Education Commons^™

Place-Based Education: An Impetus For Teacher Efficacy, Tamara Chase Coleman

Dissertations

This research investigated professional development in place-based (PB) methodology on the efficacy of science teachers. While teachers are expected to use best practices they do not always implement them due to a lack of efficacy in implementation. A professional development program (PD) was designed to increase confidence among teachers planning to incorporate PB methods. Place-based education (PBE) is recognized as a best-practice among professional educators. PBE includes the selection, design and engagement with science using the geographic place as the content. The literature reports that student learning and teacher efficacy will improve when teachers are prepared effectively in PB practices. …

Self-Assessment Inspires Learning, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Self-reflection is self-assessment, and one of the most significant learning tools we can model for our students. Ultimately, we want our children and adolescents to be the self-assessors of their work, dispositions, and goals. Research repeatedly reports that the difference between good teachers and superior teachers is that superior teachers self-reflect.

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Susan Adams

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Secondary Social Studies Teachers' Experiences Implementing Common Core State Literacy Standards, Krista Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of secondary social studies teachers who implemented Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in history/social studies, science and technical subjects in social studies courses requiring End of Course Tests at secondary schools in one suburban district in Georgia. Ten teachers of United States history and economics courses participated in this study. Data was collected through questionnaires, reflective online journaling, documents, individual interviews, and focus groups. Analysis was conducted using transcription, thematic coding, textural and structural descriptions, and a composite description of the essence of the …

Politics And Action Research: An Examination Of One School’S Mandated Action Research Program, Ryan Flessner, Shanna Stuckey

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Action research has been shown to empower educators, create lasting changes in schools, and have an impact on student learning outcomes. Given these positive results, many school leaders are beginning to mandate the use of action research within their schools. While some in the field have warned against mandating action research, there is little research examining the effects of doing so. This study examines the mandated school-wide action research program at Fieldstone Elementary. While some results align with the action research literature (importance of collaboration, necessity of time to conduct action research, etc.), this article also examines the political tensions …

The Evaluation Of Impact The South Carolina System For Teacher And Student Advancement Professional Development Model Has On Teacher Dispositions, Andrew Hooker

Education Dissertations and Projects

Education is continually looking for ways to increase student achievement. This is appropriate because the goal of education is to increase student achievement. Student achievement has continued to be unpredictable throughout the country due to the many factors which present themselves throughout the educational process.

The purpose of this dissertation was to look at a specific professional development model, South Carolina System for Teacher and Student Advancement (SCTAP), to measure the impact this model had on teacher dispositions. The following research question guided this study: To what extent does the SCTAP professional development model impact teacher disposition within the following: …

An Investigation Of Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop For Increasing Social Skills, Natalie Christina Nussli

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes how a systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop promoting inquiry, experiential learning, and sociocultural theory guided the enculturation of 18 special education teachers into three-dimensional virtual worlds. The main purpose was to enable these teachers to make informed decisions about the usability of virtual worlds for students with social skills challenges, such as students with autism. Mixed-methods data analysis and triangulation were based on the analysis of seven instruments. Six of the seven steps of the intervention received high ratings indicating its viability for teachers' professional development opportunities