Digital Commons Network^™

Discourse In The Elementary Classroom, Kathryn Hardy

Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Literacy

As literacy standards across the country grow more rigorous, literacy practices need to follow suit. With the implementation of the Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards in 2010, classroom instruction in the facilitation of student discourse has become not only beneficial, but required. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an instructional framework for student discourse called Statement Stem Discourse/Accountable Talk (SSD/AT). This instructional frame included discussion stems, teacher prompts, and guidelines for student responses. This study observed the impacts of discourse on 19 students over the course of six weeks. With a focus on questions …

Promoting Second Language Socialization Through Course Projects, Elena Shvidko

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

For many international students who are second language (L2) learners, successful integration in the new academic and socio-cultural environment is inseparable from their language socialization. Classroom teachers are well positioned to support students’ adaptation, and through course materials, projects, and activities they can encourage students’ successful socialization and promote their learning. Based on the principles of L2 socialization theory, this article describes how the projects of the course taught in the Intensive English Language Institute aimed at achieving two objectives: 1) foster students’ cross-cultural interaction and participation in various activities in- and outside the classroom, and 2) increase students’ opportunities …

Teacher Education Program Redesign: Maintaining A Focus On Social Justice In An Increasingly Challenging Context, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin

Faculty Publications

This qualitative case study describes the outcomes of a major reorganization of a well-established five semester post-baccalaureate combined credential/MA program into a three semester program. The original program focused squarely on social justice and multicultural awareness; reorganization was driven entirely by external forces, many of which the department faculty viewed as anathema to our larger purposes as educators that are based on deficit-models of diversity, ignore relational aspects of teaching, and are at the heart of efforts to privatize teacher education. Reorganization involved heavy reliance on “touchstone texts,” immersive field experiences, and student action-inquiry centered on making theory to practice …

Evaluating And Supporting Teacher Practice Of Formative Assessment: Assessing Posing, Pausing, And Probing Moves, Carrie Holmberg, Brent Duckor

Faculty Publications

Decades of research supports that teacher engagement in formative assessment (FA) can powerfully impact student learning outcomes (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2009, 2012). Yet less is known about teacher development of FA skills on a continuum of practice. This empirical study designed, piloted, and examined test content validity of a performance-based assessment of teachers’ FA practice related to questioning “moves” in the context of six multilingual high needs middle school mathematics classrooms. Qualitative comparative analysis of triangulated evidence of teachers’ planning for, enacting, and reflecting on posing, pausing, and probing “moves” found differences among teachers’ probing in particular, related …

Culturally Responsive Teaching With Visual Art In The Social Studies, Julie Anne Taylor, Okezie Iroha, Vito Valdez

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article explores high school students’ perceptions of visual arts integration in the social studies. In an all-boys, public school in a major metropolis in the Midwest, lessons on art by African American and Mexican artists were introduced in a social studies classroom. To assess the impact of the program, the students’ anonymous responses to two surveys and their work on a collaborative, digital portfolio were analyzed. The findings of this study suggest that arts integration in the social studies increases students’ interest in learning, appreciation of culture, and understanding of history.

The Hidden Curriculum Of Teach For America, Andrew Hartman

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

By way of a close reading of Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp's two books, this article examines TFA's role in the so-called education reform movement, and offers a critique of TFA and the movement.

Author Biography:

Andrew Hartman is an associate professor of history at Illinois State University. For the 2013-14 academic year, he will be on leave from ISU as the Fulbright Danish Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. Hartman teaches and researches 20^th Century U.S. History with a focus on intellectual history. He also is one of the faculty members in …

Teachers’ Professional Identity Construction: A Narrative Inquiry Of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers In Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Abdo Hersi

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This qualitative study examineshow five in-service male non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) constructed and negotiated their professional identity as teachers to make meaning of their lived experiences in an EFL milieu, a Saudi Arabian university. The study also explores the challenges related to NNESTs’ teaching lives and how they negotiated them as they constructed their professional identities. I approached the studied phenomena by employing a narrative inquiry method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and an autobiography. The study draws on Clandinin and Connelly’s framework of three-dimensional space (temporality, sociality, and place), Bourdieu’s theory of forms of capital,and Gee’s …

What Are We Teaching When We Teach About Religion?, Matthew Paul Schunke

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article examines issues and difficulties with teaching and study religion in the university. Topics discussed include the distinction of religious studies and theology, the problem of apologetics in religious studies, and the role of the scholar of religion in relation to the subject matter.

Developing Classroom Management Strategies In Non-Native Culture: A Single Case Study, Xianquan Liu, Wayne A. Babchuk

The Qualitative Report

This single case study explored the practicum and student teaching experience of a native Chinese pre-service language teacher in order to better understand her process of developing classroom management strategies and the difficulties and challenges emerged in that process. In a broader sense, the case study aims to inform teacher preparation programs in terms of preparing Chinese teachers for secondary public schools in the U.S. The longitudinal study employed semi-structured interviews, classroom observation notes, teaching reflections and documents. Six themes — instructional challenges, coping strategies, cultural difference, language frustration, attitudes and feelings, and improvement — emerged from constant comparative analysis. …

Intersecting Stories: Cultural Reflexivity, Digital Storytelling, And Personal Narratives In Language Teacher Education, Julie Vivienne Dell-Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry dissertation explores stories from three students over a two-year trajectory as they develop into language educators in diverse contexts. The study begins in a teacher education course focused on technology for language teaching in English as a second language (ESOL) and foreign language education (FLE) classrooms. As instructor, I implemented a digital storytelling (DS) project with the pedagogical goal of supporting the much-needed practice of reflexivity, and specifically, reflexivity of intercultural competence (IC) and culturally-responsive pedagogy (CRP). The DS, as an autoethnographic multimodal narrative activity, provided a creative outlet for undergraduate and master’s level students to explore …

La Ciudad Como Espacio De La Marginalidad: Un Acercamiento Crítico A Un Oso Rojo, Mariana Pensa

South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL)

Nos proponemos realizar un análisis del film argentino Un oso rojo (2002, dirigido por Israel Adrián Caetano). Un punto de entrada para el análisis nos remite al concepto mismo de lo que es una ciudad, tal como Lewis Mumford lo expone en su canónico artículo “What is a city?”. Si la ciudad se constituye, al decir de Mumford, en espacio simbólico de “unidad colectiva”, en donde los hombres realizan sus actividades mas “útiles”, las preguntas a las que nos llevan estos conceptos serán ¿cuál es el estatuto de una ciudad recorrida por la violencia? ¿Cómo el espacio refiere y significa …

Seccll Conference Program 2018, Georgia Southern University

South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL)

Conference Program

Lost In Translation, Kara M. Kavanagh

Dilemmas in Education: A Casebook for Ethical Reasoning

The majority of teachers in America would expect to and be prepared to teach the svastika symbol in relations to Nazi Germany, Hitler, the Holocaust, and as a symbol of White supremacy groups and hatred towards anyone who is not Blonde Haired and Blue Eyed. What would happen then, if a student doodled the svastika for fun or as an art project not related to the history or social studies curriculum?

Changing Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Prevalent Brain-Based Myths In Education, Megan Sparks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study examined if a conceptual change intervention would decrease pre-service teachers’ beliefs in four prevalent brain-based myths in education, including Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles, Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory, left- or right-brained hemispheric dominance, and that humans only use 10% of their brains. Participants included 87 college students from one large, comprehensive university who were enrolled in an educational psychology course. All participants received the conceptual change intervention, which consisted of reading an article refuting the brain-based myths, submitting a paper showcasing evaluative thinking and reflection about the brain-based myths, and discussing cognitive development and the brain-based myths in …

The Effect Of Classroom Context On Head Start Teacher Feedback, Jasmine Renee Ernst

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS, LaParo, Pianta, & Stuhlman, 2004) assesses quality of teacher social and instructional interactions with children, and classroom management and productivity. Prior research indicated low quality of feedback scores in programs serving low-income children (Early et al., 2005). The purpose of this study was to compare the quantity and quality of managing interaction utterances (i.e. a type of feedback) provided by Head Start teachers (N = 8) in two classroom contexts. Video-recorded book-reading and 20-minute center-time sessions in the fall and spring of a school year were used to assess managing interaction utterances in structured …

Teaching For Deep Learning In A Second Grade Literacy Classroom, Treavor Bogard, Annamary L. Consalvo, Jo Worthy

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

From a New Literacies Studies (NLS) perspective, deep learning involves the acquisition of social and cultural competencies valued within a disciplinary community, not merely propositional displays of what one knows. Drawn from a year-long qualitative inquiry, this case study examines how one exemplary second-grade literacy teacher taught toward deep learning, using a pedagogy of multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996). Selected episodes of instruction were analyzed in two phases. Initially, data were examined for evidence of three main competency sets of deep learning--cognitive, inter-personal, and intra-personal (National Research Council, 2012). In the latter phase, analysis focused on the teacher’s pedagogical stances …

Student Teaching Cuenca: An Overseas Student Teaching Placement Program For Taylor University, Janae Knipp

Capstone Collection

The ethnic demographic of the United States is becoming more diverse, while the teacher population remains largely homogeneous. The interplay between the shifting student population and the stagnant teacher population can result in frustrated teachers who do not understand their students’ needs and students who are not well taught nor well served. One of the ways to equip our teachers is to create opportunities in higher education teacher preparation programs to study or teach abroad. Based on theory, studies, and assessment of the current state of pre-service teacher education through interviews and literature review, Student Teaching Cuenca is designed to …

Teaching Middle School Children Affected By Homelessness: An Interpretive Phenomenological Investigation Of Teachers’ Lived Experiences, Timothy B. Smart

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The human experience occupies the central role in phenomenological research. In this interpretive phenomenological study, the researcher recruited and interviewed secondary school teachers from three public urban schools in the Pacific Northwest in order to have them describe their lived experiences that relate to instructing students affected by homelessness. The researcher used two semi-structured, conversational interviews with six participants who reflected on how their classroom experiences influenced their teaching, engagement strategies, emotional states, and student relationships. The conceptual framework for this study included: Homelessness in America, public school setting, impact of homelessness, and teacher perspective. In this study, the researcher …

Creating Grace And Space: The Foundation On Which Progressive Educators Build A Sense Of Belonging And Safety For Marginalized Gender And Sexual Diverse High School Students, Lisa M. Ortiz

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This descriptive case study focused on a single high school community which is intentional in its efforts to craft a school culture, fostering belonging and safety in students who are Gender and Sexual Diverse (GSD). The researcher examined the perspectives of classroom-based and non-classroom-based educators, as they strove to articulate how they address the needs of this student-population without negatively impacting academic and other school priorities, and how they incorporate understandings regarding this population into their practice. Through a multi-phase process including interviews, observations, focus group, and document analysis, the researcher explored how seven educator-participants navigate changing demographics both personally …

Friendship And Language: How Kindergarteners Talk About Making Friends In A Two-Way Immersion School, Sionelle Nicole Beller

Theses and Dissertations

Research on adolescents sense of belonging in schools is plentiful; however, there is an obvious lack of research conducted in early childhood years. Friendship groups have been shown to be impactful in helping students feel like they belong in school. This study explores how kindergarteners talk about friendship in the context of belonging in a two-way immersion school. I pay particular attention to the role primary language plays in developing a sense of belonging and friendships at school. The 19 kindergarteners in this study were interviewed in small linguistically homogenous groups of 2 or 3 students. Each focus group was …

Linguistic Interactions Of Spanish Speaking Mexican American Families, Adelfio J. Garcia

Dissertations

This study explored the bilingual linguistic interactions in Mexican families and their impact on children’s language and literacy development. This qualitative study gathered data using different methods, namely, interviews, direct observations, participant observation, and physical artifacts to examine parents’ perceptions of their own educational path in comparison to their children’s educational path in an American school system, together with their daily linguistic interactions in various social contexts, and the features, themes and roles of linguistic interactions participants. Study results assisted in gaining deeper understanding of daily conversations happening in different social contexts and their impact on the language and literacy …

The Internationalization Of Teacher Education Faculty In Two Global Cities: A Case Study Of Two Universities In New York And Hong Kong, Maribel Roman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

With the increasing integration of the world economy, nations are under growing pressure to compete internationally, resulting in a need to re-shape national education systems to train a multi-cultural workforce capable of competing globally. Consequently, the imperative to internationalize must focus on the preparation of teachers. This research study examined the internationalization of teacher education faculty through case studies of two universities: one in New York and one in Hong Kong. The main purpose is twofold: (1) to compare the extent to which, and the ways in which teacher education faculty in the two settings have internationalized the content of …

Exploring Teachers' Self-Efficacy About Technology Use In Learning Design And Student Performance In Mathematics: A Qualitative Study About Math Anxiety, Sandra B. Vorensky

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceived self-efficacy about mathematics and using educational technology and its influence on lessening students' math anxiety in the classroom. Building upon previous research by Sun and Pyzdrowski (2009), this study examined teachers' beliefs about mathematics and their own ability to use online educational mathematics resources to lessen students' math anxiety, increase self-efficacy and encourage academic achievement. A qualitative research design was used in this study. Data was collected sequentially from teacher observations during math instruction, surveys, and semi-structured interviews with third and fourth grade teachers. Results support previous self-efficacy research about …

Latino Students’ Stories Of Advanced Placement Success: A Critical Case Study, Marcie S. Plummer

Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative, critical case study identified and described culture factors Latino students in Monterey County, California, perceive influenced academic success in Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

Methodology: This qualitative research design explored the phenomenon of internal and external culture factors Latino students perceive influenced academic success in AP courses. Through semistructured focus group and follow-up interviews, the researcher gathered detailed data on each factor and how it influenced academic success. Using Perna and Thomas’s (2008) student success framework, some success factors were revealed as interdependent.

Findings: Factors that influenced Latino students’ academic success in AP courses included support by teachers, …

Working Together: Building K-12/College Mentor Partnerships To Support Students With Learning Differences, Tammy J. Graham, Renee N. Jefferson, Koy Mai, Christopher "Gage" Russell, Ashley Cannon, Mary Taylor

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

In an interactive discussion with audience members, presenters will share ideas for developing positive mentor-mentee partnerships between K-12 schools and colleges; discuss the impact of two recently established mentor partnerships, as well as perspectives from college student mentors and K-12 teachers of student mentees with learning differences; collaboratively examine data to discuss potential program adaptations; and provide mentoring activities that audience members can utilize.

The Beacon In Our Journey: Next Stop: From Student Voice To Student Action, Helen J. Webster, Norman L. Coleman, Beth W. Hester

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Is it possible to reduce the achievement gap simply by implementing effective instructional practices? Francis Scott Key Middle School in Montgomery County Maryland has learned that building the cultural proficiency of teachers goes beyond classroom practices. The school’s Student Voice Project has transformed ideas about instruction by empowering students’ voices and investing in the infinite power of students’ actions.

Preservice Teacher Sense-Making As They Learn To Teach Reading As Seen Through Computer-Mediated Discourse, Angela J. Stefanski, Amy Leitze, Veronica M. Fife-Demski

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Abstract

This collective case study used methods of discourse analysis to consider what computer-mediated collaboration might reveal about preservice teachers’ sense-making in a field-based practicum as they learn to teach reading to children identified as struggling readers. Researchers agree that field-based experiences coupled with time for reflection benefit preservice teachers as they learn to teach reading. However, research is not as clear about which features of practicum experiences lead to preservice teacher learning, which may contribute to preservice teacher misconceptions, and how learning about reading instruction might be rendered more visible to researchers. Grounded in sociocultural perspectives, analysis focused on …

Searching For Mirrors: Preservice Teachers’ Journey Toward More Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Tanya Christ, Sue Ann Sharma

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Culturally relevant text selection and pedagogy support students’ motivation, engagement, literacy outcomes, and positive identity formation. Nevertheless, there is limited research on teacher preparation that fosters these outcomes. We explore 17 preservice teachers’ challenges and successes with culturally relevant text selection and pedagogy for their students’ literacy instruction. Data sources include reader responses, lesson plans, and reflections. Emergent coding and constant comparative analysis yielded four categories of challenges (resistance, limited view of culture, lack of knowledge about students’ cultures and identities, and lack of opportunities for students to develop critical consciousness) and three criteria for successes (knowledge about the students’ …

Problem-Based Teacher-Mentor Education: Fostering Literacy Acquisition In Multicultural Classrooms, Pamela Hartman, Corinne Renguette, Mary Theresa Seig

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

We designed a professional development (PD) teacher-mentor program that used problem-based learning (PBL) to accomplish two goals. First, teachers explored how PBL could be used effectively in their classrooms to change the way they think about teaching to include literacy development in content areas. Second, PBL was the basis for PD training to help them improve their own knowledge of PBL, become mentors to other teachers, and implement PBL in their schools across content areas.

Educators in the United States are challenged to teach linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students with differing literacy levels. The demographics of U.S. classrooms require …

University American Sign Language Learners: Longitudinal Self- And Faculty Evaluation Ratings, Jennifer S. Beal, Nanci A. Scheetz, Jessica W. Trussell, Andrew Mcallister, Jason D. Listman

Journal of Interpretation

Students who are Deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) represent a small yet diverse population of students with individual needs who often receive educational services provided by sign language interpreters and teachers of the Deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH). Many interpreters and teachers appear unprepared to model fluent American Sign Language (ASL) skills when working with D/HH students who use sign language for communication and instruction. We investigated the ASL skills of 19 interpreting and Deaf education candidates within one university preparation program at two points in time: the end of ASL I class (Time 1) and a year later at …