Education Commons^™

Teachers’ Career Decisions In A Cognitive Framework: Logistical Regression Analysis Of A National Data Set, Tamara H. Rosier

Dissertations

Research was conducted in order to determine if extrinsic, cognitive or situative sets of variables could predict teachers' career decisions using the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Questions from the survey were divided into three cognitive perspectives: extrinsic, cognitive, and situative. Stepwise logistic regression analyses were used to predict group membership among those who chose to stay in their current position and those who left the profession.

Results for the extrinsic set of variables indicated that while the model was a good fit, the ability of the model to predict was low. Teachers agreeing that student behavior interferes with ability …

Sustaining Innovation In Career And Technical Education, Brenda S. Clark

Dissertations

There has been little research done in education to determine what makes programs sustainable once the person who started the program has left or funding has decreased or disappeared. Innovative and successful programs are frequently started only to close or to reach a dead end. This study will seek to determine what components are necessary to sustain and grow a Career and Technical Education program. The primary audiences for the research study will be community college and university teacher preparation departments and career and technical education departments.

A survey was sent to Occupational Education Studies (OES) students and to OES …

Career Commitment And Retention Strategies For New Teachers: A National Study, A. Celeste Shelton-Harris

Dissertations

In spite of the logical link between new teacher support and retention, the attrition rate for beginning teachers continues to be greater than their more experienced colleagues. To this end, this study examined the relationship between new teacher career commitment and retention strategies across gender, race/ethnicity, and instructional level. Comprehensive national data, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 1999-2000, were analyzed primarily utilizing chi-square and logistical regression tests. Key findings were found for new teachers with 3 years or less classroom experience. First, more beginners are "very committed" (62.3%) than "not so or not committed" (37.7%) to their chosen teaching career. …

What Kinds Of Adolescent Leaders Are Hiding In Newbery Books?, Carol Jasperse Lautenbach

Dissertations

Though adolescent leadership is worth developing, often it is not addressed effectively in the general middle school curriculum. This study addresses adolescent leadership by describing and discussing eight major leadership categories and 38 subcategories found in seventeen representative Newbery Award-winning books. The sample was chosen using a multiple-step process and contained fictional stories with adolescent protagonists in realistic situations. Content analysis was used to quantify and analyze the leadership themes; a code book was used to organize data. Occurrence of each sub-category was ranked for prevalence within each book. These rankings form the basis for the analysis of findings which …

A Multimethodological Study Of Teachers’ Perceptions Of Technology Professional Development, James Brown

Dissertations

Technology has been pressed into the K-12 educational environment for decades, yet studies have revealed that successful implementation in the classroom has been limited. Numerous studies have focused on the issues of technology professional development from the perspectives of leadership, organizational culture, and student learning, but little has focused on the perspectives of teachers.

This multimethodological study was conducted using a concurrent triangulated method. This study combined a 35-question survey administered online, and individual teacher interviews in order to understand teachers' perceptions of issues critical to successful technology professional development. Surveys were administered to teachers in an intermediate school district …

First-Year Teacher Perceptions Of Classroom Experiences And Teacher Induction In A Midwestern School District, Cheryl Torok Fleming

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to discover first-year teacher perceptions of their experiences with classroom teaching and teacher induction in a midwestern school district.

Method. This qualitative study sought to discover how new teachers build knowledge of the context and culture of teaching. Purposeful sampling techniques were used. Participants were delimited to practicing K-6 educators in an Indiana urban school district, completing their first year of experience as classroom teachers. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews. The questions focused upon the development process of beginning teachers, and how an induction program contributed to their development. The …