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Table Of Contents And Introductory Materials For Vol. 21, No. 2, 2013-2014, Bruce Quantic

The Advocate

This content includes the table of contents and editorial information for vol. 21, no. 2 (Fall-Winter 2013-2014).

Common Core - Uncommon School: Teaching And Learning In The Walton Rural Life Charter School In Walton, Ks, John R. Morton

The Advocate

Editorial

Introduction: John Dewey’s quintessential quote perhaps sets the stage for the premise of this article better than any other source. His “learn by doing” approach to education has been in and out of vogue since the 1930s.

Undoing The Factory Model: A Practical Field Test In Blended Learning, Adam C. Holden

The Advocate

Merely, introducing new technologies into the classroom does little to address the needs of students–while it might create a welcome instructional environment for them, it does not address the compelling “elephant in the room.” Being able to orchestrate a student-centered, technology-rich lesson requires much expertise on the part of the teacher and a system-wide universally acknowledged educational technology plan. This study examines the paradigm shift required of teachers and the practical reality of adopting a blended learning environment to meet the needs of a diverse school district.

Literacy, The Graduation Rate, And Economic Development: How The Vaccination Approach To Literacy Instruction Impacts The Economy Of Kansas And The Nation, Carolyn L. Carlson

The Advocate

Introduction: Almost seven thousand students drop out of high school every day (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2010b). It is estimated that one in ten high schools in the United States is considered a “dropout factory” – a term given to a high school where no more than 60% of the students who begin attending the school as freshman complete their senior year (Zuckerbrod, 2007).

Journey To Solla Sollew: Teacher Candidates, Resiliency, And Children's Literature, Gayla Lohfink, Susan Unruh

The Advocate

Today’s elementary student must learn coping strategies in order to deal with life’s challenges—social, emotional, and academic—in his or her changing world. To foster the development of such learning, teacher preparation programs must include instruction in which teacher candidates study how to facilitate their students’ awareness of mechanisms for recovering from life’s setbacks and show resiliency. This article presents a training module for enhancing pre-service teachers’ pedagogical knowledge of resiliency. Examples of recent publications of children’s literature are shared and modeled as lessons to exemplify how this particular resource can be used to encourage resiliency in children.

Teaching Elementary Economics Using Children's Literature, Julia Mittelberg

The Advocate

Teaching economics to elementary aged children can be a challenge for classroom teachers. Using popular children’s literature is an engaging and fun way to involve students in learning important economic lessons while integrating the content with language arts standards. This article will describe how to use children’s books to teach economic ideas and it provides the reader with numerous examples of popular literature that can be employed to effectively teach concepts like opportunity cost, scarcity, and resources. Additionally, recommendations for using the books and how to find appropriate texts by grade level using existing on-line databases are included.

Teaching economic …

Silencing Reading, Silencing The Boys: Using Action Research To Investigate Silent Reading Programs And Its Effects On Boys’ Literacy Skills, Rachel Velluto, Joanna Barbousas

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Despite the vast amount of literature regarding boys and their underperformance in the literacy realm, only some research indicates that boys’ low literacy levels may be attributed to unchallenged literacy classroom practices. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) is a free voluntary reading program in which students are expected to read (usually books) for a period of time. Observing an SSR period during the teaching practicum as a pre-service teacher, the unstructured nature of the lesson disengaged many of the boys. In the lesson, the students are expected to select a book from the library and read in silence for the duration …

Learning From Families: Pre-Service Teachers’ First Interactions With Parents, Diana Brannon

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Field experiences are practical ways for pre-service teacher education programs to provide their students experiences and exposure to schools, students, and communities similar to and different from ones that they have attended. The use of field experiences is commonplace in teacher preparation. These experiences provide hands-on application and practical experiences that cannot be replaced or matched by even the best education methods courses (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, & Bransford, 2007). As Dodds (1989) explains, “Field experiences represent the closest juncture between formal teacher training in universities and on-thejob training in schools” (p. 81). Field experiences have been found to make significant contributions …

A Book Review - Voices From The Classroom: Performing Case Study Action Research, Nicholas D. Hartlep

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Voices from the Classroom is about how to perform case study action research. The book is 130 pages in length, and contains ten chapters. Written sequentially, each chapter is related to sections of an action research study. For instance, how to introduce the study (chapter 2); how to write a literature review (chapter 3); how to describe the setting, sampling, and participants (chapter 4); how to collect data (chapter 5); how to confirm the trustworthiness of the study (chapter 6); how to analyze data (chapter 7); how to write up the results (chapter 8); and how to discuss implications of …

Student-Centered Empowerment Of Teacher-Centered Practices: An Action Research Project, Nicolas Clegorne, Roland Mitchell

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This action research reflects a narrative inquiry into the age-old debate concerning the relationship between theory and practice in educational settings. The unique perspective we add to this discussion is our distinct vantages. One researcher is a faculty member and the other is a student-affairs practitioner both working in a large public university. The insights we gleaned from this inquiry were drawn from our participant observation of a Foundations of Higher Education course. The course enrolled 22 students (many of whom worked full-time as student affairs practitioners) and we challenged them to engage theoretically dense material with the expressed aim …

Drawings As A Component Of Triangulated Assessment, Charlotte A. Otto, Susan A. Everett, Gail R. Luera, Christopher F.J. Burke

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Action research (AR) in an educational setting as described by Tillotson (2000) is an approach to “classroom-based problems” or “specific school issues” (p. 31). His process involves identification of the issue or problem, development and implementation of an action plan, gathering and interpreting data, sharing the results within the community, and “action planning” as a cyclical endeavor (Tillotson, 2000, p. 32). AR is utilized as a key component of developing pre-service teachers in the University of Michigan-Dearborn certification program. Illustrating the five components of Tillotson’s approach, pre-service elementary teachers develop and analyze pre-assessments of K-8 student knowledge about a specific …

Pre-Service Teachers And Participatory Action Research: Students, Community, And Action, Paul Mencke

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Participatory Action Research (PAR) has a history of empowerment, transformation, and healing (McIntyre, 2008). Its limited use in teacher education must be addressed, and this study shows pre-service teachers’ overwhelming enjoyment in completing a PAR project. An outline of classroom methods demonstrates how the project was implemented, and 41 student responses are analyzed from a secondary Community and Cultural Context of Education course. Findings indicate 73% concluded PAR was great or enjoyable, and included are reflections about transformational experiences, reasons for not enjoying PAR, and ideas to improve the project. Implications for continued study suggest a need for further inquiry …

Colliding Theories And Power Differentials: A Cautionary Tale Of Conducting Action Research While Student Teaching, Jennifer M. Conner-Zachocki, Danielle Dias

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Accounts of student teachers engaging in action research are abundant. Few of those accounts, however, provide insights into the challenges that this context might pose for an action researcher. Using narrative research methods, this study shares the story of one pre-service elementary education teacher who, with the permission of her supervising teacher and student teaching partner, made plans to teach a New Literacies Studies unit during her fourth grade student teaching placement and engage in action research in order to reflect on teaching and learning during that unit. Ultimately, philosophical tensions underpinning the student teacher and supervising’s understandings of literacy …

Request In The Secondary History Classroom: How Does The Introduction Of A Purposeful Reading Technique Effect Comprehension Of Text?, Jeffery Peleaux, Jason Endacott

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This quantitative, action research study sought to explore the effects of introducing the ReQuest reading comprehension technique to students who are accustomed to using a world history textbook and the initiate-respond-evaluate questioning pattern to acquire basic historical information. Data collected from a series of paired sample quiz scores indicates that the ReQuest method shows promise as part of a purposeful, reciprocal teaching method when reading comprehension of expository text is the explicit goal of the classroom teacher. The results of this exploratory study support the literature on the use of explicitly taught reading strategies and suggests that further investigation of …

Editorial Introduction, Kenneth Fasching-Varner, Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, Tynisha Meidl, Christopher Meidl

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This special edition seeks to challenge the perspective of research surrounding preservice teachers, shifting from a focus on preservice teachers to a focus on the work in which pre-service teachers are themselves engaged. As guest editors of this special edition, we work with pre-service teachers in a variety of institutional contexts and configurations ranging from traditional undergraduate preservice teachers to accelerated graduate student pre-service teacher candidates, and from a small liberal-arts to large research intensive institutions.

University-Based Collaborative Pre-Service-Mentor Teacher Teams: A Model For Classroom-Based Inquiry, Ronald Beebe, Diane Corrigan

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Current literature indicates classroom inquiry not only enhances the training of pre-service teachers but also increases the effectiveness of mentor teachers and improves student learning. However, designing an effective collaborative model has met with less success. This study examined the experiences of ten pre-service/mentor teacher teams in urban schools who participated in designing and implementing collaborative classroom-based research conducted in their classroom. The model sought to address issues noted in previous studies related to equal participation and anxiety surrounding the research process. Findings suggest that a university supported model employing a reflective practitioner approach enhances collaboration and promotes positive results …

Linking Action Research To Response To Intervention (Rti): The Strategy Implementation Project, David Hoppey

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This paper showcases how one teacher preparation program embedded action research within the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. This integration helped preservice teachers gain a deeper knowledge of RtI key concepts and pedagogical decision making for meeting diverse students’ needs. Examples from a course assignment are provided to demonstrate how an action research framework helped cultivate the professional knowledge and skills needed to understand and successfully implement the RtI decision-making process. A brief discussion and implications for teacher preparation programs are also shared.

Analysis Of Misconceptions In High School Mathematics, Lauren C. Schnepper, Leah P. Mccoy

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Research on teachers’ ability to identify and address student “errors” asserts that because many students who are not proficient in basic math skills demonstrate numerous mathematics misconceptions, it is essential for teachers to recognize various misconceptions when adjusting instruction (Riccomini, 2005). The research of Stefanich and Rokusek (1992) affirms that when a pattern of error was diagnosed and instruction was directed to remediate the incorrect procedure, then new learning could take place quickly, and retention appeared to be long-term. Correspondingly, a study by Wilcox and Zielinski (1997) concluded that assessment helped teachers gain better insights into their students’ understanding, including …

Table Of Contents And Introductory Materials For Vol. 21, No. 1, 2013, Bruce Quantic

The Advocate

This content includes the table of contents and editorial information for vol.21, issue 1 (Spring, 2013)

Education In Finland: Reflections From A Field Trip Abroad, Debbie Mercer, Lotta Larson

The Advocate

Introduction: After hearing much about the Finnish education system, we recently jumped at the opportunity to visit the country to explore schools and education organizations as members of a professional organization tour. In this article, we aim to reflect upon what we learned, provide multiple perspectives of the Finnish education system, and discuss possible implications for Kansas educators.

Teacher Candidates' Awareness And Acceptance Of Diversity, Lori Cook-Benjamin, Beth Walizer, Keith Dreiling

The Advocate

Introduction: Like many colleges of education and the departments within them, concerns exist on the best way to provide teacher candidates with clinical (also referred to as “field” in the literature) based experiences that meet accreditation outcomes. In the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Learning (NCATE, 2010), members of the panel stressed the importance of using a “clinically based model” for teacher preparation.

Differences In Principals' Data Use For Decision Making: An Administrative Probelm-Solving Perspective, Mingchu Luo, Jerry Will, Climetine Clayburn

The Advocate

As school leaders, principals must seek, use, and make sense of data and information. This study presents the findings of a survey study of 182 high school principals’ data use and examines the differences in the extent of principals’ data use for decision making in solving various dimensions of administrative problems. Results show principals used data frequently for decision-making in instructional leadership, organization operational leadership and school vision leadership, among which data use in instructional leadership was most frequent. Principals’ use of data was significantly less frequent in the leadership dimension of collaborative partnerships and larger-context politics. This article ends …

Fun-Defense: Games That Teach Fundamental Martial-Arts And Build Self-Esteem., Damon Leiss, Paul Luebbers

The Advocate

Associations have been made among having a low self-esteem and both being a bully and being bullied. With bullying and its victimization being a common problem in today’s schools, increasing students’ self-esteem could benefit schools with this dilemma. Learning martial arts has been shown to increase students’ self-esteem. However, training in martial arts can take considerable time, usually more time than can be allotted in a typical middle school physical education unit. This paper provides teachers a way to increase students’ self-esteem and confidence by quickly teaching and reinforcing fundamental martial arts skills through a game series known as “Fun-Defense.”

First-Year Teachers' Dispositions: Exhibited And Perception Of Being Taught, Shane Kirchner

The Advocate

The NCATE standards adopted in 2000 mandated the assessment of teacher dispositions. However, the lack of specificity of the construct has led to an environment where many institutions struggle to develop high-quality disposition assessments. The result is a hodgepodge of constructs and systems; some that work, some that do not. This quantitative study used a modified version of the Teacher Disposition Index to identify the extent to which first-year teachers self-reported exhibiting the dispositions and whether they perceived they were taught the dispositions by the teacher education programs from which they graduated.

The Changing Face Of School Accountability: A Charge To Teacher Educators To Make Radical Changes, Kirsten Limpert, Stuart Ervay

The Advocate

Since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative is being replaced by a much different approach called Common Core Standards (CCS), education’s challenge is to find ways to effectively incorporate the CCS guidelines within local curricula. This paper discusses past, current, and future teacher education as they relate to NCLB and CCS. In addition, four specific recommendations are made as we examine possible features of future teacher preparation programs as they relate to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and academic program decision-making.

Editorial Introduction, Catherine F. Compton-Lilly

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Welcome to Volume 15, number 2 of Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research! As we end a decade and a half of publication, we are proud to present a rich set of articles that highlight educators’ voices and knowledge.

Finnish Mathematics Teachers Talk About Restructuring Practice, Ann-Sofi Röj-Lindberg

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The case study presented in this article addresses how five Finnish mathematics teachers, colleagues in a Swedish speaking teacher training school, talked about on-going restructuring of their teaching and learning practices in terms of experiences and expectations five months into an action research process that they initiated in the early 1990s. In this action research the teachers were the agents of change (Leder, 1989); I joined the process as an outsider researcher.

Communicative Elements Of Action Research, Thomas G. Ryan

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This review considers human communications as utilized within a research design; in this case collaborative action research (CAR), a derivative of action research (AR), to achieve outcomes that change, and move participants forward. The association between AR and CAR is a deliberate attempt by the author to draw attention to communicative actions within each mode. Communication herein emerges via two channels, the nonverbal and verbal which combine to produce meaning in AR and CAR as researchers investigate. CAR was defined via numerous understandings of AR which were presented as a means to develop professionally. AR as reflective practice is presented, …

Leveraging Lighting Color, Temperature And Luminosity For Improving Classroom Learning:, Michael Seth Mott, Teresa R. Thomas, Jodie L. Burnette

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This short article addresses a preliminary exploration of a third grade teachers’ action research applied to the use of a dynamic lighting system for improving educational performance in the classroom. Dynamic lighting offers teachers’ four light settings: focus, energy, calm, and normal. Prior research has revealed a positive relationship between dynamic light use and student cognition, motivation and concentration. What is not known is how a teacher should make use of the four settings throughout the day during all of the activities, content-area learning, and transitions in students’ experience. Teacher data (journal entries) was collected for one year. Case study …

The Value Of Why For Student And Teacher Learning, Jody Guarino, Marie Sykes, Rossella Santagata

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

We believe teaching for understanding begins with the development of a few essential orientations. Teachers must have an appreciation for student-centered mathematics teaching, valuing an approach that builds on student thinking. In addition, teachers must appreciate the complexity of students’ mathematical thinking and ideas. Once these orientations are in place we can attend to student thinking in ways that draw inferences about their understanding (Carpenter, Fennema, Peterson & Carey, 1988; Ma, 1999) and use those inferences to further probe, uncover and extend the complexities of student thinking. We contend this is possible through the value of “why.” Asking “why?” when …