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Full-Text Articles in Education

Dreaming In Context: Micro- And Structural Transformations In An Age Of Standardized Testing, G. Sue Kasun Jan 2012

Dreaming In Context: Micro- And Structural Transformations In An Age Of Standardized Testing, G. Sue Kasun

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Consider academics who are committed to learning, teaching, and ongoing interaction with communities beyond the university, and who are simultaneously not satisfied with the learning opportunities for children in their community schools. What roles might they play in their local community? One answer, made compelling by contemporary models in practice, involves institution building—specifically, the co-construction and operation of critically engaged, action-oriented research groups to address challenges facing students, families, and schools. Examples include CREATE at The University of California at San Diego (Mehan 2008), The Cesar E. Chavez Institute at San Francisco State (Duncan-Andrade and Morrell 2008), The Llano Grande …


Processes And Pathways: How Do Mathematics And Science Partnerships Measure And Promote Growth In Teacher Content Knowledge?, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, A. Westenskow Jan 2012

Processes And Pathways: How Do Mathematics And Science Partnerships Measure And Promote Growth In Teacher Content Knowledge?, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, A. Westenskow

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Intense focus on student achievement results in mathematics and science has brought about claims that K-12 teachers should be better prepared to teach basic concepts in these disciplines. The focus on teachers' mathematics and science content knowledge has been met by efforts to increase teacher knowledge through funded national initiatives focusing on mathematics and science. The purpose of the present study was to look across projects in the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership Program to determine how partnerships developed processes for measuring growth in teacher content knowledge. Pre- and post-testing was the most common process for measuring growth …


Learning Mathematics With Technology: The Influence Of Virtual Manipulatives On Different Achievement Groups, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Jennifer Suh Jan 2012

Learning Mathematics With Technology: The Influence Of Virtual Manipulatives On Different Achievement Groups, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Jennifer Suh

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of virtual manipulatives on different achievement groups during a teaching experiment in four fifth-grade classrooms. During a two-week unit focusing on two rational number concepts (fraction equivalence and fraction addition with unlike denominators) one low achieving, two average achieving, and one high achieving group participated in two instructional treatments (three groups used virtual manipulatives and one group used physical manipulatives). Data sources included pre- and post-tests of students’ mathematical content knowledge and videotapes of classroom sessions. Results of paired samples t-tests examining the three groups using virtual manipulatives indicated a statistically significant overall gain following …


Teaching Anxieties Revealed: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Reflections On Their Mathematics Teaching Experiences, A. Brown, A. Westenskow, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham Jan 2012

Teaching Anxieties Revealed: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Reflections On Their Mathematics Teaching Experiences, A. Brown, A. Westenskow, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Over the last 50 years, there has been ample research dedicated to mathematics anxiety in contexts of teaching and learning. However, there has been less attention focused on pre-service teachers' anxieties about teaching mathematics in classroom settings. This study analyzed pre-service teachers' reflections at the conclusion of an elementary mathematics field experience in order to determine common themes surrounding anxiety-related events based on mathematics practice-teaching experiences. Through qualitative analysis of pre-service teachers' reflections using open and axial coding, three categories and ten themes surrounding elementary pre-service teachers' anxiety-related events based on mathematics practice-teaching experiences emerged. Some of the themes presented …


Paraprofessionals-To-Teacher: Toward Better Practice In Teacher Certification Programs, Laura Slack Foley Oct 2011

Paraprofessionals-To-Teacher: Toward Better Practice In Teacher Certification Programs, Laura Slack Foley

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The retention of paraprofessionals in university teacher certification programs is crucial to solving teacher shortages. This two-year study assessed teacher motivation among 25 preservice teachers.


Exploring K-3 Teachers' Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi) Using Expectancy-Value Theory, Laura Slack Foley Jan 2011

Exploring K-3 Teachers' Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi) Using Expectancy-Value Theory, Laura Slack Foley

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This research investigated factors that influence the implementation levels of evidence-based comprehension strategy instruction (CSI) among K–3 teachers. An explanatory design was chosen to gather and probe the data. Quantitative data were gathered via a mailed survey distributed through a representative sample of the 40 school districts (through a stratified-random selection of teachers) in a state in the Rocky Mountain West. Expectancy-value theory was applied as it affects self-reported levels of teacher implementation of CSI. Both expectancy and value showed significance for predicting self-reported CSI implementation in two multiple regression analyses. Surveys revealed teachers' perceptions of what impedes or supports …


Two Studies Of Tierii Literacy Development: Throwing Sixth Graders A Lifeline, A. W. Graves, L. Duesbery, Nicole Pyle, R. Brandon, A. Mcintosh Jan 2011

Two Studies Of Tierii Literacy Development: Throwing Sixth Graders A Lifeline, A. W. Graves, L. Duesbery, Nicole Pyle, R. Brandon, A. Mcintosh

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Two experimental studies at one urban middle school investigated the effects of the combination of Tier I and Tier II evidence-based reading instruction compared to Tier I alone on struggling sixth-grade readers (N = 109). All participants received free or reduced-price lunch, and 95% were considered English learners at some point in their school history. In both studies, Tier II intervention consisted of intensive instruction in word analysis, fluency building, comprehension, and vocabulary for 30 hours across 10 weeks. Results of both studies taken individually and combined indicated significant differences in favor of the intervention groups on oral reading …


Scientific Inquiry In The Genetics Laboratory: Biologists And University Science Teacher Educators Collaborating To Increase Engagements In Science Processes., Todd Campbell, P. G. Wolf, J. P. Der, E. Packenham, N. Abd-Hamid Jan 2011

Scientific Inquiry In The Genetics Laboratory: Biologists And University Science Teacher Educators Collaborating To Increase Engagements In Science Processes., Todd Campbell, P. G. Wolf, J. P. Der, E. Packenham, N. Abd-Hamid

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


One Adolescent's Construction Of Native Identity In School: "Speaking With Dance And Not In Words And Writing", Amy Wilson-Lopez, M. D. Boatright Jan 2011

One Adolescent's Construction Of Native Identity In School: "Speaking With Dance And Not In Words And Writing", Amy Wilson-Lopez, M. D. Boatright

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This case study describes how one eighth-grade student, Jon, asserted Native identities in texts as he attended a middle school in the western United States. Jon--a self-described Native American, Navajo, and Paiute with verified Native ancestry--sought to share what he called his Native culture with others in his school wherein he was the only Native American, despite his perception that schools have historically suppressed this culture. To study how the texts that Jon designed in school may have afforded and constrained the expression of Native identities, the authors collected three types of data over the course of eight months: (a) …


Language And Literacies In The Borderlands: Children Acting Upon Theworld Through Testimonios., Cinthya M. Saavedra Jan 2011

Language And Literacies In The Borderlands: Children Acting Upon Theworld Through Testimonios., Cinthya M. Saavedra

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Learning Mathematics With Technology: The Influence Of Virtual Manipulatives On Different Achievement Groups, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, J. M. Suh Jan 2011

Learning Mathematics With Technology: The Influence Of Virtual Manipulatives On Different Achievement Groups, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, J. M. Suh

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of virtual manipulatives on different achievement groups during a teaching experiment in four fifth-grade classrooms. During a two-week unit focusing on two rational number concepts (fraction equivalence and fraction addition with unlike denominators) one low achieving, two average achieving, and one high achieving group participated in two instructional treatments (three groups used virtual manipulatives and one group used physical manipulatives). Data sources included pre- and post-tests of students’ mathematical content knowledge and videotapes of classroom sessions. Results of paired samples t-tests examining the three groups using virtual manipulatives indicated a statistically significant overall gain following …


Common Features Of Professional Development Activities For Mathematics And Science Teachers, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, J. J. Bolyard, J. Oh, N. I. Cerar Jan 2011

Common Features Of Professional Development Activities For Mathematics And Science Teachers, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, J. J. Bolyard, J. Oh, N. I. Cerar

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examines professional development activities provided for mathematics and science teachers in the National Science Foundation’s Math and Science Partnership Program by analyzing a cross-sectional sample of over 2000 professional development (PD) activities in the program. Data were gathered from secondary source documents and surveys to examine core and structural features of professional development offerings (i.e. form, collective participation, content, duration and outcomes). The results from this sample of PD activities for mathematics and science teachers were mixed. There was evidence of researchbased practices, including the collective participation by teachers at the same grade levels, a focus on content-specific …


Teaching Grammer And Writing: A Beginning Teacher's Dilemma, P. Smagorinsky, Amy Wilson-Lopez, C. Moore Jan 2011

Teaching Grammer And Writing: A Beginning Teacher's Dilemma, P. Smagorinsky, Amy Wilson-Lopez, C. Moore

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This longitudinal case study follows one high school English teacher’s path of concept development over a two-year period encompassing her student teaching and first year of full-time teaching, both at the same rural school in the southeastern United States. The authors use a sociocultural theoretical framework emerging from the work of Vygotsky to focus on the construction of activity settings and the ways in which settings help to shape concept development. In particular, the analysis finds the teacher drawing on apparently inconsistent pedagogical traditions and their associated mediational tools: one centered on a teacher’s authoritarian control of the curriculum and …


The Role Of Discriminatory Experiences On Hispanic Students’ College Choice Decisions, Amanda Taggart, Gloria Crisp Dec 2010

The Role Of Discriminatory Experiences On Hispanic Students’ College Choice Decisions, Amanda Taggart, Gloria Crisp

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the impact of discriminatory experiences on Hispanic students’ decisions concerning postsecondary enrollment. Logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with Hispanic students’ decisions to attend either a 2- or a 4-year institution within the context of theory concerning college choice/success. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample ( n = 2,210) of Hispanic students from the ELS:2002 data set. Results indicated that Hispanic students were less likely to attend a 4-year institution if they personally experienced or perceived others being discriminated against during high school. Findings suggest that discriminatory high school experiences may contribute to …


Issues Of Teacher Performance Stability Are Not New: Limitations And Possibilities, Thomas L. Good, Alyson Leah Lavigne Jan 2010

Issues Of Teacher Performance Stability Are Not New: Limitations And Possibilities, Thomas L. Good, Alyson Leah Lavigne

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Morgan, Hodge, Trepinski, and Anderson (2014) have written an article that continues to confirm what we have known for some time—teacher effects on student achievement have limited stability. In this commentary, we address the other potential contributions this work can make to inform practice, policy, and research. While illustrating Morgan et al.’s inattention to history, we take the opportunity to reframe their findings. Considering the authors’ work in the context of past and current research, we illustrate that this collective set of stable evidence should convince policymakers that it is not reasonable to assume that teachers and teaching is stable …


Exploring Science Teachers' Attitudes And Knowledge About Environmental Education In Three International Teaching Communities., Todd Campbell, W. Medina-Jerez, I. Erdogan, D. Zhang Jan 2010

Exploring Science Teachers' Attitudes And Knowledge About Environmental Education In Three International Teaching Communities., Todd Campbell, W. Medina-Jerez, I. Erdogan, D. Zhang

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the similarities and differences among 171 Grade 7-12 science teachers from three different countries (54 U.S, 63 Bolivian, and 54 Turkish) with respect to their attitudes toward environmental education (EE) and instructional practices. The instrument employed explored how teachers‘ knowledge, instructional practices, decisionmaking process, and cultural features influenced their EE attitudes and praxis. The instrument, which was translated into Spanish and Turkish and then back into English, contained a personal data form that included demographic questions and a three-part questionnaire. Based on the analysis completed, significant differences were found between these three countries with respect to 1) …


A Model For Scaffolding Writing Instruction: Imsci, Sylvia Read Jan 2010

A Model For Scaffolding Writing Instruction: Imsci, Sylvia Read

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The IMSCI model for teaching writing scaffolds the instruction so that students understand the features of a genre, see the teacher model writing a text in the target genre, participate in the creation of a text in the genre (through shared or collaborative writing), and independently write a text in the genre. This model is based on social learning theory and best practices in the instruction of English-language learners. An extended example of students writing historical fiction is provided, including images that show teacher modeling and student work.


Pre-Service Teacher And Elementary Student Partnerships During A Reading Methods Course: Does It Make A Difference?, Sarah K. Clark Jan 2010

Pre-Service Teacher And Elementary Student Partnerships During A Reading Methods Course: Does It Make A Difference?, Sarah K. Clark

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Exploring K-3 Teachers' Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi), Laura Slack Foley Jan 2010

Exploring K-3 Teachers' Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi), Laura Slack Foley

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study surveyed teacher implementation of strategy instruction for improved comprehension. The inquiry positions teachers, administrators, and teacher educators to better understand current levels of implementation of comprehension strategies and suggests ideas for meeting the challenges of increasing and/or sustaining their use.


Critical Conversations: Tensions And Opportunities Of The Dialogical Classroom, B. Fecho, N. D. Collier, E. E. G. Friese, Amy Wilson-Lopez Jan 2010

Critical Conversations: Tensions And Opportunities Of The Dialogical Classroom, B. Fecho, N. D. Collier, E. E. G. Friese, Amy Wilson-Lopez

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

English teachers and educators of English teachers should work within rather than against the tensions present in their classrooms. For us, nothing could be more key. Until university teacher educators construct and enact classrooms that embrace the dialogical tensions and possibilities within those settings, new and veteran teachers in the profession will have few if any sustained experiences upon which to base their own dialogical classrooms. Moreover, to either deny that tensions exist or to struggle to eradicate them is to misunderstand the purpose and possibility of tension. Learners caught between stabilizing and destabilizing tensions enter a state of wobble, …


Deliberation Of Controversial Public School Curriculum: Developing Processes And Outcomes That Increase Legitimacy And Social Justice, Steve P. Camicia Jan 2010

Deliberation Of Controversial Public School Curriculum: Developing Processes And Outcomes That Increase Legitimacy And Social Justice, Steve P. Camicia

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Public schools in the United States are charged with facilitating public deliberation of controversial school curriculum. This often entails managing the negotiations between multiple stakeholders who have very different positions on the proper design and implementation of curriculum. To maintain legitimacy as caretakers of the public interest in a liberal democracy, public schools are asked to recognize all legitimate perspectives in such disputes. But what happens when a perspective is not considered legitimate or in the public interest by the dominant community? When disputes over curriculum ensue, the rights of individuals to have their perspectives included in the curriculum must …


Classroom Instructions Observed From The Perspectives Of Current Reform In Science Education: Comparisons Between Korean And U.S. Classrooms., Todd Campbell, P. S. Oh, M. Shin, D. Zhang Jan 2010

Classroom Instructions Observed From The Perspectives Of Current Reform In Science Education: Comparisons Between Korean And U.S. Classrooms., Todd Campbell, P. S. Oh, M. Shin, D. Zhang

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This research investigated the similarities and differences between Korean and U.S. 9-12th grade science classrooms. The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol was used to observe sixty-six classrooms (26 Korean and 40 U.S.) to examine the extent to which principles of constructivism framing both Korean and U.S. standards documents were observed. Through quantitative methods the findings revealed generally more similarities than differences when comparing Korean and U.S. classrooms. This was evidenced by the lack of overall significant differences in how the classrooms were rated, as well as the lack of overall significant differences in each subscale of reformed teaching measured by the …


The Nature Of The Refutation Text Effect: An Investigation Of Attention Allocation, Suzanne H. Broughton, G.M. Sinatra, R.E. Reynolds Jan 2010

The Nature Of The Refutation Text Effect: An Investigation Of Attention Allocation, Suzanne H. Broughton, G.M. Sinatra, R.E. Reynolds

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Students often hold misconceptions that conflict with scientific explanations. Research has shown that refutation texts are effective for facilitating conceptual change in these cases (Guzzetti, Snyder, Glass, & Gamas, 1993). The process through which refutation texts have their effect is not clear. The authors replicated and extended previous research investigating cognitive processes involved in the refutation text effect. Undergraduates read either a refutation or an expository text on seasonal change. Individual reading times were recorded. Participants’ conceptions were measured at pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. Results showed that readers spent less time reading the refutation paragraph compared to the expository …


Successes And Barriers To The Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi), Laura Slack Foley, C. Jones Jan 2010

Successes And Barriers To The Implementation Of Comprehension Strategy Instruction (Csi), Laura Slack Foley, C. Jones

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study surveyed teacher implementation of strategy instruction for improved comprehension. The inquiry positions teachers, administrators, and teacher educators to better understand current levels of implementation of comprehension strategies and suggests ideas for meeting the challenges of increasing and/or sustaining their use.


Islamic American Giftedness, Scott L. Hunsaker, F. A. K. Al-Lawati Jan 2010

Islamic American Giftedness, Scott L. Hunsaker, F. A. K. Al-Lawati

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Model-Based Inquiry In Physics: A Buoyant Force Module., D. Neilson, Todd Campbell, B. Allred Jan 2010

Model-Based Inquiry In Physics: A Buoyant Force Module., D. Neilson, Todd Campbell, B. Allred

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Student Characteristics, Pre-College, College, And Environmental Factors As Predictors Of Persisting In And Earning A Stem Degree: An Analysis Of Students Attending A Hispanic Serving Institution, Gloria Crisp, Amanda Taggart, Amaury Nora Dec 2009

Student Characteristics, Pre-College, College, And Environmental Factors As Predictors Of Persisting In And Earning A Stem Degree: An Analysis Of Students Attending A Hispanic Serving Institution, Gloria Crisp, Amanda Taggart, Amaury Nora

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the demographic, pre-college, environmental, and college factors that impact students’ interests in and decisions to earn a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree among students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Results indicated that Hispanic students were well represented among STEM majors, and students’ decisions to declare a STEM major and earn a STEM degree were uniquely influenced by students’ gender, ethnicity, SAT math score, and high school percentile. Earning a STEM degree was related to students’ first-semester GPA and enrollment in mathematics and science “gatekeeper” courses. Findings indicate that HSIs may be an important point …


Using Information Trade Books As Models For Teaching Expository Text Structure To Improve Children's Reading Comprehension: An Action Research Project, D. Ray Reutzel, Sylvia Read, P. Fawson Jan 2009

Using Information Trade Books As Models For Teaching Expository Text Structure To Improve Children's Reading Comprehension: An Action Research Project, D. Ray Reutzel, Sylvia Read, P. Fawson

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Reading To Serve: Service Learning For Gifted Readers, B. Bartlett, Scott L. Hunsaker Jan 2009

Reading To Serve: Service Learning For Gifted Readers, B. Bartlett, Scott L. Hunsaker

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Introduction To The Msp-Pe Special Issue On Math And Science Partnership Program: A First Comprehensive Evaluation, Kenneth K. Wong, Robert K. Yin, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Jennifer Scherer Oct 2008

Introduction To The Msp-Pe Special Issue On Math And Science Partnership Program: A First Comprehensive Evaluation, Kenneth K. Wong, Robert K. Yin, Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham, Jennifer Scherer

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The United States faces significant challenges in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (often collectively referred to as STEM). Numerous reports from governmental, scientific, and civic communities have raised concerns over the quality of STEM education at all levels of the educational system, the shortage in the STEM labor force, and the decreasing competitiveness of student performance in STEM fields at the international level.