Education Commons^™

Teaching To Assess: An Evaluation Of Assessment Education For Secondary Teacher Candidates, Daniel M. Frederking

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the assessment instruction of a four-year undergraduate secondary education program and its alignment to the teaching standards and the summative teacher licensure assessment. Document analyses were conducted on the program’s syllabi as well as the assessment portions of the InTASC standards and the handbook of the edTPA. Results highlighted several areas of misalignment in the areas of categorical concurrence, depth of knowledge, and range of knowledge. Also of note, preservice teachers in different secondary subject areas are receiving different amounts of assessment instruction. Additionally, local edTPA data was examined to highlight areas of strength and weakness. Students …

A Descriptive Exploration Of A Self-Directed Professional Development Approach, Derek R. Riddle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teachers, who are deemed the greatest in-school factor of student success, are often invited or mandated to engage in some form of professional development (PD) to continue in improving their practice. However, an empirical understanding of how teachers learn from PD offerings remains elusive and incomplete. Often teachers report not learning from the models where they have little autonomy. While there is small body of research on teacher-driven models, there is a lack of sufficient evidence on whether these models enhance teacher learning and ultimately their practice. Therefore, this study employed grounded theory methods coupled with a descriptive research approach …

Design, Implementation And Perceptions Of A Preservice Mentor Development Program, Jill R. Heiney-Smith

Education Dissertations

Teacher education programs support their mentor teachers through a variety of resources and professional development, but generally lack a dedicated curriculum for pre-service mentoring. This study was designed to learn what kinds of resources, tools, trainings, and experiences would better support mentor teachers in a teacher education (or pre-service) program. The study was grounded in social learning theories and empirical research on mentoring, as well as research on teacher induction and professional development. Mixed-methods data were collected in three sequential phases with a total sample of n = 199 mentor teachers. Results indicate that mentors have sophisticated expectations for their …

The Bellringer Sequence: Investigating What And How Preservice Mathematics Teachers Learn Through Pedagogies Of Enactment, Mary A. Ochieng

Dissertations

This study examines preservice teacher learning through pedagogies of enactment—approaches to teacher education that allow preservice teachers to learn by doing what teachers do. Preservice teacher (PST) learning is examined through the implementation of the Bellringer Sequence (BRS), a pedagogy of enactment conceptualized in the study. The BRS is centered around bellringers—brief mathematical tasks implemented as students arrive for class. The BRS is a sequence of four activities centered on a bellringer: preparation (for teaching a bellringer) implementation (of the bellringer with peers), debriefing (discussing the implementation as colleagues), and written reflection (about the effectiveness of the bellringer).

Practice-based approaches …

Teacher Candidate Psychological Insight And Capacity For Change: Developing A Professional Identity, Richard Bradley Coats

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of teacher education has recently found that the formation of teacher candidate’s sense of professional identity is an integral part of their development as a future educator, yet few programs explicitly address it (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009). The purpose of this study was to examine teacher candidates’ ability to reflect on self and others, and the influence of psychological insight on the development of a professional identity. The study took place in the Pacific Northwest at an accredited university in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. The six participants selected for this study were undergraduate Elementary Education …

The Effects Of A Peer-Supported Mindfulness Practice On Teacher Stress Reduction, Dana Vitolo

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to measure the effects of daily mindfulness practice with peer-support on teacher stress reduction. Nine female Montessori teachers participated in study and taught at private Montessori schools in suburban or rural settings. The participating teachers practiced a short mindfulness activity daily such as the body scan, sitting meditation, yoga, or mandala coloring and wrote reflections in their daily journal for four weeks. The teachers also participated in a weekly peer support group for community building and wrote reflections in their weekly journal. The teachers participated in a pre- and post- intervention stress …

Does Seeing Matter? Exploring Pre-Service Teachers’ Use Of Self-Video As A Tool For Self-Reflection In The Study Of Their Own Practice, Lynn Navin

Dissertations

The use of video for teacher learning is a useful tool to support reflection and self-analysis. Video records have been successful in supporting teachers in learning to notice student thinking, a strong component in instructional expertise. The use of video provides permanent records of classroom lessons that can be viewed repeatedly (Sherin, 2001, 2007; van Es & Sherin, 2002, 2008.) It allows deep engagement and collaborative learning. Including the use of video in teacher preparation courses has successfully contributed to increasing pre-service teachers’ attending and analyzing skills, necessary components of professional vision, (Santagata & Guarani, 2011; Stürmer, Könings, & Seidel, …

Impacts Of Cohort Membership On Teacher Candidates In An Alternative Certification Program, Katherine Eaton

Dissertations

Post baccalaureate teacher education programs are an effective way to increase the teaching pool with candidates who are content experts (Beijaard et al. 2004; Brantlinger, A., & Smith, B., 2013; Zeichner, K. M., & Schulte, A. K., 2001; Schultz, K., & Ravitch, S. M. 2013; Humphrey et al., 2008). Many of these programs utilize a cohort model design where students progress through the program together as a group (Maher, M. A. 2005; Jorissen, K. T., 2002; Ross et al., 2006; Mandzuk, D. et al., 2005). In his book, Deep Knowledge (2013), Larkin describes the complex nature of preparing candidates for …

Understanding Technological, Pedagogical, And Content Knowledge In An Educational Technology Course: A Case Study Of Social Studies Preservice Teacher's Beliefs And Dispositions, Mark M. Diacopoulos

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

As beliefs and dispositions form the foundation of practice, the situations in which teachers develop belief is an important factor in their development (Roth, 1999). One aspect shaping the beliefs of teacher candidates is their experience with education. Lortie (2002) refers to this as the problem of “apprenticeship of observation”, the learning that occurs from watching teachers in the 12 or more years spent in school as a student. School experiences greatly affect the preconceptions teacher candidates have about teaching and learning. Richardson and Placier (2001) state most preservice teacher beliefs consist of unexamined assumptions. These views tend to focus …

Diversity And Postsecondary Education: Are Local Teacher Preparation Programs Really Preparing Educators For Supporting And Teaching Diverse Populations In The Classroom?, David Prescott

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

This intensive research endeavor is focused in the realm of education, specifically inclusion in classroom settings. This paper will be examining local teacher preparation programs by analyzing their requirements for diversity education and training. The overall purpose of this research project is to increase awareness of the disconnect between inclusion and diversity education, inspire others to want to do something to better serve the diverse populations in local school districts, and to begin discussion about changing diversity requirements in local teacher education programs. This paper will begin by defining and distinguishing inclusion and diversity education. Next the paper will provide …

Preparing Asian Esol Teachers To Respond To Student Writing: A Systemic Functional Linguistic Perspective In Action, I-An Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

L2 teachers generally lack the ability to respond to student writing in productive ways, because L2 teacher education has typically not developed teachers’ understanding of how language works in constructing meaningful texts. To address the need for preparing teachers to give meaningful feedback, this study investigates the professional experiences of Asian English language teachers (ELTs) who participated in a professional development program informed by Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL). This program attempts to apprentice teachers to becoming critical text analysts who are able to analyze the linguistic features of their students’ emergent writing practices and provide informed feedback. The research …

The Internationalization Of Teacher Education Faculty In Two Global Cities: A Case Study Of Two Universities In New York And Hong Kong, Maribel Roman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

With the increasing integration of the world economy, nations are under growing pressure to compete internationally, resulting in a need to re-shape national education systems to train a multi-cultural workforce capable of competing globally. Consequently, the imperative to internationalize must focus on the preparation of teachers. This research study examined the internationalization of teacher education faculty through case studies of two universities: one in New York and one in Hong Kong. The main purpose is twofold: (1) to compare the extent to which, and the ways in which teacher education faculty in the two settings have internationalized the content of …

Assessing K12 Online Teachers Knowledge Of Online Student Identities And Characteristics, Brianne L. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

As K12 online learning continues to grow across the nation, the population of online students, much like the population of face-to face students, continues to change. As the online student population becomes increasingly diverse, not only in terms of race, but in terms of religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status, research must be undertaken to assess the level of preparation that K12 online teachers have in terms of teaching this population. This dissertation intends to serve as a baseline analysis, providing information on K12 online teachers' knowledge of the types of student characteristics and identities that may be present in …

Teacher Identity Construction In A Tesol Graduate Certificate Of Education In Western Australia, Arman Abednia

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project explored the potential of a second language teacher education course for fostering teacher identity negotiation. It was found that classroom conversations provided a rich space for teacher identity negotiation; however, no substantial changes were observed in most aspects of their identities during the course, except for a growth in a few teachers’ selfconfidence. The implications are that conducting teacher education in an interactive manner is highly beneficial, but deeper engagement with practice of teaching is recommended. These insights should facilitate positive outcomes for teacher education programs.

Meeting The Needs Of English Language Learners In Mississippi Through Professional Development, Delore Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is that Native American and Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in a rural Mississippi school district are not performing at the same level as non-ELLs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the perceived causes of ELL failure and low academic performance on district and state assessments and in general education classes. Guided by Vygotsky's theory of development, which supports teachers and students remaining active in the learning process, research questions focused on what instructional practices general education teachers use to provide instruction for Spanish/Choctaw-speaking ELLs. General education teachers' use of …

Teachers' Experiences That Influence Their Self-Efficacy To Foster Student Creativity, Kim K. Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Creativity has been included in student learning and model teaching standards with little systematic attention on the preparedness of current practitioners to implement such expectations. This qualitative case study is conducted to discover what knowledge and skills teachers perceived to be necessary to implement practices that foster and develop student creativity with a strong sense of self-efficacy. A purposeful sample of 58 teachers from 4 Arkansas A+ (ARA+) network schools shared their perceptions of how creativity-fostering professional development (PD) influenced their sense of self-efficacy to foster creativity and answer the research questions. Data were collected using questionnaires, individual interviews, and …