Education Commons^™

Differentiated Assessments On The Same Topic Can Provide A Better Understanding Of A Student’S Level Of Learning, Marlana Gibson

Essays in Education

Assessments play a critical role in the learning process. There are many different ways to assess student learning and each assessment can determine on what level the student is learning. Students themselves also play a role in how a teacher best decides which type of assessment to use, every student is different and they each have their own way of learning. The teacher must also decide what it is they are assess, what are they looking for through that assessment. So many factors play a role in the determination of assessments and that is why there are so many different …

Accessibility Of University Course Syllabi, Steven M. Baule, Sara A. Fister

Essays in Education

Over the last twenty years, governments and a range of disability rights organizations have advocated for increased accessibility to educational materials and school documents for people with disabilities. Recently, several studies have shown that accessibility is still lagging among educational institutions and other government agencies. The purpose of this study was to analyze extant higher education syllabi to determine the level of compliance with the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). The study reviewed the current accessibility requirements for schools under WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 2018. It then provides a review …

Leadership And Instructional Coaching: A Synthesis Of Approaches And Practices That Promote Change, Katie L. Perkins

Essays in Education

The aim of this educational essay is to provide a literature-based synthesis of the leadership approaches and practices of instructional coaches that best support teacher development. The essay is grounded in transformational leadership theory (Bass & Avolio, 1990) and synthesizes three main constructs for effective instructional coaching. These constructs include: andragogical practices (Knowles, 2015), the ethics of care (Beck, 1994), and organizational change (Burke, 2014). Incorporating these leadership practices may encourage effective teacher-coach relationships, promote teacher development and retention, and ultimately increase student success.

Interaction Effects Of Undergraduate Students' Factors And Two Instruction Modalities On Academic Performance In A Stem Course, Olubusayo Foluso Adebusuyi Dr., Ademola K. Badru Dr

Essays in Education

Presently, schools are changing from a face-to-face (F2F) teaching mode to an online or virtual mode of teaching. Research has shown the two instruction modes to affect students' success positively. However, studies investigating the interaction effects of students' factors that could enhance the effectiveness of the two modes of instruction are limited. This study examines how age, socioeconomic status (SES), and course of study affect how well students do in both face-to-face and online settings.

The study employed an ex post facto design. Students' assessment results and demographic data were utilized to collect data for the study. The sample comprised …

Skills To Pay The Bills: A Review Of College Student Employability Literature, Christopher Burnett, Zachary W. Taylor

Essays in Education

Research has shown that many U.S. college students do not graduate with employable skills beyond academic competency to facilitate their professional success post-graduation. Moreover, researchers have found that academic- and industry-specific knowledge alone is inadequate to help college graduates secure a job and meet the demands of the contemporary, nuanced, dynamic work environment. In addressing decreases in state and federal allocations for higher education and the added pressure to produce work-ready college graduates, institutions have grappled with how to enhance student workforce development and prepare students for the labor market. As a result, this literature review provides a comprehensive, global …

Reading Through The Pause: How Superintendents Viewed Literacy For Middle Grade Learners During The Pandemic, Dana Evans, Paige Paquette, Dionne Rosser-Mims, Terry Oatts, Brenda Coley

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This paper highlights the voices of two superintendents' lived experiences guiding teachers, parents, and students in their districts during the pandemic shutdown. The emphasis of literacy education showcases the ways in which middle grades learners were able to continue discursive practices through online platforms to share and engage with texts. This reflective piece describes the process of perseverance in literacy education through the pandemic pause.

Utilizing Counter Narratives To Develop Culturally Sustaining, Critically Conscious Preservice Teacher Practitioners, David Wolff

Essays in Education

The content areas that get most attention in an elementary classroom include mathematics and English/Language Arts (ELA), and little time is devoted to other content areas like social studies. Preservice elementary teachers can learn to maximize instructional time by integrating social studies content in the ELA block. Using counternarratives, preservice teachers can learn to use children’s literature to teach multiple perspectives to the dominant narrative in the textbooks. This article shares strategies to present counternarratives and examples of children’s literature that can be used in an elementary classroom.

Prologue: Faculty Of Color Expressions And Perspectives, Kathryn Engdahl

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This special issue of the Journal of Advancing Education Practice featuring Faculty of Color Expressions and Perspectives creates a critical forum for truth-telling, education, and empowerment. It offers an invitation to deepen understanding of each other’s experience, and to integrate that deeper understanding in practice to enhance ongoing equity and inclusion work.

It Goes Without Being Said: An Adjunct Faculty Of Color Navigating The Mores In A Predominantly White University, Kia Mills

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Experiences in higher education as an adjunct faculty of color have led me to conclude that higher education institutions have a long way to go in dismantling racialized and racially- based discriminations, stereotypes and marginalization of faculty of color contributions, expertise and professionalism. Drawing from mores about race, education, expertise and life, predominantly white institutions (PWIs), for example, tend to condone and perhaps promote the treatment of adjunct faculty of color as less qualified (different = less than), and invisible place-holders without any regard for their professional expertise and contributions to their disciplines. Sometimes adjunct faculty of color …

Navigating The Unknown: A Black Faculty Member’S Journey In The Predominantly White University, Sherrise Y. Truesdale-Moore

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The author provides a narrative of her faculty experience in a predominately white university. She depicts her academic journey through the lens of an African American woman motivated to teach in higher education, share expertise, become a role model, and offer new knowledge to the profession. In the essay, she shares challenges about navigating the workspace while successfully fulfilling contractual obligations. For faculty of color teaching in a predominately white university, she emphasizes the need for a sense of belonging and mentoring through a culturally responsive approach.

If You Build It, They Will Take It: Institutional Theft Of The Academic Work Of Black Faculty, Dejuanna Parker

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This reflection piece described the perception of the lived experience of Black adjunct faculty and a program director of an inaugural Education Doctorate program. The essay recounts milestone moments of program development, administrative theft of the program, and the replacement of all Black inaugural faculty with lesser experienced White faculty who were unfamiliar with the philosophy and content of the program. A message of wisdom and a glimmer of hope is offered to Black faculty who find themselves in a similar context.

Black Male School Administrators Unbridled: Strategies To Say What Needs To Be Said, Jamel Gibson

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Black males in educational leadership positions need strategies to remain authentic, make cultural connections to staff and students, and to be free to speak to stakeholders without fear of reprimand, retaliation, demotion, and other negative perceptions associated with American stereotypes. This opinion paper will share insight on the challenges coupled with being a Black male administrator in the American public school system and provide strategies for success.

Intentional Mentoring: A Shared Journey Of Discovering And Supporting Diverse Talent In Academia, Barbara Holmes, Kent Willis

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Thriving in academe for faculty of color is difficult and challenging (Gasman, 2022). Faculty of Color face enormous odds of overcoming barriers such as an unwelcoming culture, isolation, lack of professional support, imposter syndrome and disengagement from the community of scholars. In recognition of these factors, intentional mentoring provides a strategy of support in facilitating successful persistence in the academy.

This autoethnographic paper explores the mentor-mentee relationship of a tenured faculty member whose contributions in mentorship and coaching produced notable professional growth for countless doctoral students and new faculty members. Sharing the experiences of one mentee and mentor may inform …

Model Classrooms: One Approach To Teacher Shortages, Ashlee Boothe

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Due to a nationwide teacher shortage, instructional leaders are utilizing more alternatively certified teachers than in the past, creating a problem for principals (Darling-Hammond & Berry, 2006; Birinci and Amburgey, 2022). Teachers in alternatively certified programs often lack pedagogy due to an absence of educational training, and as a result, principals hire teachers who are inadequately trained for the classroom. Therefore, there is a need to improve the way instructional leaders prepare alternatively certified teachers. The solution to this dilemma is creating professional learning through model classrooms, a term coined by the author. Model classrooms serve as exemplars to other …

Prologue, Leo Mcauley Brown

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This edition focuses on the need to cultivate scholarly learning communities. Education leaders can benefit from relevant research that may aid in keeping students and educators engaged. The editorial staff of JAEP is committed to creating spaces for topics that support scholarly inquiry.

The Relationship Between Work-Life Balance, Job Satisfaction, Age, And Gender, Diana Fernandez, Suzanne Lebin

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This paper explored the relationship between job satisfaction and the perception of work-life balance using a dataset (n = 856) from The Workplace Equity Survey (Spilka, et al., 2020). We also investigated the perceptions of work-life balance between age groups and gender groups. Chi-square tests revealed significant correlations in perceptions of work-life balance based on sentiments of job satisfaction. ANOVAs were conducted to investigate the perceptions of work-life balance between different age groups and gender groups. Significant differences were observed between different age groups, but not between the different gender groups. Results of the study support the notion that perceptions …

The Relationship Between Teachers' Interaction Strategies And Student Oral Involvement, An Ngoc Minh Pham

Essays in Education

A lot of research has focused on exploring reasons for and solutions to Asian students’ reticence in speaking. It is found that their unwillingness to speak is affected not only by the students themselves but also by the situations they are placed in. However, there is still space to explore how teachers use interaction strategies to enhance students’ speaking involvement, especially in Vietnam. This paper examines the relationship between teacher interaction strategies and student oral involvement. The data were collected via audio-recording and class observation. Five experienced teachers and their respective classes at a center for foreign languages were invited …

Five Steps Of Evaluative Feedback That Promotes Teacher Development, Katie Perkins, Audrey Roberts

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The purpose of this article is to provide five succinct steps that effective leaders in education can implement when conducting teacher observations and evaluations. Through the analysis of current literature, the authors suggest that teacher evaluation includes (1) establishing norms, (2) building relationships, (3) conducting classroom observations, (4) providing feedback, and (5) setting goals and follow-up. The need for effective feedback delivery and evaluation is crucial for teacher development, and ultimately, student success.

Bridging Teacher Candidates, School Communities, And The World During A Pandemic, Sarah Jean Baker, Jennice Mccafferty-Wright, A. Minor Baker, Stefanie D. Livers

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The Covid-19 pandemic caused distance that separated the teacher from the learner as schools and higher education moved to virtual and flexible learning communities. Likewise, at the same time racial tensions were growing further increasing the distance and divide across the country. This positions teacher educators with the responsibility to bridge this distance.

The challenges of preparing educators for activism in a post-Covid educational context that considers cultural literacy, ethical leadership, and community engagement is explored with three narratives. These narratives provide the opportunity to think with and through our commitments in early childhood and elementary teacher education. Collectively, these …

Integrating Intercultural Communication Competence Into Entrepreneurially-Minded Online Discussions, Lisa Bosman, Bhavana Kotla, Carolina Cuesta, Neeraj Duhan

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Abstract: The continued rise of the global economy, especially during COVID-19, has required stakeholders, including higher education, to think more strategically about preparing future university graduates with intercultural skill development. This study contributes to the literature by showing one approach whereby faculty can integrate intercultural communication competence into the STEM classroom via entrepreneurially-minded online discussions (a form of information literacy). This semester-long study applied a mixed methods approach. First, students participated in five online discussions, which were analyzed qualitatively to identify themes and patterns. Second, at the end of the semester, after completing the online discussions, students responded to a …

A Review Of My Teaching Philosophy Through A Covid-19 Lens, Michelle L. Boettcher

Essays in Education

This essay focuses on how the pandemic has informed my teaching philosophy and centered the humanness of students rather than course content or my role, identity, and pedagogy as instructor. The article includes three examples from my teaching philosophy: Expertise, Mistakes, and Reflection. As a result of the pandemic, I have added caring as a part of course content, reframed the idea of “no excuse” for late work, and incorporated reflection as an element of academic rigor. As a result, a renewed focus on student learning has usurped my past inclination to focusing on my teaching in my philosophy statement.

Covid-19’S Influence On Mental Health Among Collegiate Student-Athletes, Jacob Balliu, Steven M. Baule

Essays in Education

The world was struck by turmoil as the COVID-19 virus surged to the surface. Affecting the lives of many. In a matter of days, the process of daily living got a new meaning. The new lifestyle of living consisted of wearing masks, self-quarantining for fourteen days, and socially distancing six feet apart. From the perspective of a college student, life was flipped upside down. Classes were moved online, and students were asked to not be on campuses across the country for months on end. Collegiate student-athletes had it much rougher. Due to the global pandemic multiple sport seasons were cancelled …

Building Community For Completion: Doctoral Students’ Perceptions Of Technology Integration Within Dissertation Committee Collaboration, Scott Fillman, Barbara Holmes, Dejuanna Parker, Kent Willis

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the prevalence of technology-mediated collaboration and mentorship between dissertation committee members and doctoral student scholars. Qualitative research methods were used to explore the role of technology for collaboration and building community within dissertation committees, focusing on dissertation scholars’ perspectives. The study was based on one overarching research question: How do doctoral students describe the integration of technology for collaborating with dissertation committees? Doctoral scholar participants described the importance of technological literacy within dissertation committees, most indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the importance of fluency with technology. Other participants portrayed the importance of technological literacy within …

Reconsidering The Call To Teach: K-12 Teacher Responses To Schools’ Addressing A Global Health Disruption, Dejuanna Parker

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This qualitative study explored K-12 teacher experiences with school responses to the pandemic that prompted instructors to reconsider the call to teach. Two theories provided a lens through which to view the problem. The Theory of Purpose was applied to analyzing instructors’ original decision to teach. Fortigenesis Theory undergirded the exploration of teacher responses to physical and emotional challenges. Three themes emerged as a result of data analysis: Discontent and Disdain for Post-Pandemic Teaching Practices, Emotional Distance Created by Physical Distance, and Administrative Priorities and Teacher Wellbeing.

Wait! Don’T Quit! Stay With Your Doctoral Program During The Global Pandemic: Lessons Learned From Program Completers, Sonya Hurt, Ericka Woods Ways, Barbara Holmes

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Using the self-determination theory framework developed by Ryan and Deci (2000), this study explored the facilitation strategies doctoral candidates used to stay on task during the global pandemic. Areas of inquiry included academic progression, dissertation research writing processes and addressing impacts on work, academic studies and persistence. The study used a phenomenological approach of qualitative research design. Ten participants were selected using a convenient sampling method. Three themes emerged from the data that included (1) Balancing work and life quality issues, (2) Mastering academic protocols (3) Developing collective efficacy in scholar development. This study revealed that student dependence on the …