Education Commons^™

Indicators And Precipitators Of Special Educator Satisfaction: The Role Of Certification And Advanced Coursework, Jessica Spencer

Dissertations

Special education teachers are leaving the education field at a higher rate than other education professionals. The annual attrition rate for special education teachers is estimated to be between 8-10% of special educators across the United States. These attrition rates are concerning, as they contribute to the shortage of quality special educators. Considering that an estimated 50% of special educators leave their positions within their first five years, researchers have conducted studies examining criteria centered on teacher retention and attrition. This study examined the findings of such studies, and explored the role of how teachers' certifications and obtaining advanced degrees …

Job Satisfaction And Self-Efficacy Score Differences In General And Special Education Teachers As Measured By The Job Satisfaction Survey And Teachers' Sense Of Efficacy Scale, Angela Alford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Teacher turn over has been a concern over the last 30 years in the United States. The implementation of No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 impacted the accountability of teachers. This quantitative, correlation study endeavors to determine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Within this study, teachers of a Title I school in the largest school district in a southern state were surveyed via hard copy. The Tschannen-Moran instrument, Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (2001), was used to identify three subscales: student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The Job Satisfaction Survey collected participants’ general satisfaction by …

Performance Feedback: How Structure, Culture, And Agency Affects Feedback, Angelica Sleiman

Dissertations

Federal and state mandates have placed an added pressure on teachers to demonstrate “effective” instructional practices. These mandates also affect the role of a principal, as an evaluator of “effective” instructional strategies, and as an instructional leader who continuously needs to build teacher capacity to satisfy these mandates. Accountability mandates promise to improve students’ academic performance but they have lacked professional development that would provide the support teachers and principals need to achieve success. Feedback is arguably a valuable mechanism to build teacher capacity and respond to accountability pressures, however, the implementation of feedback and its consequences for teacher’s professional …

Ascertaining The Impact Of P–12 Engineering Education Initiatives: Student Impact Through Teacher Impact, Marissa H. Forbes, Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, Denise W. Carlson

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

The widespread need to address both science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and STEM workforce development is persistent. Underscored by the Next Generation Science Standards, demand is high for P–12 engineering-centered curricula. TeachEngineering is a free, standards-aligned NSF-funded digital library of more than 1,500 hands-on, design-rich K–12 engineering lessons and activities. Beyond anonymous site-user counts, the impact of the TeachEngineering collection and outreach initiatives on the education of children and their teachers was previously unknown. Thus, the project team wrestled with the question of how to meaningfully ascertain classroom impacts of the digital engineering education library and—more broadly—how to …

Teacher Factors And The Impact On Student Success In Algebra I, Kalee Mcmullen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Algebra I proficiency is an important aspect of a solid foundation in mathematics. Teachers play a critical role in the failure or success of students. Different teacher characteristics are thought to have a significant impact on the potential for student success. This non-experimental correlational research study seeks to examine the potential relationships between specific teacher characteristics and student success in Algebra I as measured by the Algebra I End of Course Exam scores. This study uses ordinary least squares regression analysis to examine the effects of independent variables on successful Algebra I scores. The independent variables in this study include …

#Quitbullyingme: Teachers’ And Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perceptions Of The Academic, Social, And Emotional Impact Of Cyberbullying On Individuals Who Stutter, Claire Dunwoodie

Senior Independent Study Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine Teachers’ and Speech-Language Pathologists’ perceptions on the academic, social, and emotional impact that cyberbullying has on individuals who stutter. This study also looked at Teachers’ and Speech-Language Pathologists’ management skills of cyberbullying when cyberbullying arose with their students or clients. The researcher created a survey which included Likert-type questions and open response questions to address these topics. As concluded from the results of this study, Teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists both believe that students and clients who stutter are impacted the most emotionally, directly associating with cyberbullying. In addition to this, the results …

Evolving Identity: A Case Study Of Mentor Science Teachers, Melissa N. Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of how mentor science teachers understood and presented their experiences, challenges they faced, and learning of being and becoming a mentor teacher while they participated in a year-long district mentoring program. The purpose of this study is to examine what science teachers learn in their experiences as mentors and the role this learning played on their identities as professional educators. According to Bullough (1997), teacher identity is of vital concern to teacher education as it is the “basis of meaning making and decision making” (p. 21). Existing research on science teacher identity indicate that …

How Do English Teacher Educators In Oklahoma Utilize The Secondary English Methods Course To Prepare English Teacher Candidates For Today’S Classroom?, Lara Elaine Searcy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study focuses on how English teacher educators in Oklahoma utilize the secondary English methods course to prepare English teacher candidates in four thematic strands: a) instructional approaches, b) inclusion and alignment to national and state standards, c) focus on the state subject-area teacher certification assessment, and d) the course’s curricular changes made due to educational policies. Using a qualitative, descriptive, collective case study approach, the results describe how six instructors prepare English teacher candidates for today’s classroom in 2017.

A description of the secondary English methods course in Oklahoma is difficult to define by a single course title, but …

Elementary Principals' Perceptions Of Special Education Teachers' Performance Evaluation Process, Nafees H. Rasul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evidence suggests that current special education teacher evaluation systems may not accurately reflect these teachers' unique duties and responsibilities. In a Midwestern, urban school district, the teacher evaluation system was not adequately aligned with the performance expectations of special education teachers. Guided by Danielson's framework for teaching, this qualitative case study explored elementary school principals' perceptions of teacher evaluation approaches, perceived effectiveness of these approaches, applications of key indicators of teaching quality, and barriers preventing accurate evaluations of special education teachers' performance. An online survey comprised of closed- and open-ended questions was distributed to 445 principals in the district with …

Parent And Teacher Perspectives Of Children's Access To Violent Media, Sarah Michelle O'Neal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers indicate repeated participation in violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive and hurtful behavior toward others. Media violence is one of the most studied phenomena affecting children over the age of 8. Media violence has become accessible for very young children through various sources. The purpose of this study was to explore perspectives of parents and teachers of children 5 to 8 years old regarding children's exposure to violent media, their definitions of violent media, and parental monitoring practices. Questionnaires were completed by 35 parents, and 6 agreed to participate in face-to-face or telephonic interviews. Four teachers from …

Teaching Experience And How It Relates To Teacher Impressions Of Work Intensification, Shannon Warren

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Changes in schools can cause teachers to experience an intensification of work as they strive to meet expectations of students, parents, and administrations. This study includes an examination of factors that may lead to work intensification (WI) for teachers. The study also includes an examination of how years of experience and teacher perceptions of administrative support may moderate the relationship between teachers' impressions of WI and their job satisfaction. Based on equity theory, data were collected using a Likert-type scale survey distributed to 9 public high schools in southern California. A test for correlation was performed followed by a hierarchal …