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This article focuses on lessons learned from district implementation of Utah Senate Bill 64 passed in 2012, which requires large-scale reform in evaluating teacher quality. This statemandated reformation effort requires all principals to evaluate teacher performance using new state teacher standards adopted in 2011. District implementation efforts used effective professional development that included peer collaboration and practicum experiences as evidenced by successfully certifying all principals in the evaluation of teacher performance. Twenty-seven principals representing nine districts were selected for this qualitative study. Data was collected during a one-on-one interview with each principal to gather insights about district efforts to prepare …

Professional Development Among Brigham Young University Faculty, Elizabeth Ann Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a qualitative research study examining views of faculty at Brigham Young University regarding professional development at the university level. Subjects who participated in the study were selected based on being full-time, part-time, adjunct, tenured, and non-tenured professors at Brigham Young University. Instructors who work solely with online students were not included. The contacts also did not include student teachers, support staff, non-teaching faculty or graduate students.The key findings from the qualitative research study report that faculty differentiate between two categories of professional development, one concerned with teaching and other aspects of working at a university, and the …

Exploring The Capacity Development Of Novice School Administrators: It's Not Only Where Capacity Sources Are Accessed But Also How, Aaron Ross Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Although many school districts provide inservice professional development to build the capacities of novice principals, some of these supports are proving inadequate in recruiting or retaining qualified leaders. Research on capacity development for novice principals is scarce, yields mixed results, and employs methodology which has invited participant response bias. Reflecting the school level, gender, and Title I experience of novice principals within a large school district in the mid-Western United States, a sample of 24 novice principals respond to semi-structured interview questions. Iterations of transcription coding, member-checking, and analysis yield findings that help school districts better understand the capacity development …

Spanish For Lunch: Engaging Young Interpreters In Teacher Professional Development, Kevin Landon Johnstun

Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States, schools are largely segregated by race and ethnicity, resulting in schools that are densely Latino and teaching staff who are overwhelming monolingual English speakers, as most teachers are white women. This has created difficulty in home communication in these schools. Given the positive impacts of personal and frequent home communication, a greater capacity of teachers to communicate with parents may be an important asset in school improvement efforts. This study looks at ongoing design-based research efforts to engage bilingual students in helping their teachers become more capable of communicating in Spanish. Through online-delivered challenges, teachers and …

Perceptions Of Teachers Who Engage In Social Media Networking: A Multiple Case Study, Celese Nolan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how and why teachers engage in social media networks. Using a case study approach, data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, online observations, direct observations, artifacts, and documents to gain understanding to how and why teachers are using online networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter for professional learning. The underpinnings of constructivism and social constructivism theories served to provide a framework for understanding how teachers perceive their professional use of social media. Moreover, this study sought to gain insight into how this practice may or may not influence teacher practice at …

A High School Biology Teacher's Development Through A New Teaching Assignment Coupled With Teacher-Led Professional Development, Lorien Young Francis

Theses and Dissertations

This self-study examined the learning that emerged from a change in teaching assignment coupled with self-initiated, teacher-led professional development in order to understand a high school science teacher's development as a teacher. The two participants in the study were the teacher/researcher, an experienced high school biology teacher who was taking up a new assignment teaching biotechnology, an advanced science course; and a first-year teacher assigned to teach biotechnology, who served as collaborator in the professional development and critical friend in the study. In order to uncover the teacher/researcher's learning and thinking, self-study of teaching practice methodology most clearly met the …

Professional Development: Teacher As Learner For Differentiated Instruction, Marilyn L. Castellano

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study sought to investigate a sample of urban Catholic school teachers' perceptions of how an exploration of differentiated instruction through embedded professional development changed their traditional one-size-fits-all pedagogical practices to a model that addressed students diverse academic needs. Research studies provide evidence that a one-size-fits-all recipe of instruction continually fails to build students’ capacity to learn. Interviews are the primary source to elicit teachers' perceptions of changed pedagogical practices. In conjunction with classroom observations, a focus group formed to better understand the rationale for the principles of differentiated instruction, make sense of the practice, and determine if …

Understanding The Impact Of A Global Universal Design For Learning (Udl) Virtual Classroom On Jamaican Educators Through The Lens Of How People Learn (Hpl), Kathryn W. Best

Theses and Dissertations

This case study examined learning components and outcomes of the UDL Virtual Classroom project, a web-based professional development program that was a collaboration between educators in the United States and Jamaica. The study applied the HPL lens (NRC, 2000) in order to understand the ways that Jamaican educator-participants perceived the integration of learner-centered learning, knowledge-centered learning, assessment-centered learning, and community-centered learning in the program itself, and also examined the impact of these components, despite numerous hurdles, on teachers’ mindsets and practices and the engagement and performance of students in their schools and classrooms. The researcher’s intent was to address the …

The National Board Certification Process As Professional Development: Perceptions About The Impact That Characteristics Of The Process Had On Professional Growth, Heather J. Bumgarner

Theses and Dissertations

Professional development is used by teachers to improve their teaching to enhance student learning, and research indicates that the National Board Certification (NBC) process contains high-quality professional development characteristics. Engagement in the NBC process can lead to professional growth by changing teachers’ knowledge, instructional practices, and students’ learning. This quantitative study investigated the extent to which characteristics of the NBC process influenced National Board Certified Teachers’ (NBCTs) professional growth. Using an online survey, the study collected responses from 119 NBCTs who participated in a specific NBC support program. Key findings included that all 20 high-quality professional development characteristics investigated had …

A Study Of A Professional Development Initiative To Increase Cultural Competency, Jennifer C. Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

A STUDY OF A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE TO INCREASE

CULTURAL COMPETENCY

By Jennifer Crowe Coleman, Ph.D.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014

Major Director: Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Educational Leadership

School of Education

While there are broad, societal forces that contribute to achievement gaps, the professional development of teachers is one way educational leaders have sought to improve schools, improve teacher performance, and increase teacher knowledge and skills. Given the achievement and cultural gaps that exist between teachers and …

The Stories Of Three High School English Teachers Involved In A Collaborative Study Group, Marjoire Ralph

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to observe, participate in, and tell the story of teachers involved in a professional development experience. Professional development is an important tool to assist teachers in improving their teaching abilities. After a review of the literature on various forms of professional development and some personal experience with a variety of professional development activities, I created a collaborative study group (CSG) that included three teachers. Their work together was studied using a narrative approach to action research. The stories of these three teachers and their experiences with an informal professional development activity are …

Action Research As Professional Development: A Study Of Two Teachers, Wade R. Glathar

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the experiences of two teachers in a public charter school who implement action research in their classrooms. The study explored the key elements of professional development as well as action research and makes the case as to why action research is an effective tool for teacher development. Participants were selected based on having little teaching experience and familiarity with action research. The study examined the experiences of teachers who have had limited professional development as they use action research in their practices. Data for the study were drawn from interviews as well as researcher and participant journals.