Education Commons^™

Educator Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy And Preparedness To Work In High Poverty Schools, Kristen Carroll, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Marlynn Griffin, Taylor Norman, Summer Pannell, Mary Josephine Carney

School Leadership Review

This study examined the perceptions of educators to determine if they felt that they were adequately prepared to teach in a high poverty school setting. The participants, educators from four school districts, completed a survey based on their perceptions of their own level of self-efficacy and preparedness to work in high poverty schools. The analyses indicated that, overall, educators felt well-prepared with limited supporting evidence to work in high poverty schools in the areas of student learning and engagement, which included curriculum and pedagogy, differentiation, and assessment. Findings further indicated a need for professional learning so educators can best support …

Chair Leaders—Strategies For Success, Angela Lumpkin, Stephanie J. Jones

Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice

Successful and effective Department Chairs can positively impact faculty, staff, and students through enacting specific and practical strategies in the essential areas of personnel, communication, budget, instruction, culture, and change and to help them further develop their leadership abilities. This work is based on a review of the literature and conversations among mentors and mentees participating in one institution’s group mentoring program. This review and qualitative process reaffirms that most Chairs are inexperienced and ill-prepared for the myriad roles and responsibilities Chairs are expected to fulfill and need professional mentoring and guidance in enhancing their leadership skills. Chairs need to …

Strategies For Improving Teachers’ Professional Development In Higher Education Institutions In The Southwest Region Of Cameroon, Sophie Ekume Etomes, Mou Charlotte Nsem

Educational Considerations

The expansion of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Cameroon, and the continuous change in the curriculum to meet national and global needs, calls for a need for continuous professional development of teachers to handle these challenges. This study examined peer coaching and reflective teaching as strategies for improving teachers’ professional development in HEIs in the Southwest region of Cameroon. Questionnaires and an interview guide were used to collect data from 409 teachers and 37 heads of departments respectively. The Spearman’s rho test was used to test the hypotheses while the ordinary least square regression model was used to test the …

Continuing Professional Development And The Commercial Education Society Of Australia, Kathleen Mckenzie, Jacob Munday

International Journal for Business Education

The Commercial Education Society of Australia (CESA) was founded in 1910 and incorporated in 1911 as a non-profit company limited by guarantee. The mission of the Society is to provide students with the opportunity to raise their standards of education so that they can take advantage of the opportunities for further education and employment. This is reflected in the Society’s coat-of-arms ‘Digne Ambulate’ — walk worthily.

Student Perceptions Of Soft Skills Multisource Feedback In A Professional-Level Athletic Training Program, Christina Davlin-Pater

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: A new multi-source soft skills assessment tool and process was used in an entry-level masters of science in athletic training education program. The goal was to provide students with individualized feedback related to soft skills that would serve to facilitate improvement and growth. The feedback process included self-reflection, goal-setting, and follow-ups.

This study aims to examine athletic training student’s perceptions of a new, multisource soft-skills assessment process and the feedback they received. Methods: A convenience sample of 27 students enrolled in a graduate-level, CAATE-accredited athletic training education program participated in the study. At the beginning of a semester participants …

Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (And What To Do Instead), Lori M. Costello

Journal of Applied Communications

Book review of Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), edited by Susan D. Blum with a foreword by Alfie Kohn

Interventions To Improve Teacher Self-Efficacy Beliefs About Writing And Writing Instruction: Lessons Learned And Areas For Exploration, Jadelyn Abbott, Tracey Hodges, Sherry Dismuke, Katherine Landau Wright, Claire Schweiker

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The present study explores the findings of a systematic literature review of research about teachers’ self-efficacy for writing and writing instruction to demystify what is known and what remains unknown. We analyzed the pool of research on self-efficacy for writing and writing instruction from January 1992 to August 2020. Our final inclusion of articles resulted in 22 articles that examine teacher self-efficacy for writing and writing instruction while meeting our standards of examining changes in self-efficacy. We examined how shifts in self-efficacy are measured, specific interventions that increase teachers’ self-efficacy for writing and writing instruction as well as interventions that …

Exploring The Experiences And Perceptions Of 21st Century Leadership Academy Participants, Scott R. Bartholomew, Douglas Lecorchick, Mark Mahoney, Geoffrey Albert Wright

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

The 21st Century Leadership Academy grew out of an effort by the Council of Technology Teacher Education’s (CTTE) Leadership Development Committee to prepare future leaders for the field of Technology & Engineering Education (TEE). Efforts by Drs. Roger Hill (University of Georgia) and Bill Havice (Clemson University) led to the creation, and subsequent implementation, of this leadership academy with support from CTTE (later renamed the Council on Technology & Engineering Teacher Education [CTETE]) and the International Technology & Engineering Education Association (ITEEA). Initially, participation in the leadership academy was focused on early-career university faculty but recruitment was later expanded to …

The Role Of A School Principal's Practice Of Resource Allocation And Its Relationship With A School’S Culture Of Collaboration, Annette Perez

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

This article presents the findings that investigated the relationship between a principal's practice in resource allocation and how it promotes a school’s collaborative culture.

Participants of the study were New York City (NYC) Department of Education (DOE) school principals who scored a four or above on the NYC Survey School Measures of “Effective School Leadership.” The independent variable was principal practice defined as resource allocation. The dependent variable, collaborative school culture, was defined as scoring 90% or above on the “Collaborative Teachers” measure of the NYC School Survey. The study was guided by the question: What is the relationship between …

Incorporating Social Justice And Equity As Themes In Math Circles Online, Matthew Jones, Sharon Lanaghan, Carolyn Yarnall

Journal of Math Circles

The CSUDH Math Teachers' Circle chose a focus on equity and social justice in 2020. The national focus on social justice caused us to reflect on what we can do to affect change regarding issues of equity and social justice in our society. In addition, the global pandemic caused us to shift our circle online, which presented both obstacles and opportunities. In this paper, we expand upon how we addressed various challenges faced in facilitating an online Math Teachers’ Circle, focusing on our experience facilitating sessions focused on equity and social justice and participants' reactions to this experience.

The Start Of A Conversation With Critical Friends: Can The Caltpa Be Used As A Catalyst For Program And Professional Inquiry?, Lara Ervin-Kassab, Karen Escalante, Daniel Soodjinda

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Performance assessments of teachers and/or teaching (TPA) are becoming part of the educational accountability landscape on an international scale. This article presents insight into the process three teacher educators have followed as their research evolves from a critical document analysis into a collaborative self-study of their programs and practices. The work is framed by critical race theory and guided by practices undertaken in becoming critically reflective educators. This piece represents the conversations and connections to research around the critical need for educators to examine bias-based assumptions and internalized deficit-thinking. The tools we have developed for our next steps into collaborative …

The Role Of The School District In High-Performance Title One Schools In South Texas, George Padilla, Roberto Zamora, Federico Guerra Jr.

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

A mixed research study was designed and conducted to identify effective characteristics of high-performing, high-poverty schools. Four South Texas Title 1 schools identified as High Performing Schools by the Texas Education Agency in 2016 were selected for the study. To be selected, these schools were also required to meet or exceed a set of criteria applied by the researchers. An effective school model, comprised of eleven characteristics and school processes, was developed based on a synthesis of effective school research and served as the theoretical framework for the study. The characteristics include Culture, Leadership, Instruction, Improvement, Home and Community Relations, …

The Impact Of Math Teachers’ Circles On Teacher Dispositions Toward Inquiry-Based Learning: A Comparison Between A Three-Day And A One-Day Summer Workshop, Angela Antonou, Rita M. Patel, Amanda Harsy

Journal of Math Circles

High-quality professional development for K-12 teachers is a critical need for both teachers and their students. For teachers to provide more engaging and powerful learning opportunities for their students, researchers suggest that we provide similar opportunities for teachers. That is, professional development should model high-impact instructional strategies. Math Teachers' Circles provide one such model for this type of training. In this paper, we discuss the impact on participants of a one-day and participants of a three-day Math Teachers' Circle workshop. In particular, we compare how teacher dispositions regarding the teaching of mathematics and inquiry-based learning changed between the workshops.

Unscripted Possibilities, Tom Fox, Rachel Bear

The Rural Educator

Abstract “Unscripted Possibilities” examines the potential for change that emerges in rural environments that are affected by poverty and educational reforms that ignore the specific contexts of rural schools. Using a National Writing Project program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program as case, we argue that professional learning relationships that are characterized by mutuality and indeterminacy create changes in teacher practice and school culture. Our analysis adapts concepts from Anna Tsing’s (2015)The Mushroom at the End of the World to uncover hopeful possibilities in damaged school environments.

Dots Explode In HawaiʻI, Veny Liu, Laurie James

Journal of Math Circles

Teachers are wonderful advocates of mathematics for future generations, and they are continually looking for ways to get students more engaged in mathematics. Through visuals and hands-on activities, the Exploding Dots concept can help teachers and students understand many elementary arithmetic and algebra topics. The implemented tasks promote problem-solving by allowing multiple entry points and varied solution strategies. This paper explored this idea beyond drawing clusters of dots by Locking Legos activity. With a thorough understanding of math content, participants in multiple Math Teachers’ Circle of Hawai‘i (MaTCH) meetings expressed confidence in creating and developing meaningful and relevant differentiated learning …

Word Problems In The Mathematics Textbook: An Instructional Resource Guide To Support Writing Instruction., Christine Picot, Jenifer Jasinski Schneider

Transformations

Abstract

Mathematics textbooks typically include word problems or story problems that require students to develop extended written responses. Yet, the answers to these prompts can vary so widely that preservice and inservice teachers must be prepared for multiple levels of interpretation of the language used to capture mathematical thinking. Based on an analysis of word problems within two teacher’s editions of elementary mathematics textbooks, we describe a series of strategies and tasks to scaffold teachers’ understanding of planning for word problems during mathematics instruction. We detail the following components; (1) the use of the Instructional Resource Guide, which assists …

A Case Study On Professional Development: Improving Stem Teaching In K-12 Education, Roshani Rajbanshi, Susan Brown, Gaspard Mucundanyi, Mehmet Ali Ozer, Nicole Delgardo

The Qualitative Report

STEM Outreach Center is a non-profit educational center in southern New Mexico that supports K-12 STEM teachers and students by providing professional development, after school programs, summer camps, and field visits. This center has been organizing the Summer Institute Professional Development (SIPD) for more than ten years. The purpose of this research is to understand the effect of SIPD on teachers’ pedagogy to excite and engage students in STEM learning. This study contributes to the program evaluation by analyzing the experiences of teachers who participated in SIPD. This qualitative study uses the open-ended questionnaire as a method of data collection. …

Examining Elementary Teachers’ Feelings Of Self-Efficacy As Writers: Do The Writing Samples Tell More Compelling Stories?, Elizabeth Bifuh-Ambe

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Teaching writing to elementary students can be a difficult instructional task for many teachers, due to the complexity of the writing process and the variety of skills that students must demonstrate to be considered proficient writers. Because quality instruction is highly predictive of students’ achievements, teachers need to feel competent in various subject-specific disciplines. This mixed-methods study examines the role of professional development in fostering elementary teachers’ writing proficiency, and improving their feelings of self-efficacy as writers. Results indicate that it is difficult for teachers whose students struggle with writing to feel confident in their own writing abilities.

Bridging Gaps In Architectural Education: Developing A Professional And Career-Oriented Curriculum, Rana Al-Matarneh, Ashraf Mansour

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

The concern about the future of architecture education has been growing in the last few decades. This phenomenon is powered by the sensation that the existing models of teaching and practicing architecture may not be appropriate enough to address the challenges of tomorrow. The aim of this research paper is to explore the missing links between the continuous chain of architecture education and the current state of the profession that leads the future. The research conducted a comprehensive review of literature, surveys of academics and Heads of School in Architecture, and the development of some case studies of the existing …

The Level Of Leadership Abilities Of Academic Department Chairpersons At The Jordanian Universities And Its Relationship With The Level Of Professional Development Of The Faculty Members, عائشة علي أبو شلحه, راتب سلامة السعود

Jordanian Educational Journal

The study aimed at identifying the level of leadership abilities of academic department chairpersons at the Jordanian universities and its relationship with the level of professional development of the faculty members. To achieve the objectives of this study, a questionnaire was developed where its validity and reliability were assured. The study sample consisted of (461) faculty members from Jordanian universities. The study used the descriptive survey method in data collection. The results revealed that the level of leadership abilities of academic department chairpersons was medium, and the level of professional development of the faculty members was medium as well. The …

Teaching Beliefs And Their Relationship To Professional Development In Special Education Teachers, Jennifer Francois

Educational Considerations

Access to high-quality, meaningful professional development (PD) for in-service teachers around inclusive practices is an important element that has the potential to influence change in classroom practice and student outcomes. This is particularly important for children with identified disabilities. Previous research has identified that a teacher’s self-efficacy impacts the adoption of PD and subsequent implementation of new educational strategies. In addition, teacher beliefs about their own teaching ability (i.e., self-efficacy) has been shown to be related to motivation and the willingness to seek out PD experiences. The current study investigates the relationship of PD and teaching self-efficacy for inclusive practices. …

Connecting Masters Project: Mathematics And Science Teaching Excellence In Rural Schools, Karla M. Childs

The Advocate

This study examined the effects of a focused professional development program for teachers in rural schools on math content knowledge and persistence measured by outcomes on the Math Assessment. Scores for all participants were analyzed (n = 37). A marked improvement was seen in the math content knowledge of teachers from the pre-assessment to the post assessment. Teachers increased their scores by 17% on the Math Assessment. The most salient result of the present study pertained to the number of answers that were scored a zero meaning they were left blank with no attempt to answer. Noteworthy is the …

Emerging Teacher-Leaders For English Learners: A Professional Development Model In Rural Florida, Raisa Ankeny, Nidza Marichal, Maria Coady

School Leadership Review

This paper describes an ongoing Professional Development (PD) program that aimed to prepare teacher-leaders for rural English learner (EL) students. We delineate the theoretical underpinnings of the PD design and describe the two-year graduate coursework program with onsite coaching in rural schools in detail. We define rurality and the context of ELs in the rural partner school district and describe the PD coursework, which was adapted to meet the local rural educational needs of the participants. At its outset, participants reflected on the overall PD through online discussions, surveys, and focus group interviews. Data revealed that the participants found the …

Technology In University Physical Activity Courses: A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study, Dannon G. Cox, Jennifer M. Krause, Mark A. Smith

The Qualitative Report

As younger generations become increasingly reliant on technology, higher educational institutions must continually attempt to stay with or ahead of the curve to foster 21st century teaching and learning. College and university physical activity courses (PACs) are encouraged to incorporate technology for effective pedagogical practices. No qualitative research has specifically examined the culture of PACs instructors’ attitudes and experiences with technology as a pedagogical tool. A mini-ethnographic case study explored the use of technology among seven graduate teaching assistants who shared their pedagogical experiences, teaching practices, and perceptions of technology within PACs. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, composite narrative accounts …

Exploring Ways To Support Preservice Teachers’ Use Of Udl In Planning And Instruction, K. Alisa Lowrey, Audra Classen, Anne Sylvest

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

There is limited research documenting current efforts to support preservice teachers to use the universal design for learning (UDL) framework in authentic teaching experiences. To increase knowledge on the effects of preparing preservice teachers to incorporate the UDL framework, researchers examined the effects a UDL professional development seminar that was delivered during the student teaching phase had on eight teacher candidates during their K–12 placement. Using a concurrent triangulation mixed-method design, researchers examined lesson plans, video footage of teaching, teacher candidate reflections on their teaching sample, and university supervisor measures of the same sample before and after the UDL seminar. …

Counselor Educators' Teaching Practices In Contemporary Society, Don P. Trahan Jr, Jeanmarie Keim

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselor education programs aim to provide students with curricula that enables them to effectively engage culturally diverse populations. However, there are no universal standards for infusing multiculturalism into curricula. This qualitative study provides an in-depth understanding of how various counselor educators infused multiculturalism/diversity into their counseling curricula. Implications for practice and future research are offered.

Using Primary Sources In Content Areas To Increase Disciplinary Literacy Instruction, Salika A. Lawrence, Elise Langan, Julie Maurer

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This paper describes how a three-day summer workshop on using primary sources helped teachers increase the emphasis placed on disciplinary literacy when teaching social studies and history. Two specific issues in teacher education and practice are addressed. First, increasing teachers’ content knowledge of history topics can help them plan lessons that connect local and global events. Second, content area reading requires literacy practices, which are unique to disciplines. Therefore, teachers need to apply historical inquiry and disciplinary literacy methods in the curriculum.

A Dog, A Cat And Professional Development: How Two Bobbies Introduced Teachers To C3wp And Michigan’S Literacy Essentials, Delia King

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article demonstrates the important connections between the Language Arts Essentials K-3 with the NWP’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program.

Knotworking The College, Career, And Community Writers Program, Rachel Bear, Tom Fox

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

"Knotworking the College, Career, and Community Writers Program" examines its history and success through four "knots." Using Engeström's concept of "knotworking," the article explores the relationship of the program to national standards, mandated curricula, hyperpartisan public discourse, and student achievement.

From An Active Learner To A Reflective Practitioner: Learning To Become A Professional Indonesian Efl Instructor, Teuku Zulfikar

The Qualitative Report

For teachers, professional development is a lifelong journey and a complex and multi-dimensional process. Effective professional development requires practitioners to engage not only in training but also in habitual reflection. However, research on reflective learning within the context of Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, at both secondary and tertiary levels, is limited. Using the-Self Study, Qualitative Inquiry this article explores my reflective practices in the Indonesian educational context. It is structured around a narration of my roles as an active EFL learner and instructor which have led me to become a reflective practitioner. The article starts with …