Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Website Blocked: Filtering Technology In Schools And School Libraries, Jennifer M. Overaa

School of Information Student Research Journal

This paper investigates the impact of filtering software in K-12 schools and school libraries. The Children's Internet Protection Act, or CIPA, requires that public schools and school libraries use filtering technology in order to receive discounted rates on technology. As a result, nearly all public elementary and secondary schools today use filtering technology. While the provisions of CIPA narrowly define the content to be blocked, filters are often set to block much more than is required. Filtering technology is often ineffective, and many unobjectionable sites end up being blocked, including Web 2.0 sites and tools needed to educate students in …

Successful Approaches To Encourage Family Involvement In A School Division Located In Southeastern Virginia With Varying Income Levels, Katelyn Elizabeth Montague

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this project was to identify successful approaches that teachers use to encourage involvement of all families. Following a review of professional and research literature, a survey of Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade teachers was distributed in a school division located in southeastern Virginia with varying income levels.

The findings in this survey suggested that participating teachers encouraged family involvement by inviting families into the classroom and explaining to them how they could help their children at home. The teachers utilized weekly communication in various forms such as printed material, electronic formats, and classroom websites. Teachers were also flexible …

The Relationship Between The Growth Score And The Overall Team Observation Rating For Teachers In Tennessee, Joshua B. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the TVAAS growth score given by the Tennessee Department of Education and the overall Tennessee Educator Assessment Model (TEAM) observation rating for teachers in grades 3 through 8. The participating county public school system for this study is located in Northeast Tennessee. Participants were teachers in the school system teaching Math, English/Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies in grades 3 through 8 in 10 elementary schools, 6 middle schools, and 2 K-8 schools. Specifically, this research examined the relationship between the TEAM observation scores and overall TVAAS growth score …

The Lived Experiences Of Veteran Elementary Urban School Teachers: Why And How They Stay, Cynthia A. Anthony

Dissertations

Longevity in teaching careers depends on many things, including job satisfaction, the work environment, career stages, and strategies to manage stress and avoid burnout. Teachers who have high levels of job satisfaction are more likely to stay in the profession. Job satisfaction is dependent on the motivators in a job: administrative support, collegiality, recognition, advancement, and growth. The work environment, job demands, career development, empowerment, and bureaucracy, plays an important role in retaining teachers.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine factors that enabled and encouraged a sample of 12 veteran elementary school teachers in a small urban …

Beware: Teachers Who Blog, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent case from Pennsylvania, Munroe v. Central Bucks School District (2014), raises fresh questions about the free speech and expression rights of public school teachers as they use the Internet. In Munroe, when a board terminated a high school teacher’s employment for making controversial postings about her students and colleagues on her personal blog—postings that proved disruptive—a federal trial court rejected the educator’s claim that she was dismissed in retaliation for exercising her right to free speech.

Before reviewing the facts and judicial opinion in Munroe, it is worth noting that blogs (a term coined in the late 1990s …

Implementando La Educación Sexual Integral En El Conurbano: Interpretaciones, Practicas, Y Dificultades De Los Docentes De La Esi En La Escuela Secundaria / Implementing Integral Sexual Education In Grand Buenos Aires: Interpretations, Practices, And Difficulties Of High School Sexual Education Teachers, Alexcia Chambers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The enactment of Law 26, 150—Argentina’s national Integral Sexual Education (ESI) program—in 2006 gave all Argentine teachers the opportunity, and the responsibility, to teach sexual education in the classroom. Although it has been eight years since the passing of this national law, it has not been universally implemented, and high school teachers in Greater Buenos Aires have yet to receive training on the new curriculum. Analyzing the opinions and experiences of seven high school teachers in the Greater Buenos Aires area, this study seeks to show the reality of sexual education in the Argentine classroom today through the teacher’s eyes. …

At The Core Of School Reform: A Culture Of Commitment, Collaboration, And Collective Leadership, Lari Ann Nelson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Public education in America today is a product of more than a century of reform. Innovators of each era have attempted to transform the education system to match their ideals and beliefs. Educational reform efforts to improve learning for all students have been an issue of debate since the founding of America – seeking for equality and quality of education. The most recent educational initiative an emphasis on accountability via high-stakes tests, many schools are now branded as “failing” and requiring program improvement. As such, leaders search for reform models that will save their school from further sanctions.

Of the …

Each One, Teach One: A Blackprint For Mentoring Postsecondary “Twice Exceptional” Student Scholars In “Search Of Education, Elevation And Knowledge”, Selena T. Rodgers, Tiffany Cudjoe

Journal of Research Initiatives

Through the prism of a faculty-student mentoring relationship, this article highlights best practices to gain insight into resources for “twice exceptional” student scholars. Practical application stands at a position of intersecting domains—changing the tapestry of scholarly service and undergraduate research mentoring, and as an Each One, Teach One black-print model for mentoring. The article concludes with recommendations for best practices for post secondary mentors, educators, and counselors invested in developing student scholars in Search of Education, Elevation, and Knowledge.

It Seemed Like Such A Good Idea: Making Sense Of How Two Schools, A Major Philanthropy, And A Prestigious Teacher Training Program Agreed On A School Reform Strategy That Was Bound To Fail., Brian C. Clark

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This Capstone project is a reflection on the process through which a major Jewish Philanthropy, two Jewish Day Schools, and a major Teacher Training Program worked together to craft an agenda for school reform and technological progress. That four-month process is carefully narrated in a portion of this document, as is a postscript that explains subsequent events and outcomes. The analytical portion of this document follows, in which concepts drawn from Actor-Network Theory and sensemaking theory are used to make sense of how each institution contributed to the creation of inherently unworkable and impractical plans for school reform.

In Search Of Relevance And Sustainability Of Educational Change : An International Conference At Aga Khan University Institute For Educational Development, Aga Khan University, Institute For Educational Development

Books

No abstract provided.

Determining The Difference Between Nebraska Administrators’ And Nebraska Secondary English Teachers’ Perception Of The Teacher Evaluation, Michael Scott Musil

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference between Nebraska administrators’ and Nebraska secondary English teachers’ perceptions of the teacher evaluation. The study explored teacher and administrator perceptions of the teacher-evaluation process as it relates to Nebraska secondary English teachers. Teachers and administrators from across the state of Nebraska had equal opportunity to participate in this study.

Both groups of teachers and administrators responded by Likert scale to 42 online statements arranged by theme about their experiences regarding the teacher-evaluation process. Participants aggregated themselves by geography, school size, gender, experience, and socioeconomic status of students. Quantitative data was …

Exploring Literacy And Technology With Middle School English Teachers: Articulating Understandings Of Knowledge And Teaching Practices, Benjamin A. Boche

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate five middle school English teachers' understandings of literacy and technology. In particular, how do they define literacy, view literacy and technology learning and teaching, and how do they use (or not use) technology to enact their views of literacy in their classrooms. This narrative inquiry qualitative study consisted of three open-ended interviews, written literacy narratives, and multiple classroom observations with each participant as well as the collection of various teacher documents, such as lesson plans, presentation notes, rubrics, and student handouts. Narrative methods were used in the data analysis. ^ Findings were …

Developing A Culture Of Citizenship In Elementary School Classrooms: How Democratic Schools Teach Children About Rules, Rights And Responsibilities, Mindi Reich-Shapiro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore development of civic participation in children in primary grade (K-2) classrooms. Young children are accorded neither the rights nor responsibilities of adolescents or adults, nor given many opportunities to participate meaningfully in the decisions that directly impact their lives. The public school classroom is, in a sense, the first opportunity for children to develop a sense of how to participate in a diverse community organized to address the needs of many. As such, it is a microcosm of the larger society within which children are learning to engage as active participants. The …

Learning Commons And Transitions To College And Workplace, Sharon A. Weiner

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation was given at the Wabash Valley Regional Library Meeting on September 30, 2014 at the Wabash Regional Education Center, West Lafayette, IN. It discusses the concept of learning commons, or spaces outside of the formal classroom setting that are conducive to learning; and the transitions of students to college and the workplace through information and libraries.

Building Parent Support For Implementation Of Assessment For Learning ( A4 L ) At The High School Level, Sarah Highfill

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers articulate the positive effects of parental engagement with education. Networking with parents has become a recent focus for educational leaders working to enhance learning. With parent presence diminishing within secondary schools and emphasis on formative assessments rising, this study examined the possibility of family support to supplement the Assessment for Learning (A4L) reform implementation. Using an action research framework, four research questions were addressed. These included what attracts parents to support Assessment for Learning (A4L) reforms at the high school level, the value parents place on assessment reform, and what affects parent perceptions and influences their support of the …

Providing The Fuel (And Passing The Flame), Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

At the risk of opening with a cliché statement- at the heart of the most effective mentor is a burning passion. The fuel for this passion is a desire to convince, not just try to, but actually convince your mentee that you care about their success (be it in the classroom, career, or personal life). I am guilty of believing in, and living by, this cliché. However, despite passion being my primary motivator, I am not unwilling to admit that rationale for mentoring can sometimes transcend this ethically normative line of thinking. I believe that there are also sometimes quantitative, …

Implementation Of A Modified Reading Program In An Urban High School Setting, Ann Vayre

Dissertations

READ 180 is a popular reading program among high schools seeking to improve their reading scores. To date, few studies have examined modified versions of the program, with none focusing on the fidelity of implementation. This study examines a modified READ 180 program where scheduling only allowed for a 50-minute per day block of time, in contrast to the 90-minutes utilized in the original design. Research questions focus on urban high school teachers’ usage of READ 180 components and strategies, consistency with the program’s original design, the level of importance teachers attached to each of the components and strategies, and …

The Relationship Between Job Satisfaction, Teacher Absenteeism, And Intermediate School Achievement In Math And Language Arts: A Correlational Study, Daniel Winters

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the relationship between teacher absenteeism and student achievement in math and language arts in the rural environment. Classical Economic Theory was used as a foundation in combination with Choice Theory and The Model of Learning to examine the role of the teacher and how the chronically absent teacher impacts the quality of learning for the student. The nature of substitute teaching was reviewed as well as how a break in continuity of instruction, caused by the chronically absent teacher, affects the overall quality of the educational environment. The amount of time teachers are absent from instructional duties …

Career And Technical Education And The Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award In Education, Patricia Crum-Allen

Dissertations

This study examined Career and Technical Education (CTE) Centers in the State of Michigan and their potential alignment with the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award in Education. CTE center leaders and their faculty were asked to provide their perceptions of how well their organizations meet Baldrige quality elements, using a version of the Baldrige Assessment Tool. The study further queried CTE center leaders and their faculty with regard to quality awards received and their desire to pursue an external quality award. Differences between CTE leaders and faculty responses were explored.

This study was quantitative in design using survey research to gather …

Eliciting Elementary School Students’ Informal Inferential Reasoning Through Storytelling, Dustin Owen Smith

Dissertations

One growing area of research on statistical learning is Informal Inferential Reasoning (IIR). Makar and Rubin (2009) describe IIR as having three components: making and evaluating inferential claims, supporting claims explicitly with data, and attending to the inherent uncertainty present in statistical inference-making. This dissertation study was built around developing a method for providing opportunities for elementary school students (Grades K, 2, and 4) to engage with IIR within the context of stories and storytelling through a method called Storytelling-Questioning. After interacting with and discussing two separate stories, it was found that students of each grade level were able to …

Principal Emotional Intelligence And Teacher Perceptions Of School Climate In Middle Schools, Ashley Dawn Meadows Allred

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the correlational relationship of principals’ emotional intelligence on the perceptions that teachers have of a school’s climate. The Organizational Health Inventory for Middle Schools (OHI-M) served as the assessment for teachers’ perceptions of the school climate or the overall health of the organization. Principals’ emotional intelligence competencies were assessed using the Mayer Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test version 2, hereinafter referred to as the MSCEIT V.2.0. Participants of the study included 22 principals of public middle schools in Mississippi. There was an average of 45 teachers employed at each middle school.

A Pearson …

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Susan Adams

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

More Than A Personality Match? High School Administrator Views On The Process, Factors Relevant, And Effectiveness Of The Selection Of Cooperating Teachers, Julie Lickfelt Pavlini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the factors perceived relevant to high school administrators in selecting cooperating teachers in English, math, and science. Qualitative research techniques were used; themes from the data were organized by the research questions and analyzed through the conceptual framework of Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Effective Teaching. This study included semi-structured interview probes and two activity components.

All five participants were complimentary of their school's cooperating teacher selection process and identified several traits and factors as important in selecting cooperating teachers: commitment to professional development and continuous learning, enthusiasm for teaching, varied but not …

The Impact Of Student Performance On Large-Scale Assessments: A View Of Long-Term Health, Career, And Societal Outcomes, Roman Usatin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the predictive power of student growth for large-scale assessments on meaningful life outcomes, focusing on the three categories of health, career, and societal involvement. Analysis was conducted using the NELS:88/00 dataset–a longitudinal study that followed a nationally-representative sample of over 12,000 eighth grade students from 1988 to 2000, until the students were 26 years old and entered into the work force. The large-scale assessment variables included math and reading performance in the 1988 cognitive batteries administered by NELS. To gauge growth levels, I generated Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) from tests administered by NELS from 1988 to 1992. …

Formative Assessment Through Written Feedback: Examining Elementary School Teachers' Written Feedback Beliefs And Practices, And The Effect Of Models On Written Feedback, Caterina Almendral

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study explored three main aspects relating to the use of written feedback as a formative assessment tool: the types (form or content) of written feedback provided by elementary school teachers and the levels (task, process-Self-Regulation) at which those types of feedback are provided; whether elementary school teacher beliefs about written feedback principles and their own written feedback practice correspond to the actual written feedback they provide; and whether exposure to a model of written feedback influences teacher written feedback practice.

Data were collected from 188 elementary school teachers spirally assigned to five groups (four treatment, one control). Treatment …

Teachers Of English In Pakistan : Profile And Recommendations, Ayesha Bashiruddin, Rabail Qayyum

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper answers a pertinent question: Who are the teachers of English in Pakistan? By answering this question, the current profile of teachers of English is highlighted. We were inclined to do this study because there was no data available in Pakistan. Data for this paper was generated through a survey questionnaire, which was filled out by 100 teachers of English over three years. Out of these 100 teachers, 53 teachers were from public sector schools, 29 teachers from communitybased English‐medium schools, and 18 teachers from private Englishmedium schools. These teachers belonged to various regions of Pakistan, which included Sindh, …

Navigating With Trust: A Proposal For Transforming Public Sector Schools Towards Learning Organizations In Pakistan, Zubeda Bana

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

While working with teachers, teacher educators, educational leaders and principals of schools and teacher education colleges throughout the country, I am informed that the most significant factor for transforming public sector schools is winning the trust of teachers. Teachers, no matter how they are recruited and what their current competencies are, have become part of the work-force in public sector schools. It is observed that the school administrators have exhausted their trust and treat all kinds of teachers including good and committed teachers, with the same administrative approach which places them in odd situations, wherein they start losing their own …

Latino Emergent Bilingual Students' Experiences With The Middle School Transition, Kerry Pecho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined how Latino emergent bilingual students anticipate and experience the transition from a bilingual elementary school program to middle school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who were native Spanish-speakers participated in focus group discussions. Overall, participants described positive transition experiences, and much of the content was not unique to these students (e.g., feeling nervous, looking forward to more activities). Other content, though, revealed transition experiences that may be unique to this population (e.g., dramatic shift in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds of peers). Participants' responses suggested that they experience a …

Policy Brief: Keeping All Students Safe Act Of 2014, Nancy Bergerson

Policy Analysis

Senator Harkin (D-IA), Senator Murphy (D-CT), Senator Baldwin (D-WI), and Senator Hirono (D-HI) introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act (S.2036) in the Senate on Feb. 24, 2014. Rep. Miller (D-CA) introduced H.R. 1893 on May 9, 2013. The Act would produce limitations for the use of restraints in public and private schools. Currently, 19 states have no policies in place to address this issue. The law would require better training, monitoring and enforcement of these standards, as well as the collection of related data which would be available to the public. We are asking you to co-sponsor the Keeping …

A Case Study Of Curriculum-Based Organizational Change In An Elementary Teacher Preparation Program, Grace Elizabeth Cook

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The implementation of the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics into the kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum in the United States presents a unique opportunity for teacher preparation programs to realign their curriculum with the curriculum of the primary and secondary schools. However, it is unknown how teacher preparation programs are approaching this possible change. This qualitative descriptive case study examined the organizational change process that was employed by one teacher preparation program to incorporate the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) into their curriculum. The change was examined through the organizational development lenses of Kotter …