Education Commons^™

University-School Partnerships: Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers Working Together To Teach Primary Science., John Daniel Kenny

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on a partnership approach preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. Partnerships involving pre-service teachers and volunteer in-service colleagues were formed to teach science in the classroom of the colleague, with support from the science education lecturer. Each pre-service teacher collaboratively planned and delivered a sequence of at least six science lessons over six weeks.

An earlier paper reported on how the program affected the confidence of the pre-service teachers. Over three iterations, 61 in-service teachers from 23 local schools participated.

In this paper the data from the colleague teachers and principals who participated is explored. The …

Australian Teachers And The Learning Environment : An Analysis Of Teacher Response To Talis 2008 : Final Report, Chris Freeman, Kate O’Malley, Frances Eveleigh

Chris Freeman

The Department of Education, Science and Training commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to undertake the Australian component of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). TALIS is one of the first international surveys to focus on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers in schools. TALIS was conducted in 24 OECD and OECD-partner countries in 2007 and 2008, though internationally comparable results were reported for only 23 countries due to requisite sampling standards for publication. This first survey is part of a planned programme of surveys which will examine various levels of schooling over …

Case Example Of The Implementation Of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support In A High School Setting, Hank Bohanon, Pamela Fenning, Kimberly Thier

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this case study was to expand the literature base regarding the application of high school schoolwide positive behavior support (PBS) in an urban setting for practitioners and policymakers to address behavior issues. In addition, the study describes the use of the Change Point Test as a method for analyzing time series data that are dependent in nature. The researchers used an existing case study example to guide the implementation of the intervention. The overall implementation of PBS reached full fidelity during the final year. Focused professional development may have been related to changes in statistically significant office …

Teacher Professional Development: Who Is The Learner?, Kirsten Petrie, Clive Mcgee

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

One of the challenges in in-service teacher education is how teachers can be given professional development (PD) that enables them to respond to national curriculum and policy change. In recent years primary teachers in New Zealand have been inundated with Ministry of Education-funded professional development programmes to help them implement a plethora of curriculum policy and reform initiatives. This paper explores how the design and delivery of one PD programme, the Physical Activity Initiative (PAI), positioned and supported teachers as learners. An evaluation of the programme sought data from 25 teachers and 14 advisers to schools. The focus was the …

Transformative Preparation And Professional Development: Authentic Reflective Practice For School Leadership, Joseph A. Polizzi Ph.D, William Frick Ph.D

Joseph A Polizzi Ph.D

In this conceptual paper, Western scholarship from both within and beyond the field is reviewed, and theory is provided to support practical authentic pedagogical applications useful in the development of school leaders. A transformative professional learning experience fosters reflective practice and processes that elaborate and clarify core professional ideas, experiences, and questions within the personal and professional contexts of school leadership. This article offers conceptualizations of reflective practice alternatives that can further inform school administrators and enable them to meet the demands of increasingly challenging work within the public schools.

Behind The Scenes: Understanding Teacher Perspectives On Technology Integration In A Suburban District Technology Initiative: A Dissertation, John Woolard

Educational Studies Dissertations

Efforts to prepare students with skills necessary to compete in a 21st Century global, digital economy require technological literacy, but many teachers are inhibited by antiquated models of education and epistemological beliefs that leave them reluctant to integrate educational technologies in their content instruction (Dunn & Rakes, 2010; Mouza & Wong, 2009). At the most basic level, apart from time constraints influenced by contradictory school improvement plans, elementary school teachers must contend with the barriers known to hinder the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) including: access, familiarity, training and support (Collins & Halverson, 2009, Levin & Wadmany, 2008). …

How Do Secondary Science Teachers Understand And Implement Technological Design In Their Classrooms?, Kathryn H. Heroux

Dissertations

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined how ten secondary science teachers from a variety of different schools around the country understand and implement technological design in their classrooms. The results of this study indicate that these teachers were drawn to the tenets of technological design because of its inherent challenge to their own pedagogical strategies, and its ability to stimulate and motivate their students. The future of science education with respect to technological design is examined, and compared with the standards that will emerge in the new science standards soon to be finalized and circulated.

Perceptions Of Middle School Teachers On The Quality Of Professional Development, Safurat Anike Giwa

Dissertations

Professional learning and professional development are the essential tools employed in schools, districts, and universities in order to increase teachers' knowledge and skills. To gain the most from professional development in middle schools, the experiences and activities must be based on standards. Few researchers explore how teachers think about the context, process, and content of current professional development at the middle school level. This dissertation examines how teacher learning is demonstrated in professional development activities and experience and assesses whether middle school teachers' perceptions of their professional development experiences is aligned to the standards of Learning Forward (2001) (formerly the …

Laptops4africa: Fundraising By First Year Computer Science Students, Leslie Shoemaker

Posters

This project involved computing students developing and running fundraising activities to support the work of Wells for Zoe in Malawi, providing clean water to communities. The students developed a range of transferable and professional skills from this project.

Elements Of Proximal Formative Assessment In Learners’ Discourse About Energy, Benedikt W. Harrer, Rachel E. Scherr, Michael C. Wittmann, Hunter G. Close, Brian W. Frank

Faculty Publications

Proximal formative assessment, the just-in-time elicitation of students' ideas that informs ongoing instruction, is usually associated with the instructor in a formal classroom setting. However, the elicitation, assessment, and subsequent instruction that characterize proximal formative assessment are also seen in discourse among peers. We present a case in which secondary teachers in a professional development course at SPU are discussing energy flow in refrigerators. In this episode, a peer is invited to share her thinking (elicitation). Her idea that refrigerators move heat from a relatively cold compartment to a hotter environment is inappropriately judged as incorrect (assessment). The "instruction" (peer …

An Examination Of The Perceptions Leading To The Sustainability Of Professional Learning Communities In A Rural School District, Mildred T. Bankhead-Smith

Education Dissertations and Projects

Principals and teacher leaders are expected to provide many learning opportunities for the colleagues with which they work and for the students they teach. The model employed to empower teachers to grow in the education profession and improve collaboration among colleagues and facilitate collegial conversation is the Professional Learning Community (PLC). The PLC model is exercised in many schools throughout the United States. As schools employee the PLC model, levels of leadership change, and teachers may or may not grow professionally. Though schools attempt to implement positive change, the sustainability of professional development can be in jeopardy.

This non-experimental, quantitative …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of The Learning Community As A Form Of Professional Development And A Catalyst For Changing The Beliefs And Practices Of Family Child Care Providers, Jennifer Gerdes

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explored the influence of a 12-hour professional learning community for family child care providers in an urban Midwest city on the participants’ beliefs and practices. A secondary purpose was to explore the potential of the professional learning community as a format for professional development of family child care providers. Data for this study were collected in multiple ways including participant journals, field notes, recordings of learning community sessions, and collected artifacts from learning community provocations. For this group of family child care providers, the learning community was a useful format for professional development. The learning community influenced growth …

Implementation Of Professional Learning Standards In Georgia Schools: An Examination Of The Current Reality, Mary M. Chandler, Tak Cheung Chan

Faculty and Research Publications

Professional learning is considered important for improving teacher quality and for development of organizational capacity to boost school improvement for student learning. This mixed methodology study examines the implementation of the National Staff Development Council Standards (NSDC) in professional learning in Georgia schools through the NSDC Standards Assessment Instrument and six open-ended follow-up questions. The findings suggest that teachers in Georgia did not perceive that professional learning holds a high priority by their school leaders, state legislators, and key policy makers. However, they rated their effort toward context and content areas of professional learning to be above average.

The Invisibility Of Covert Bullying Among Students: Challenges For School Intervention, Amy Barnes, Donna Cross, Leanne Lester, Lydia Hearn, Melanie Epstein, Helen Monks

Research outputs 2012

Covert bullying behaviours are at least as distressing for young people as overt forms of bullying, but often remain unnoticed or unacknowledged by adults. This invisibility is increased in schools by inattention to covert bullying in policy and practice, and limited staff understanding and skill to address covert behaviours. These factors can lead to a school culture that appears to tolerate and thus inadvertently encourages covert bullying. This study explores these dynamics in Australian primary and secondary schools, including the attitudes of over 400 staff towards covert bullying, their understanding of covert bullying behaviours, and their perceived capacity to address …

An Exploration Of Secondary Science Grade Teachers' Written Artifacts About Their Experiences With An Online Professional Development In Reading Research And Instruction: A Grounded Theory Study, Carmen Woodhall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Classroom teachers deal with numerous pressures in their classrooms including students’ difficulty with reading at the middle and high school levels. Often, teachers can identify the problems, but are often unable to rectify them because of a lack of understanding and support in incorporating reading as part of their content area instruction. This research was conducted to investigate the impact of a sustained, online reading professional development on the teaching practice of middle school and high school science teachers who took the 14-week course. This grounded theory research used the reflective assignment, a comprehensive, 10-week, job-embedded assignment of 62 science …

The Effects Of Interactive Strategies Approach On At-Risk Kindergarten Children's Spelling Development, Sun Hwa Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study involved secondary analyses of an existing kindergarten developmental spelling data set which was collected using the Developmental Spelling Test (DST; Tangel & Blachman, 1992, 1995) in Scanlon and her colleagues' 2005 study (Scanlon, Vellutino, Small, Fanuele, & Sweeney, 2005). The purpose of the current study is to examine whether the early literacy instruction/intervention approach called the Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA; Scanlon, Anderson, & Sweeney, 2010; Vellutino & Scanlon, 2002) is effective for improving at-risk children's spelling development.

Elements Of Proximal Formative Assessment In Learners’ Discourse About Energy, Benedikt W. Harrer, Rachel E. Scherr, Michael C. Wittmann, Hunter G. Close, Brian W. Frank

Benedikt W. Harrer

Proximal formative assessment, the just-in-time elicitation of students' ideas that informs ongoing instruction, is usually associated with the instructor in a formal classroom setting. However, the elicitation, assessment, and subsequent instruction that characterize proximal formative assessment are also seen in discourse among peers. We present a case in which secondary teachers in a professional development course at SPU are discussing energy flow in refrigerators. In this episode, a peer is invited to share her thinking (elicitation). Her idea that refrigerators move heat from a relatively cold compartment to a hotter environment is inappropriately judged as incorrect (assessment). The "instruction" (peer …

Factors That Influence The Implementation Of New Technologies In The Classroom: A Look At Teacher Age, Years Of Experience, Quality Professional Development & Self-Efficacy, Stephanie R. Tweed

ETSU Faculty Works

Abstract is available to download.

Effects Of Tiered Training On General Educators' Use Of Specific Praise, M. T. Thompson, Michelle Marchant, D. Anderson, Mary Anne Prater, G. Gibb

Faculty Publications

Research suggests a compelling correlation between teacher behavior and effective learning environments. Focusing on the evidence-based teaching skill of offering behavior-specific praise (BSP), the researchers worked with three elementary-level general educators in a tiered model of training generally known as response to intervention (RtI). Although RtI commonly provides targeted instructional support to students, this study used the RtI framework to provide professional development instruction to teachers. The researchers also tracked the behavior of three students identified by the teachers as having behavioral difficulties, who became the focus of each teacher's BSP. Results showed increases in rates of BSP following the …

Literacygrows.Org Cultivating An Online Platform For Teaching Professionals: A Formative Experiment Exploring The Effectiveness, Efficiency, And Appeal Of A Co-Constructed Online Platform For Professional Development, Susan Jean Beckley Hart

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this formative experiment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008) was to describe the stages of development of an online platform that cultivated the growth of an online community of practice for teaching professionals. One hundred and forty-eight elementary school professionals participated in this study. Relying primarily on qualitative data, an iterative process of data gathering, analysis, and reflection was used prior to, during, and after the implementation of the intervention, LiteracyGrows.org, to describe performance and determine progress toward the pedagogical goal.

Qualitative data were coded for recurring themes derived from the following sources: interview data, user-profile information, Google Analytics, …

Using Blogs To Promote Literary Response During Professional Development, Jaime Colwell, Amy Hutchison, David Reinking

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The blogging has, I don’t want to say forced, but kind of made me read books that I haven’t necessarily read before, and I don’t think I would have. I’ve read lots of children’s books just through student teaching and everything, but it makes me look outside the box and maybe at other genres that I wouldn’t look at necessarily. (Sam, a pre-service teacher, blogging in a children’s literature course)

An Exploratory Study Of Principals' And Teachers' Perceptions Of School Work Conditions In Sinclair County, Georgia, Veronica Lawrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated principals’ (n = 16) and teachers’ (n = 362) perceptions of five work conditions domains: Professional Development, Facilities and Resources, Leadership, Empowerment, and Use of Time. This quantitative study used two instruments: principal work conditions survey and teacher work conditions survey to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a factorial analysis of variance. Findings revealed observed differences in principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of school work conditions. The factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed statistically significant differences for domain scores of Facilities and Resources, Leadership, and Empowerment by type of school. No significant differences …

Culturally Responsive Professional Development For Latinas In Family Child Care: A Dissertation, Jody Figuerido

Educational Studies Dissertations

Latina Family Child Care (FCC) Educators provide early education and care (EEC) for children in their homes. High quality EEC programs, including the FCC setting, help children form a firm foundation for future learning, resulting in positive outcomes. In order to provide this level of programming, educators must participate in specialized training related to early childhood education. Unfortunately, the literature provides limited guidance regarding professional development that meets the needs of the diverse adult learner in the field of early childhood education. The focus of this qualitative study is to articulate the elements of culturally responsive professional development for the …

Advance, Georgia Southern Continuing Education

Advance

No abstract provided.

Advance, Georgia Southern Continuing Education

Advance

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Of Second-Grade Teachers' Comprehension Instruction, Rebecca Burdette Mckay

All ETDs from UAB

A CASE STUDY OF SECOND-GRADE TEACHERS' COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION REBECCA BURDETTE MCKAY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ABSTRACT The dilemma of reconciling developmentally appropriate, constructivist reading instruction with mandated high-stakes tests was confronted by four second-grade teachers through their selection of two active professional development methods. To continue and deepen their use of an interactive model of reading focused on comprehension, the teachers worked as a professional community to renegotiate and reconstruct their professional knowledge and adapt their pedagogy to the school context. The goal of this research was to investigate how the teachers described their comprehension instruction as well as how they …

Exploring Partnership Models Of Teacher Education, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Observing Interactive Teaching, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

Teachers Reclaiming Their Voices In Student Learning And Initiating Their Own Professional Growth: Suggestions For The Obama Administration, Zeynep Isik-Ercan

Zeynep Isik-Ercan

No abstract provided.

Teachers Reclaiming Their Voices In Student Learning And Initiating Their Own Professional Growth: Suggestions For The Obama Administration, Zeynep Isik-Ercan

Zeynep Isik-Ercan

No abstract provided.