Education Commons^™

Novice, Alternatively Licensed Career And Technical Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Development, Desiree Seay

Ed.D. Dissertations

In this qualitative study, I address novice, alternatively licensed Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers’ perceptions of professional development support in a southeastern school district in the state of Tennessee. The lack of tailored professional development opportunities created issues for CTE teachers because of the complexity of their teaching responsibilities. Research on effective methods of professional development for beginning CTE teachers existed; however, there were few research studies on program implementations and their effectiveness. To gather data, I used a Google survey to establish an initial, two-tiered criterion for participation, and participants who met the criteria participated in one-on-one interviews. Specifically, …

A Case Study Of Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge And Attitudes Toward Mathematics And Teaching, Brian R. Evans

NERA Conference Proceedings 2008

This study intended to measure teacher mathematical content knowledge both before and after the first year of teaching and taking graduate teacher education courses in the Teach for America (TFA) program, as well as measure attitudes toward mathematics and teaching both before and after TFA teachers’ first year. There was a significant increase in both mathematical content knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics over the TFA teachers’ first year teaching. Additionally, several significant correlations were found between attitudes toward mathematics and content knowledge. Finally, after a year of teaching, TFA teachers had significantly better attitudes toward mathematics and teaching than neutral.

The Effects Of Program Model And Language On Science Taks Scores Among Fifth Graders, Stephanie Leigh Zelenak

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

THE EFFECTS OF PROGRAM MODEL AND LANGUAGE ON SCIENCE TAKS SCORES AMONG FIFTH GRADERS

This study examined the conditions of learning allowing students in one classroom to succeed on the fifth grade science TAKS test whereas students in other classrooms on the same campus do not succeed. It focused on the relationship of program models, specifically as it pertains to the influence of language within the content area of science and student performance on the fifth grade science TAKS scores.

To compare the academic achievement, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test, in grade five …

A Case Study Of The Effects Of Inquiry Based Professional Development Through The Use Of A Mentor On An Alternatively Certified, Michelle Thrift

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One alternatively certified elementary teacher was the subject of this sixteen week research study on science teaching self-efficacy. The researcher taught inquiry based student level science lessons to the fourth grade teacher. The teacher participant, in turn, taught those same lessons to her class while the researcher observed and took field notes. The participant responded to specific open ended questions in a journal after each science experience and also completed three interviews with the researcher. Each sequential lesson from the researcher was then modified based on participant needs. The participant completed the STEBI (Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument) as a …