Education Commons^™

Regenerating Professional Learning: The Influence Of Relationships On Teacher Identity, Agency, And Advocacy, Todd W. Mckinley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional development for teachers gained more attention with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 2001. However, reform efforts spurred by this act focused mainly on training for specific programs and curriculum materials, resulting in little attention to instruction. In the last thirty or more years, new approaches to professional development have emerged, with teacher leadership, in particular, gaining more attention in studies as an important mechanism for reforming classroom practice to raise student achievement. Research has mainly examined collaborative frameworks to sustain teacher growth through professional learning communities situated within the context of schools and …

An Analysis Of The Education System In Turkey: Supervision Policies Between The Years 1980 – 2021, Anıl K. Eranıl, Ali Erkan Barış

Journal of Educational Supervision

This article intends to delineate the policy of the supervision system, which is a sub-system of the Turkish education system, for the years 1980-2021, through policy analysis. A systematic literature review (SLR) analyzed the research findings of 44 studies. The findings of the study were categorized according to four main themes that Eranıl (2021) pinpointed as the critical periods in the history of the Turkish education system. Critical periods were classified as a post-coup period: (1980-1997), compulsory eight-year education period: (1997-2005), constructivist period: (2005-2012), 4 + 4 + 4 education system period: (2012 and later). The results of the research …

Investigating The Teaching And Assessment Experiences Of Maine Secondary Science Teachers During The Covid-19 Lockdown, Anupam Raj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In March 2020, an unexpected event changed the educational systems throughout the world. In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic caused public places to close down, including schools. To continue education, schools in Maine went online. This study describes how Maine secondary science teachers taught and assessed their students while teaching remotely for the first time during the lockdown. It does so by investigating teachers’ perspectives about the impact on their students, how they handled the issue of equity, their new priorities and expectations, their teaching and assessment challenges, and their successful strategies during the initial phase of the lockdown. …

Efficacy Of The Fifa 11+ Injury Prevention Program In Maine High School Soccer, Meg Lander

Honors College

The purpose of this thesis was to assess the efficacy of the FIFA 11+ injury prevention program when used over the course of one soccer season in Maine high school athletics when compared to a standard warm-up approach. Every year, nearly two million injuries are sustained by high school athletes, and the FIFA 11+ program was developed to mitigate the risk of lower body injuries in soccer players. It has been shown to reduce the incidence of injury by one third or more in teenage and older athletes. Participants were randomly allocated into the FIFA 11+ group and the control …

Reliability Evidence For The Nc Teacher Evaluation Process Using A Variety Of Indicators Of Inter-Rater Agreement, T. Scott Holcomb, Richard Lambert, Bryndle L. Bottoms

Journal of Educational Supervision

In this study, various statistical indexes of agreement were calculated using empirical data from a group of evaluators (n = 45) of early childhood teachers. The group of evaluators rated ten fictitious teacher profiles using the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process (NCTEP) rubric. The exact and adjacent agreement percentages were calculated for the group of evaluators. Kappa, weighted Kappa, Gwet’s AC1, Gwet’s AC2, and ICCs were used to interpret the level of agreement between the group of raters and a panel of expert raters. Similar to previous studies, Kappa statistics were low in the presence of high levels of …

Agency Of In-Service Elementary Science Teachers During A Global Pandemic, Anica Miller-Rushing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In-service teachers of science work with unique content and pedagogical experiences. Understanding teacher agency in these circumstances will help researchers understand the actions that these teachers take, actions that are consequential for shaping teaching patterns and supporting the development of students’ scientific practices. The purpose of this study was to understand how the agency of six elementary (K–5) in-service teachers was expressed discursively during a global pandemic. The teachers’ agency was qualitatively analyzed using a case study approach (Yin, 2012, 2017) that applied discourse analysis to identify the ways in which science teacher agency is conceptualized, afforded, and constrained through …

Assessing Teacher Candidates’ Pedagogical Judgement: An Analysis Of Clinically-Based Instructional Assignments, Sonia Janis, Mardi Schmeichel, Joseph Mcanulty, Chantelle Grace, Kaitlin Wegrzyn

Journal of Educational Supervision

Research on clinically-based teacher education indicates that facilitating clinical experiences for teacher candidates improves their preparation for the profession. While we have answered the call to implement rich clinical experiences in our teacher education program, we have found that we also needed to design new, robust strategies to assess what the candidates are taking away from their clinical experiences. This paper describes our use of Horn and Campbell’s (2015) notion of “pedagogical judgment” to analyze the work of social studies teacher candidates in clinical placements. We describe a rubric developed to evaluate candidates’ pedagogical judgment and offer insights into the …

A Quantitative Study Of Mathematics Anxiety In First-Generation Pre-Service Teachers, Wendi Malenfant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many pre-service teachers suffer from mathematics anxiety which can lead to mathematics avoidance, poor mathematics performance, and the potential to pass on mathematics anxiety to their future students. More and more first-generation college students, who also suffer from math anxiety, are attending four-year universities and studying to be teachers. School leaders, educators, and researchers must recognize the serious nature of mathematics anxiety, how it negatively impacts learners, and how the cycle is perpetuated if the root causes of mathematics anxiety are not mitigated, especially in elementary teachers.

This quantitative study, which utilized an anonymous mathematics anxiety survey, examined the prevalence …

Investigating The Attitudes, Beliefs And Practices Of High School Chemistry Teachers Regarding The Differentiation Of Instruction, Anna Tyrina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Differentiation of instruction (DI) is a broad term used for a group of pedagogical tools that teachers use to individualize instruction for students of different abilities and needs. Differentiation of instruction is a practice that has been researched and characterized to have a variety of instructional benefits, some of which include increased student motivation and engagement (Tomlinson, 2001). This study sought to characterize the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of ten high school chemistry teachers in Maine regarding the differentiation of instruction. Through a phenomenological approach, interviews with these teachers were analyzed to understand how high school chemistry teachers define differentiated …

An Analysis Of Citizenship Education In Maine Middle Schools, Tom Adams

Honors College

An essential responsibility of public schooling is to cultivate civic awareness in students and prepare them to participate in a democratic society. Schools have, however, broadly failed this task, a trend the Maine Department of Education has attempted to reverse through policy. The 2019 edition of the MDoE’s Maine Learning Results (“MLR”) standards mandates that middle school social studies teachers implement civic action and service-learning projects (a.k.a. “citizenship education”) to address community needs and foster students’ civic identity. Existing literature suggests that citizenship education improves students’ civic awareness, community engagement, and future voting behavior, but the effectiveness of this new …

Delivering On The Promise Of Support For Growth? Evaluator Perceptions Of A New State Teacher Evaluation System, Noelle A. Paufler, Kelley M. King, Ping Zhu

Journal of Educational Supervision

This cross-case synthesis gives voice to evaluators in EC-12 and higher education settings who are enacting a state-mandated system of teacher evaluation and support by examining their perceptions of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS). Questions addressed included: How do differently situated school administrators and supervisors 1) understand the model, 2) describe the implementation of its elements, 3) understand and enact their roles, and 4) assess the impact of the model? Data from EC-12 school principals and clinical supervisors at the university level indicates the system establishes a comprehensive definition of quality teaching. However, model complexity creates challenges. …

First-Year Computer Science Students: Pathways And Perceptions In Introductory Computer Science Courses, Christina A. Leblanc

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined student perceptions and experiences of an introductory Computer Science course at the University of Maine; COS 125: Introduction to Problem Solving Using Computer Programs. It also explored the pathways that students pursue after taking COS 125, depending on their success in the course, and their motivation to persist. Through characterizing student populations and their performance in their first semester in the Computer Science program, they can be placed into one of three categories that explain their path; a “continuer” (passed COS 125 and decided to stay in the major), a “persister” (did not pass COS 125 and …

Investigating The Intersections Of Interpersonal Violence: Identifying Risk And Protective Factors For Hazing, Kayla E. Goodwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s initiative to investigate the links between multiple forms of violence, this study used a “review-of-reviews” qualitative approach, a form of meta-analysis, to illuminate the intersections of sexual violence and hazing. Data were analyzed to uncover the risk and protective factors for hazing. These findings were then compared to the risk and protective factors for sexual violence to investigate any intersections, broadening the research about the intersecting forms of interpersonal violence. Eleven risk factors for hazing were identified, four of which intersect with previously identified risk factors for sexual …

The Need For Discipline-Based Education Research In Archaeology, Carol E. Colaninno

Journal of Archaeology and Education

Over the last few decades, scholars have recognized the importance of discipline-based education research (DBER). As outlined by the National Research Council of the National Academies, DBER aims to 1) understand how students learn discipline concepts, practices, and ways of thinking; 2) understand how students develop expertise; 3) identify and measure learning objectives and forms of instruction that advance students towards those objectives; 4) contribute knowledge that can transform instruction; and 5) identify approaches to make education broad and inclusive. Physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, astronomers, and geoscientists have been among the first to adopt DBER. Given research that demonstrates the …

Examining The Relationship Between A Universal Screening Measure And A State Reading Assessment, Karen G. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many adolescents struggle with reading comprehension, despite an emphasis on reading instruction over recent decades. Evidence suggests that informational text is particularly challenging for students. To implement assessments within a multi-tiered framework, schools must have psychometrically adequate tools. Universal screening data can be useful when identifying at-risk students in need of intervention.

Using data of 473 students in Grades 6 through 8 from two Western Maine middle schools, this study examined the relationship between the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress in Reading (NWEA MAP-R) and Maine’s eMPowerME English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA/L) test by Measured Progress. Logistic regression models …

Principals’ Perceptions Of Teacher Evaluation Reform From Structural And Human Resource Perspectives, John Wilson Campbell, Mary Lynne Derrington

Journal of Educational Supervision

Driven by Race to the Top funding and quickly designed and deployed in 2010-2011, a new teacher evaluation policy in Tennessee altered principals’ supervisory practices regarding their use of time for observation and reporting, their interaction with teachers, and the methods for giving teachers performance ratings. In addition, student test score data were integrated into final ratings, and professional consequences were linked with those ratings. Researchers in this study followed fourteen school principals over a five-year period to understand how their perceptions of new evaluation policy components affected their implementation. Data were analyzed using the structural and human resource frames …

Teachers' Professional Knowledge And Formative Assessment Practices: An Empirical Study From Middle School Earth Science Instruction In The Context Of An Education Improvement Community, Laura Millay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While there is widespread agreement that effective formative assessment supports student learning in science, the knowledge teachers need in order assess learning remains sparsely studied. In 1999, Magnusson, Krajcik, and Borko (MKB) proposed that Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK, Shulman 1986, 1987) is a distinct knowledge domain that synthesizes three base domains that include science subject matter, pedagogy, and context. The MKB model identified Assessment Knowledge as one of five components of PCK. Since 1999, several studies have used the MKB framework, but have left Assessment Knowledge underdefined. In 2012, Avargil, Herscovitz, and Dori proposed a revision based on empirical study, …

Learning Ideas - Understanding Accessible Educational Materials (Aem) And Their Use: Tips For K-12 Educators, University Of Maine Center For Community Inclusion And Disability Studies

Professional Development

Students arrive in classrooms with a variety of skills, interests and needs. For many learners, the typical curriculum—including instructional methods, classroom materials, and assessments of knowledge—may contain barriers to educational participation and achievement. Students who are unable to access print materials face particular challenges. Accessible educational materials reduce barriers and provide rich supports for learning. By using accessible educational materials, educators enable all learners to gain knowledge, skills and enthusiasm for learning.

Understanding Student Development Of Science Literacy Skills In An Undergraduate Environmental Science Course, Molly Picillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educators are expected to instill a variety of skills in their students that are necessary to be competent citizens of society. One such set of skills, science literacy skills, broadly encompass the ability of an individual to evaluate reliability of data and information and critically analyze and interpret them (Gormally Brickman, Hallar, & Armstrong, 2009). These skills are utilized in everyday decision-making and given their pertinence, there is a need for citizens to be scientifically literate. Thus, educators need tools and assessments to help students develop these skills and analyze their science literacy. The aim of this study was to …

Teacher Performance Evaluation And Professional Growth In The Era Of "Educator Effectiveness" In Maine, Jonathan E. Doty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine is one of many states that undertook reform to teacher supervision and evaluation in the wake of public attention (e.g., Waiting for Superman) and federal pressure (e.g., NCLB Flexibility Waivers). The Maine Legislature passed An Act to Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership (2012), shifting from local discretion to greater state influence on the functions of formative supervision and summative evaluation. As school districts created systems to meet the state’s mandates, they combined growth and employment functions and navigated persistent challenges described in the literature on evaluation and supervision.

The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives …

Assessing Trainee Understanding Of Health Equity & Diversity, Betsy P. Humphreys, Susan Russell, Alan Kurtz, Rae Sonnenmeier

Poster Presentations

The NH-ME LEND Program engages in quality improvement efforts aimed at increasing trainee’s understanding of health equity and cultural competence. This poster 1) provided an overview of the curricular components related to health equity and diversity, 2) reported on six cohorts of trainees’ self-assessments in these areas, and 3) shared trainees’ personal reflections on their growth. Finally, ongoing program improvements efforts in these areas were discussed.

Using Contrasting Cases To Build Metacognitive Knowledge About The Impact Of Salient Distracting Features In Physics Problems, Thanh K. Le

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student reasoning on physics problems is often context dependent. A possible explanation is that salient distracting features (SDFs) in physics problems may cue students’ “spontaneous” reasoning. This cued reasoning is often accepted without question, even though it may be unproductive and may even preclude the use of relevant knowledge. One possible approach to address such reasoning difficulties is to strengthen students’ metacognitive skills, particularly their metacognitive knowledge. While metacognitive knowledge plays an important role in facilitating effective regulation, little is known about how to build student metacognitive knowledge. This dissertation explores the use of contrasting cases (e.g., a …

Contrast Dependent Knowledge Development In Contrast Supported Scientific Observation, Maura B. Foley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of contrasts between phenomena can influence how people think and reason about them, so learning contrasts is important in school science. Building knowledge through a process of construction is a common framework through which school science is taught. However, telling phenomena apart through differentiation also plays an important role in learning and may be underused as a teaching framework. An effective way to learn contrasts is to use them to perceptually differentiate similar-looking phenomena presented side-by-side. However, little is known about the persistence/usefulness of knowledge generated during perceptual differentiation over short periods of time and its usage in student …

Investigating Student Learning Of Analog Electronics, Kevin L. Van De Bogart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instruction in analog electronics is an integral component of many physics and engineering programs, and is typically covered in courses beyond the first year. While extensive research has been conducted on student understanding of introductory electric circuits, to date there has been relatively little research on student learning of analog electronics in either physics or engineering courses. Given the significant overlap in content of courses offered in both disciplines, this study seeks to strengthen the research base on the learning and teaching of electric circuits and analog electronics via a single, coherent investigation spanning both physics and engineering courses.

This …

A Qualitative Study Of Rural School Returners' Journeys To Secondary Credential Completion, Brenda Elaine Swan Gammon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dropping out of school has a negative impact on an individual’s life and a person’s ability to contribute to the country’s society and economy. Returning to schooling and obtaining a diploma or equivalent is fraught with obstacles. Many people try several times to complete the degree; fewer succeed. The plight of rural students including rural school returners is often overlooked because their problems are overshadowed by the problems of urban areas.

The purpose of this qualitative study, involving three extensive interviews of five rural school returners, was to build upon existing research on high school dropouts through the exploration of …

A Promising Candidate: An Exploration Of Graduate Matriculation Genres, Megan D. Bishop Gervais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study emerges from the author’s personal experience of interacting with unfamiliar genres as she prepared her application for a graduate program in English. In a liminal space between graduating from her undergraduate program and applying for admission to a graduate program, her interaction with graduate admission genres was fraught with tension and a lack of the assumed knowledge that would inform her on how to strategically interact with these genres. This lack of tacit knowledge and absence of scaffolding lead her to compose a “statement of purpose” that did not adequately demonstrate that she was a “promising” graduate student, …

Thinking Beyond The Fried Egg Model: How Accurately Do Students Perceive Cells In A Living Context?, Milissa Knox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study investigated three aspects of introductory undergraduate biology students’ understanding about cells. The study, which took place at the University of Maine with voluntary students in Basic Biology (“BIO100”) in the summer and fall of 2009, examined (1) students’ pre-course perceptions of cells as they exist in a living context and (2) gains in students’ perception and knowledge about cells after completing the one-semester course (BIO100). Results are based on lecture exam scores, pre-post surveys developed as a part of this thesis, and interviews with two groups of biology students. A total of 498 students participated in the …

"It's Not Just The Money" Figures 6-10, Philip A. Trostel

'It's Not Just the Money' Data Sets

No abstract provided.

Do Relationships With Helpful And Not-Helpful Teachers Make A Difference? Perspectives From Nine At-Risk Adolescents, Emanuel Pariser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every year in the United States close to 25% of students fail to graduate with the classmates with whom they began high school. The economic, social and personal impact of not completing high school is staggering on the individual and society. The literature fails to adequately document relational factors in the classroom that can alter the academic trajectory of at-risk students. This dissertation explores how nine at-risk adolescents view the impact of relationships with helpful and not-helpful teachers on their academic success. My three research questions were: (a) what qualities do at-risk students attribute to helpful and not-helpful teachers; (b) …

Identifying And Addressing Specific Student Difficulties In Advanced Thermal Physics, Trevor I. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As part of an ongoing multi-university research study on student understanding of concepts in thermal physics at the upper division, I identified several student difficulties with topics related to heat engines (especially the Carnot cycle), as well as difficulties related to the Boltzmann factor. In an effort to address these difficulties, I developed two guided-inquiry worksheet activities (a.k.a. tutorials) for use in advanced undergraduate thermal physics courses. Both tutorials seek to improve student understanding of the utility and physical background of a particular mathematical expression. One tutorial focuses on a derivation of Carnot's theorem regarding the limit on thermodynamic efficiency, …