Education Commons^™

Holistic Responses To Campus Violence In The United States: Understanding The Needs Of Campus And Community - Based Service Providers--Research, Jennifer R. Wies, Caroline Reid, David C. May

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Campus violence is a significant social and public health problem in the United States and poses a unique situation for service provision. Victims often have access to both campus-based and community-based services, as they are simultaneously students and citizens of a larger community. Therefore, understanding the needs of campus violence service providers is essential for enhancing responses to campus violence. This research identifies knowledge and service delivery needs among service providers to support a comprehensive approach to ending campus violence. Situated in the social-ecological model, this article discusses the results of a survey to identify knowledge and service delivery needs …

Evaluating Co - Teaching In Performance Incentive Systems: Implications For Teacher Education--Commentary, Theresa Quigney

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

One of the most controversial areas of focus in the reform movement relates to the appraisal of K-12 level teachers’ instructional effectiveness, particularly as measured by the achievement levels of their students. While one would expect teachers to be accountable for student learning and be evaluated for their instructional efficacy, the discussion has now expanded into the domain of performance-based pay for teachers—directly based, at least in part, on student growth factors. This issue is critically relevant not only to the K-12 educational workforce, but also to teacher educators involved in preparing these teachers to be effective and successful in …

Using Critical Self - Reflection And Resistance Strategies In Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers--Research, Winston Vaughan

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

As our country becomes more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, pre-service teachers must be fully prepared to deal with these changes. As the demographics change, the majority of teachers continue to be white, middle-class females having to teach students who are different from themselves. Ladson-Billings (1995) suggests that schools of education must prepare teachers with the knowledge, skills and values that will enable them to be culturally competent in the classroom so as to meet the challenges of a pluralistic society. According to Brown(2004) and Sleeter (2001), many pre-service teachers simply lack cross-cultural competence and attitudes regarding diversity that would …

Promoting Excellence Within Early Care And Education Providers: A Teacher Education Program Story--Research, Jaesook L. Gilbert, Helene Arbouet Harte

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

This paper shares the process and experience of a university community partnership to improve the quality of care and education in the region by enhancing teachers’ early childhood knowledge. A hybrid course for both university students and childcare providers, The Academy for Early Childhood Excellence sought to provide intense and supportive professional development for early care and education providers as well as access and an introduction to the university setting. The hybrid format necessitated some level of competence with technology and more emphasis on writing as a mode of communication. Some of the Academy participants, especially the more experienced and …

Pre - Service Teachers’ Perceptions Of Disability As Represented In Children’S Television Programs--Research, Laura S. Clarke, Dusty Columbia Embury, Anna Epperly, Jennifer Christensen

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

As colleges and universities prepare pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms, it is important to understand college students’ schema of diversity. Part of creating an inclusive classroom culture is to understand how children view similarities and differences in others, and how to create a culture of acceptance. One way to create a culture of understanding is to use media representations and popular children’s television shows as a springboard for conversation and acceptance, but before pre-service teachers can use media, they have to first understand the characteristics and qualification criteria for students with disabilities, and also how the community at …

Using The Depth Of Knowledge Model To Create High School Mathematics Assessments--Research, Lynne Gannon Patterson, Meagan Musselman, Joel Rowlett

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

This study examined the midterm exams of six high school math teachers and sought to (a) determine if teachers could accurately identify which level of Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model their test items aligned to, and (b) compare the actual percentage of test items at each DOK level to the targeted percentage based off Webb’s research. The study revealed that teachers were not accurate with their alignment of test items with Webb’s DOK model. They also came up short in comparison to the targeted percentages of test items at each level. Comprehensively, they were asking more questions at …

Collaborating To Meet Challenges Of Co - Teaching Common Core Standards--Research, Dottie Willis

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Kentucky has led the nation in adopting Common Core Standards to revitalize education for next-generation learners and schools. To improve preparation of the state’s next-generation teachers, Kentucky has also mandated reform in training student teachers. This article reviews experiences of teacher educators from four Kentucky universities that are collaborating to ensure both quality and consistency in Co-Teaching Training, a new state requirement for all P-12 cooperating teachers and university supervisors who mentor student teachers. The author reports cooperating teachers’ responses to their initial Co-Teaching Training; analyzes educators’ perceptions about a complementary relationship between Co-Teaching strategies and achievement of Common Core …

How Well Are Mathematics Common Core Standards Reflected In Mathematics College Readiness Expectations?--Research, Lisa Conn

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

On February 10, 2010, Kentucky made history by being the first state to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS were designed to be more rigorous, focused, and applicable (Holiday, 2010) than previous standards. The adoption of these standards was predicated by Senate Bill 1, Unbridled Learning. This bill required legislative bodies to develop a unified strategy to reduce the high college remediation rates of recent high school graduates by at least fifty percent before 2014. Along with high schools being required to address underprepared college students, state universities were to align their remediation courses with the new …

Middle Level Teacher Preparation: Principals’ Perceptions Of New Teacher Preparedness--Research, Chris M. Cook, Penny B. Howell, Shawn A. Faulkner

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Drawing on the Framework for Effective Middle Level Teaching(Faulkner, Howell, &Cook, 2012; Howell, Cook, Faulkner, 2013), this interpretive, exploratory study utilized survey methodology to analyze 38 middle level principals’ perceptions of effective teaching practices and the preparedness of newly hired middle level teachers. The findings suggest there is difference in perceptions of new teacher preparedness between principals with middle level teacher certification and principals that were prepared to teach at other grade levels. While both groups acknowledged the need for better teacher preparation, principals with middle level teacher certification reported that newly hired teachers were less prepared for effective middle …

Essential Elements For Preparing Future Teachers In Early Childhood Education Using Common Core Standards--Research, Jaesook L. Gilbert, Susan Griebling

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this paper is to discuss suggestions on what pre-service teachers need to know in order to be ready to teach in today’s kindergartens where the implementation of the Common Core State Standards reflects best practice. The introduction of the Common Core State Standards in Kentucky has ushered a new culture in kindergarten. Kindergarten used to be seen as a preparation year in which children could be equipped in listening, walking in lines, getting along with others and learning letters. Today, children in kindergarten are expected to

begin reading, writing, adding and subtracting. Rigor begins early in the …

First In Reform: The Adoption Of Common Core State Standards In Kentucky, Richard Day

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Kentucky first drew national attention when its Supreme Court declared the entire system of schools to be unconstitutional in Rose v Council for Better Education, 790 S. W. 2d 186 (1989). The Rose case, argued by former Kentucky Governor Bert Combs, launched a third wave of school reform litigation based on both equity and adequacy as expressed in state constitutions (Day 2011, 2-4). On February 11, 2010, in an unprecedented joint meeting, the chairs of the Kentucky Board of Educat ion, the Council on Postsecondary Education, and the Education Professional Standards Board signed a resolution directing their respective agencies to …

Creativity To The Core: How The Ky Core Academic Standards Can Enhance Creativity--Research, Dorie Combs

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association in response to concerns about the poor performance of US students in comparison to students in other industrialized nations. A lack of understanding of the standards has led some to assume that any standards-based curriculum is going to focus on lower-level thinking skills and therefore impede critical and creative thinking. While Kentucky’s English language arts and mathematics standards are derived from the CCSS, Kentucky’s learning targets and standards are not limited to the CCSS standards. That is, there …

“Without Contraries”: Casting A Critical Eye On The Common Core--Commentary, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

A year ago we, as members of the Executive Committee at a Kentucky state institution charged with aligning college academics to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), created a report for KJECTL (Summer 2012) about our progress in complying with Senate Bill 1 (SB1), even detailing a website we jointly created with the state. Interestingly, our institution has a current Quality Enhancement Plan that it “will graduate informed critical and creative thinkers who communicate effectively.” This year we want to demonstrate some of that critical thinking by evaluating the CCSS argument both through our experience and with what various commentators …

Changing Landscapes And Paradigm Shifts: Integrating The Common Core With Educator Preparation--Commentary, Verna Lowe

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Educator preparation and P-12 education are on a trajectory of changing landscapes and shifting paradigms to meet the needs of providing a world-class education to our children and youth who will be prepared to thrive in their personal and professional lives in this century. This shift moves from the “yesterday of schooling and educator preparation” involving a system of good intentions that worked for a percentage of learners to a holistic structure designed for all students and stakeholders.

Editorial Note From The Guest Editor, Terry Holiday

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Not that long ago, K-12 education and postsecondary education were mutually exclusive clubs. Each set their own agenda, strategies and goals – without input from the other and at times in direct conflict. Occasionally, they blamed one another for failures, yet most of the time they kept to themselves.

Private Institutions Collaborate In Implementing Senate Bill 1 Initiatives, Linda P. Young, Brenda Priddy, Jan Lantz

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Funds were made available to each of our institutions, Campbellsville University, Lindsey Wilson College, and St. Catherine College through the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities for faculty training for the implementation of Senate Bill 1. By pooling the funds available to each of our institutions, we designed a Senate Bill 1 Symposium, an initial six-hour workshop to introduce Senate Bill 1, tailored to the needs of our institutions that provided rich resources and a quality experience. From the core of faculty trained at the initial workshop, each institution was able to build additional training for faculty and to …

Reflection On Carte As Eastern Kentucky University’S Response To Senate Bill 1, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, Dorie Combs, Ginni Fair, Jessica Hearn

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Using a grant from the Council on Postsecondary Education to respond to specific mandates of Senate Bill 1, Eastern Kentucky University created the Curriculum Alignment for Retention and Transition at Eastern initiative (CARTE). In its first phase, CARTE developed a hybrid professional learning community, an organizational network of embedded professional learning communities whose major task consisted of aligning sixty-four syllabi identified as key University courses in General Education and Teacher Preparation with the Kentucky Common Core Standards, and a chart for insuring deep learning on the part of the faculty. In addition to meeting 100% of our major goal, the …

A Commentary On Senate Bill 1: Kentucky’S Architecture Of Implementation, John Deatley, Sue Cain

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

In 2009, a coalition of states began moving toward fewer, clearer, and higher standards for P-12 education and entry-level courses in postsecondary education. Spurred by the evidence that most state standards were not consistently providing students with the knowledge and skills to be ready for college and careers, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers (CCSSO) began a process of developing standards that would align with college and work expectations; be clear, understandable, and consistent; include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills; build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards; …

Incorporating Best Practices Of Highly Effective Teaching Into Common Core-Aligned College Courses, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

While aligning the Common Core Standards with Eastern Kentucky University’s General Education and Teacher Preparation courses has been the main focus of Curriculum Alignment for Retention and Transition at Eastern (CARTE), another way we responded to Senate Bill 1 was to identify ways in which to teach this new alignment at the college level. Our solution was to partner with Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education to create a website on best teaching practices and to task each of our Professional Learning Communities with adapting the best teaching practices to its specific discipline (e.g., teacher prep). The result was the creation …

Hidden Strength: Encouraging Spiritual Leadership Attributes Among School Leaders, Sherwood Thompson

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Today, district and school leaders are being recognized for their contributions to improving schools and enhancing student achievement, and this recognition is coming at a pivotal time in the evolution of education in the United States. The need to educate a new generation of learners that are capable of transforming the United States is paramount. Each state has a responsibility to provide the best education it can to its population. Kentucky has made great strides with its education reforms. The state’s alignment of Senate Bill 1 Core Academic Standards with the national Common Core Standards offers great promise (Holliday, 2012). …

Grandchildren In The Classroom: Student Teaching For The Next Generation, Linda Neuzil, J. Michael King

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) released the Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) report on clinical preparation and partnerships for improved student learning, in November 2010. The report stresses the need for candidates to “blend practitioner knowledge with academic knowledge as they learn by doing” (NCATE, 2010, p. ii), stressing the importance of clinical preparation and P-12 partnerships in teacher preparation. The NCATE BRP Report calls for the transformation of teacher education through the application of clinical practice. Teacher candidates must have additional opportunities to “blend practitioner knowledge with academic knowledge as they learn by doing” (NCATE, 2010, …

The Effect Of Self-Remediation Activities On Undergraduate Student Retention, Mark Ciampa, Mark Revels

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Student performance remediation is an ongoing issue in higher education due to the need for student retention. However, remediation is costly. For example, it is estimated the total annual cost of remedial courses across all types of higher education in 1998 was between one and two billion dollars. In the current financial environment, these additional costs will likely come under increased scrutiny. This study employed empirical research methods on undergraduate participants in order to explore the effect of student self-remediated learning as evidenced by pre- and posttest scores, and to provide research-based recommendations for educators charged with course delivery or …

Professional Development Strategies That Promote Science Inquiry Teaching And Learning, Steven Kerlin

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The recently released Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) calls for science education to addresses weaknesses in current science education of unorganized learning progressions, a focus on a breadth of discrete facts, and a lack of experiences in how science is actually done. Teacher professional development in inquiry science teaching and learning is one way to address these current issues in science education effectively. Higher education faculty have been one of the major groups of providers of teacher professional development programs. Many of these professional development programs have been delivered in short-term workshops and traditionally focused on …

Can Grade Inflation In Prerequisite Courses Affect Student Performance In Business Finance?, Chien-Chih Peng

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of grade inflation in prerequisite courses on student performance in business finance. Some studies indicate that performance in business finance can be affected by performance in prerequisite courses. The ordered-probit regression model is employed to analyze a sample of 229 students during the period from 2005 to 2009. The results indicate that students who earned higher grades in prerequisite mathematics and economics courses are more likely to perform better in business finance. Grade inflation generally is not a significant determinant in explaining student performance in business finance. However, students who …

Enhancing Teachers’ Knowledge Of Core Academic Standards Through A Digital Content Development Workshop, Yuejin Xu, George Patmor, Jamie Mills

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

There is an immediate need to help classroom teachers understand the common core standards so they can more effectively teach the content to students of the digital generation. This study summarized the activities in a digital content development workshop for empowering teachers to develop standards-based digital content for K-8 students in need of accelerated learning. Using a pretest-posttest design, the study also examined the impact of the digital content development workshop on participating teachers’ knowledge of core academic standards. A self-developed Knowledge of Core Academic Standards (KCAS) survey was used to measure teachers’ recall of core academic standards, teachers’ awareness …

Co-Teaching In Inclusive Classrooms Using Structured Collaborative Planning, Dusty C. Embury, Megan S. Dinnesen

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

A pair of co-teachers in a U.S., mid-western, suburban school district participated in a co-teacher training and subsequent research study, in an effort to encourage role changes that would increase the engagement of students with disabilities in the classroom, This case study presents the experiences of two co-teachers teaching in an inclusive, seventh grade science class. The teacher participants were first trained through voluntary participation in countywide, three-day in-service on co-teaching and brain-based learning and then interviewed. Over the course of the ten-week study, the co-teachers used a structured collaborative planning protocol to prepare for weekly co-teaching. Teachers and students …

A Synthesized Model For Integrating Principles Of Adult Learning In The Higher Education Classroom, E. Scott Dunlap, Brian Dudak, Mark Konty

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The work of adult educators such as Lindeman (1961), Kolb (1974), Knowles (1980), and Caffarella (2002) indicated the needs of the adult learner that should be considered when planning educational activities. Similarly, principles of what should occur in the higher education classroom were identified in the work of Bloom (1956), Fink (2003), and Bain (2004). This research sought to synthesize these two areas of study with the intent of establishing a model by which principles of adult education can be effectively integrated into the higher education classroom. Bloom’s Taxonomy and Kolb’s model were purposefully selected as pinnacle models in the …

Learning To Prevent Campus Violence, Eku-Safe: A Bystander Intervention Training Program, Caroline E. Reid, Matthew Irwin, Holly Dye

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

EKU-SAFE is a campus outreach violence prevention program funded through the Department of Justice. One aspect of the project was to design and implement Bystander Intervention Training for all first year students at Eastern Kentucky University, a regional university with an enrollment of 16,000 students. Literature in violence prevention with college campus populations indicates that significant behavior and personal accountability can arise from Bystander Intervention Training (Banyard, Plante, & Moynihan, 2004). The purpose of this article is to report on changes in participants‟ perceptions and interpretations of violence prior to and following Bystander Intervention Training at Eastern Kentucky University and …