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Full-Text Articles in Education

Operationalizing Centerness And Measuring It In Professional Development Teams, George M. Nickles, Bruce Herbert Nov 2022

Operationalizing Centerness And Measuring It In Professional Development Teams, George M. Nickles, Bruce Herbert

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Centerness is defined as a quality of multi-agent systems (groups) where agents share a common set of system goals and interact so the system will achieve those goals. A pair of measures is identified to capture the two dimensions of centerness: distance-weighted fragmentation and average goal centerness. As a case study, the measures of centerness are applied to six teacher professional development groups within the Information Technology in Science Center for Teaching and Learning. The calculated measures of centerness of these groups generally conform to the expectations. Insights on using this measure of centerness to evaluate centerness in other professional …


Implementing Inclusive Education In Early Childhood Settings: The Interplay And Impact Of Exclusion, Teacher Qualities And Professional Development In Ghana, Francis R. Ackah-Jnr, Hyacinth Udah May 2021

Implementing Inclusive Education In Early Childhood Settings: The Interplay And Impact Of Exclusion, Teacher Qualities And Professional Development In Ghana, Francis R. Ackah-Jnr, Hyacinth Udah

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Inclusive education (IE) in the early years enhances young children’s learning, socialization, and development; yet, children with disability are one group that is often isolated, excluded, or marginalized in early childhood education. This paper examines jointly the perceived exclusion practices, teacher qualities, and professional development and the interplay and impact of these factors on effective inclusive early childhood education. Drawing on data collected from individual interviews with teachers and headteachers in a large early childhood and school setting in Ghana, findings of this qualitative study indicate the exclusion practices of teachers. The findings suggest that resistance to IE limits learning, …


Teacher Perceptions And Implementation Of A Content-Area Literacy Professional Development Program, Osha Lynette Smith, Rebecca Robinson May 2020

Teacher Perceptions And Implementation Of A Content-Area Literacy Professional Development Program, Osha Lynette Smith, Rebecca Robinson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The Common Core State Standards recommend that all educators equip students with the literacy skills needed for college and careers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine middle-level content-area teachers’ perspectives on a district-led literacy professional development program and their implementation of the literacy strategies they learned. The conceptual framework included Bruner’s constructivist, Bandura’s self-efficacy, and Knowles’s andragogy theories. These theories informed the investigation of adult learners’ perspectives regarding the way they learn and gain confidence in providing literacy instruction. Eleven English, math, science, and social studies teachers participated in the study through individual interviews. Data were …


Mentoring Secondary Novice Teachers To Develop Academic Language Of English Language Learners, Susan O'Hara, Joanne Bookmyer, Robert Pritchard, Robin Martin Mar 2020

Mentoring Secondary Novice Teachers To Develop Academic Language Of English Language Learners, Susan O'Hara, Joanne Bookmyer, Robert Pritchard, Robin Martin

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This exploratory, qualitative study examines the foundational knowledge and instructional methods needed for academic language teaching of English language learners (ELLs). It also examines how mentoring practices can build secondary content-based novice teachers’ instructional capacity in this area. The study uses synthesized data from two independent studies to contextualize findings on essential instructional practices within the process of mentoring new teachers. Three themes emerged: novices need the foundational, theoretical and practical knowledge underlying essential practices for academic language development; essential practices must be articulated in detail for enactment by teachers; and balancing explicit and immersive academic language instruction is a …


A Case Study Of Relationships, Resilience, And Retention In Secondary Mathematics And Science Teachers, Angela W. Webb Feb 2018

A Case Study Of Relationships, Resilience, And Retention In Secondary Mathematics And Science Teachers, Angela W. Webb

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Reasons why mathematics and science teachers leave the profession have been well documented and discussed. However, a critical examination of the nuances contributing to their retention warrants our attention. In this qualitative case study, I applied relational–cultural theory (Miller, 1986) to the experiences of three female mathematics and science teachers. I sought to unpack teachers’ decisions to remain in the classroom year after year and make meaning of their experiences as related to resilience in and through relationships. Based on findings from participants' experiences, recommendations for improving teacher retention along the career trajectory are offered.


Professional Development And Educational Policy: A Comparison Of Two Fields In Education, Linda E. Martin, Sherry Kragler, Denise Frazier Jun 2017

Professional Development And Educational Policy: A Comparison Of Two Fields In Education, Linda E. Martin, Sherry Kragler, Denise Frazier

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The purpose of this paper is to compare two fields of research related to school reform: professional development and educational policy. A content analysis of the literature in both fields revealed two areas where they align (i.e., a focus on teachers’ professional development and the idea that change takes time) as well as two areas where there are differences (i.e., theoretical grounding of each field and planning for teachers’ learning). Considerations for successful school reform are suggested.


A Content Analysis Of Images Of Novice Teacher Induction: First-Semester Themes, Jennifer R. Curry, Angela W. Webb, Samantha J. Latham Sep 2016

A Content Analysis Of Images Of Novice Teacher Induction: First-Semester Themes, Jennifer R. Curry, Angela W. Webb, Samantha J. Latham

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The powerful nature of novice teachers’ experiences in their first years of teaching has been well documented. However, the variance in novices’ initial immersion in the school environment is largely dependent on perceived personal and professional support as well as the environmental inducements that lend to novice teachers’ success in the classroom. For the purposes of this study, 72 participating novices, who were participants in an alternative certification program, drew representations of their current teaching environments. Of the 72 initial participants’ pictures, 58 were used in this content analysis. The interrater analysis involving multiple documentation of codes between and among …


“I’M Teaching What?!”: Preparing University Faculty For Online Instruction, Susan Ohara, Robert Pritchard Sep 2012

“I’M Teaching What?!”: Preparing University Faculty For Online Instruction, Susan Ohara, Robert Pritchard

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The percentage of higher education students enrolled in online courses has increased from 9.6 percent in fall 2002 to 33 percent in fall 2010. Due to the increased importance of online courses and programs on university campuses there is a need to better prepare novice technology faculty for the delivery of these courses. This article provides a description of the process through which a group of faculty with low to high technology skills prepared to deliver an online masters program. Minutes of meetings, documents produced, online discussion transcripts, and informal conversations were all used as data to analyze outcomes of …


Assessing Content Knowledge And Changes In Confidence And Anxiety Related To Economic Literacy In A Professional Development Program For History Teachers, Julia M. Rollison, Larry H. Ludlow, Todd Wallingford Apr 2012

Assessing Content Knowledge And Changes In Confidence And Anxiety Related To Economic Literacy In A Professional Development Program For History Teachers, Julia M. Rollison, Larry H. Ludlow, Todd Wallingford

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a Teaching American History professional development program on content knowledge, and confidence and anxiety associated with teaching economic literacy. Two content assessments and a confidence and anxiety instrument were administered to teachers prior to and immediately following a two-week Summer Institute. Statistically significant findings included an increase in economics content knowledge and an increase in confidence combined with a decrease in anxiety. The scale and measurement model employed to examine status and subsequent change should be useful for similar professional development initiatives and evaluations.