Education Commons^™

Teacher Initiated Collaboration In Community: A Case Study Considering Communities Of Practice At A Title I Middle School, Katherine Stewart

Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigates how faculty members in a Title I middle school engage in collaborative practices to enhance professional growth without formal professional learning. Framed within a descriptive lens (Merriam, 1998) and informed by Brown and Duguid's Community of Practice (CoP) framework (1991), the study addresses two research questions: (1) How do teachers collaborate to improve their practice outside formal professional learning? (2) In what ways do these methods reflect the elements of CoP: working, learning, and innovating? Through data analysis, the study reveals that teachers predominantly collaborate on student behavior and classroom management, with curriculum being a …

Impact Of Collaborative Communities On Collective Teacher Effectiveness And Agency, Leila Barber

Dissertations

In an ever-increasing world in which change, and diversity are commonplace, leaders are often faced with the unique challenge of building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) with unique skill sets. Building collaborative teams of educators is one way building leaders tackle this absolute task. The methods by which leaders construct teams vary widely and at times with limited direction. Teacher teams are then at the mercy of those who they are teamed with, and either reap positive rewards of collaboration, or negative discord. Teacher experiences shape the way PLCs function and how they engage with shared work with their teammates. Throughout …

To Choose Or Not To Choose: Establishing A Correlation Between Choice, Collaboration, And Classroom Engagement, Krisandra Johnson

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Not all 8th-grade students have an outspoken passion for reading; however, most of them do like choices. This action research study establishes a correlation between offering choices in the English Language Arts classroom and increased affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. The participants for this research were an 8th-grade class at a Midwest, urban public school. Providing students with reading choices, assignment options, opportunities to collaborate with peers, and multiple assessment forms to choose from demonstrated an increase of not only effective engagement but also cognitive and behavioral. From observations and student data, collaboration, the researcher determines that collaboration is a …

Collaboration As An Effective Conflict Management Technique For Maximizing Classroom Productivity, Michael Jude Denis Phd, Salamat Amos Umoh

Journal of Graduate Education Research

The fundamental goal of the classroom is to model behaviour through interaction between students and the tutor. This cannot be achieved in a chaotic environment occasioned clash of interests and other forms of incompatibility. Hence, there is need for effective conflict management techniques applicable to the classroom environment. This research aims to study the role of collaboration as a conflict management technique in bringing about high productivity in the classroom. Using the Choice Theory by Glasser (1965), this work therefore explored the impacts that collaboration as a conflict management technique has within the classroom. The methodology used in this work …

The Knowledge And Utilization Of Trauma-Informed Care By Educational And Mental Health Professionals Who Serve Children In A Texas City, Mashelle Ancell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand the knowledge and utilization of trauma-informed care by professionals serving children within schools, social service agencies, or child therapy in a middle-sized Texas city. Previous studies acknowledged the prevalence of trauma and the need for systemic trauma-informed care in communities. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was attachment theory due to the emphasis on securely attached relationships, which is consistent with trauma-informed care. Data collection methods included an online open-ended questionnaire and semistructured personal interviews. Data analysis was completed using reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes from participant …

The Effects Of Joint Training On Career And Technical Education And Special Education Professionals, Crystal K. Emery, Robert L. Morgan

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Abstract

Young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who leave high school have limited options in adulthood. Their rates of competitive employment in inclusive community settings is very low compared to their counterparts without disabilities. Involvement in postsecondary education and independent, community living is likewise limited. They need teams of trained professionals representing relevant disciplines who work together to support the student along college, career, and community pathways. Not only should special educators (SPED) be trained, but career technical education (CTE) professionals should be jointly trained in how to collaborate effectively and provide well-coordinated services. The purpose of this research …

A Team Science Training Approach To Enhance Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration In Communication Science And Disorders Programs, Carla Wood, Victor A. Lugo, Miguel Garcia-Salas, Wayne T. Mccormack

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

This paper aims to describe the core components of a cross-disciplinary team science training offered in a Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) program delivered to 17 doctoral scholars in CSD, education, special education, psychology, and social work. The team science training model is offered as one approach to consider in preparing pre-service leaders and faculty in CSD to engage in scientific collaboration with other researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds. In addition to an overview of training, the paper includes preliminary data on participants' perceptions of team science training and recommendations for future offerings.

Lessons We Learned From Avatars: Cultivating Meaningful Preservice Teacher Online Experiences During Covid-19 And Beyond, Kristin M. Murphy, Janna Jackson Kellinger

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Like flight simulators used to train airline pilots prior to flying an actual airplane, mixed reality simulations provide an opportunity to interact with avatars in order to practice newly learned behaviors in an online environment. As teacher educators, we have used mixed reality simulations as a part of our coursework for the past five years. In this article, we discuss implications and lessons learned for teacher education practice and research in the online environment during COVID-19 and beyond based on our experiences using mixed reality.

Summary Of Effects: Impact Of Intersect On Student Math Achievement And Teacher Perceptions, Natalie Wright

STEM Research

This summary of project evaluation findings was presented to the InTERSECT team and DCPS leaders in February 2023 as a supplement to the Year 2 Summative Evaluation Report. The evaluation examined effects of Project InTERSECT on Cohorts 1 and 2, including student mathematics achievement and teacher perceptions. The project has had significant impacts on students’ mathematics achievement. Compared to a business-as-usual group (which was matched to the treatment group based on pretest scores, demographics, and grade level), students in Project InTERSECT classrooms performed significantly higher on iReady Math assessments. Treatment effects were particularly large for kindergarten (Hedges’ g = .34) …

Tools, Tips, And Tricks For Beginning Teachers, Kimberly Lilley, Regina Lineback, Brad Rhew, Elia Spencer

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Tools, Tips, and Tricks for Beginning Teachers is a professional learning module (PLM) that supports the growth and development of beginning teachers. The topics reviewed in this PLM include classroom management, collaboration, instructional strategies, and student engagement. The strategies included in this PLM are research-based and support the Beginning Teacher Standards, Professional Teaching Standards, and Beginning Teacher Standards for Science Education. As you proceed through the PLM, you will have opportunities to consider your current or planned practices in each of the focus areas and select new tools, tips, or tricks that can be applied to your classroom practices.

View …

Efficacy, Attitudes, And Collaboration Of Co-Teaching For Middle School General And Special Educators, Ellenita Blanton

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate how general and special educators’ attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration promote co-teaching relationships that benefit exceptional students in urban middle schools. The impacts of co-teaching on the attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration of secondary teachers were explored. A questionnaire was distributed to general and special education teachers, and focus groups were held. The methodology included using a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase research design to collect the data. The quantitative measure used was surveys. Participants, who were qualified, were chosen for the interview and focus group portions of the study. In …

Collaboration And Reconciliation In English Language Teaching? Personal Reflections On Critical Incidents, Michael Lessard-Clouston

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Collaboration is largely assumed in English language teaching, while reconciliation is often a goal in this discipline. This article briefly introduces frameworks to help us think about collaboration and to understand reconciliation. Next it discusses three critical incidents in EFL teaching and ESL teacher education from personal experience in China, Indonesia, and the United States. Using the literature and frameworks outlined, the article reflects on cultural and other challenges, notes helps and hindrances to collaboration, and possible ways such issues were or might have been reconciled in the three incidents.

“Math Talks Are Like An Alarm Clock Waking You Up”: Language’S Crucial Role In Mathematics, Gabriella M. Wasser

Journal of Practitioner Research

Whole group math talks, or number talks, are a common practice to get students talking about their own understanding of mathematical concepts. The purpose of this study was to implement math talks in small group settings to see what would happen, specifically to students’ conceptual understanding as well their general perceptions of math talks. This study took place in a fourth-grade math classroom, and math talks were implemented with the whole class for a week and then moved to small groups for the remaining three weeks of the study. During the study, a pre-and post-assessment was given, field notes were …

Collaboration In Mathematics Teacher Education: The What, How, And Why Of Mathematical Modeling, Aubrey Neihaus, Amy Bennett

The Advocate

In this paper, we share our collaboration across the disciplines of mathematics and mathematics education to develop and implement a mathematical modeling task for prospective secondary mathematics teachers. Through this collaboration, we identified three key components of mathematical modeling: the what, how, and why. In this paper, we outline these components from the literature and how each framed our development and implementation of the Sprinkler Task in our mathematics content and mathematics methods courses for secondary teachers. These three components show that mathematical modeling is a particularly fruitful space for collaboration between the disciplines of mathematics and …

An Examination Of The Working Relationships Between General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, And Paraprofessionals In General Education Settings, Rita Page Hosay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide an examination of the relationships between general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals and the influences of these relationships on students with disabilities. This study was conducted through the process of semi-structured interviews with general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals working in two Tennessee school districts. The researcher found that communication practices, training, perspectives, time, role expectations, development of partnerships, and the creation of supportive environments affect the development of working relationships among special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and general education teachers. The researcher found that these relationships influence the …

Redesigning Field Experiences To Support Rural Schools: A Praxis Reflection, Vicki S. Sherbert

Educational Considerations

The on-going social and political climate, with polarizing stances on everything from issues of social justice to mandates for mask-wearing and vaccination, brings non-normative stressors into the lived experiences of students, families, and educators everywhere. These stressors are often magnified in rural communities and schools. Yet, in spite of these challenges, many schools in rural areas have embraced opportunities for creative collaborations which foster connections and celebrate the unique richness of their communities.

This Praxis Reflection describes one such collaboration between a teacher educator at a midwestern university and a rural junior high/senior high school 300 miles west of the …

De Bono's Six Hats Thinking Strategy For All Content Areas, Jamie Mahoney, Lynn Patterson, Carol Hall

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Problem-solving and collaboration require people to compromise, negotiate, and brainstorm to understand, create, manage, judge, and be intuitive and remain positive and calm while working as a team to address problems. Teachers can teach students to collaborate and problem-solve in any content area using de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy. Using de Bono's strategy, university students in this study explored learning hats and ways to apply learning hat properties to collaborate and problem solve in group activities. Researchers employed a mixed-method study enlisting both general education and special education pre-service undergraduate and in-service graduate teachers to discover personal thinking hat …

Reflection In Alignment To Professional Standards: What Did The Student Teachers Highlight?, Ping Liu

Journal of Global Education and Research

This study investigates the professional development of elementary student teachers in a teacher education program. Student teaching is a process for pre-service teachers to apply learning in an authentic school context, and one critical aspect of professional development is through reflection. The participants were primarily examined through their weekly reflections on teaching and learning experiences over an eight-week period. Using the state Standards for the Teaching Profession as a framework, the student teachers chose to reflect on topics they were most interested in exploring. Results indicated that the participants gave predominant attention to classroom management; the standards that received the …

Collaborative Teaching And Inclusion In Northeast, Tn, Sherianne Pigeon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Collaborative teaching is a commonly used, research-based method to support inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. However, there is a lack of research describing current teachers’ experiences with and perceptions of collaborative teaching and inclusion. Results from a survey disseminated to teachers in Northeast TN school systems revealed that 64.3% of respondents have either never co-taught a class or have co-taught only one or two classes. Additionally, respondents agree that collaborative teaching is beneficial to support inclusion, enhance delivery of instruction, improve teacher relations and improve classroom management. However, teachers expressed collaborative teaching is more …

Taking Teaching And Learning Seriously: Approaching Wicked Consciousness Through Collaboration And Partnership, Adam H. Smith, Laurie L. Grupp, Lindsay Doukopoulos, John C. Foo, Barbara J. Rodriguez, Janel Seeley, Linda M. Boland, Laurel L. Hester

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demanded large-scale collaboration within all organizations, including higher education, and taking teaching and learning seriously, in this moment, means leveraging partnerships to address the wicked (large, complex) problems cited by Bass (2020). These problems are not ours alone to solve; rather, we make the case for a “wicked consciousness,” an amalgam of perspectives, in educational development. Guided by intellectual humility, our success as educational developers ought to be measured by the quality of our collaborations as well as our ability to learn with others, form equitable partnerships, and lead others by our example.

Collaborative Learning In An Asynchronous Online Introductory Statistics Course, Marla Lemmon

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Collaborative learning has been shown to improve student learning and performance; however, the influence of collaboration has not yet been examined in the context of an online introductory statistics course. Often the influence of collaborative learning is measured using only one outcome variable, typically course achievement. This study will contribute a more thorough examination of the influence collaboration has on student learning by operationalizing the learning construct with the use of multiple measures: academic performance, perceived learning, and growth in statistical knowledge. In addition, this study will provide a model for incorporating collaborative learning in an asynchronous online course.

Tech-Savvy Educators’ Perceptions Of Using Smartphones For Self-Directed Professional Development, Matinga E. Ragatz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The proliferation of the smartphone has encouraged educators, particularly the tech savvy, to seek personalized learning options in lieu of the absence of individualized professional development (PD) offerings provided by their academic institutions that are not based on short-term whole group instruction. Although smartphone use has attracted the attention of researchers, not much has been examined about how educators use the device to enhance their learning. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of tech-savvy educators regarding smartphone use for informal self-directed PD. The conceptual framework of the study was the 3 x 3 model …

Teacher Candidates Collaborate To Create Place-Based Integrated Curriculum, Amanda Wall, Taylor Norman

Middle Grades Review

A small group of middle level teacher candidates collaborated to create place-based integrated curriculum. These candidates and the authors, two teacher educators, selected two local sites, visited them together, and debriefed these visits. State and national standards as well as guidelines for integrated curriculum (e.g., Beane, 1997; Nesin & Lounsbury, 1999) informed the process. Through interpretive phenomenology analysis (Smith et al., 2009), we analyzed place-based learning as a catalyst for collaboration. Teacher candidates recognized possibilities with place-based learning to draw on local cultural, historical, and natural resources in ways that are relevant to students and their communities. We offer implications …

Guided Online Coaching For Teachers Of Emergent Bilinguals In A Tesol Practicum Course During Covid-19, Dawn Thieman

Dissertations

Guided online coaching for teachers of emergent bilinguals (EBLs) is a job-embedded professional development model established from the educational policies and practices described in the No Child Left Behind Act and Every Student Succeeds Act. Having effective teachers who ensure an equitable, creative, and linguistically and culturally relevant education for all EBLs is of paramount importance in the ever-changing demography of schools in the United States. The guided online coaching for teachers of EBLs offers a collaborative, facilitative, dialogic, and reflective coaching process for positively influencing teacher transformation, thus providing a creative language teaching pedagogy for EBLs. The purpose of …

Three Learning Contexts As Paths To Preservice Instrumental Music Teachers' Score Analysis, Rehearsal Planning, And Instructional Readiness: An Exploratory Study In Professional Development, Jennifer Lee Pulling

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite an abundance of evidence-based research pointing to the effectiveness of long-term teacher professional development (PD) (Darling-Hammond, Hyler & Gardner, 2017; Desimone, 2009), instrumental music teachers who seek to improve their teaching practices are limited to and often prefer short-term PD opportunities (Bauer, 2007; West, 2020). In recent years, a growing knowledge base focused on music teacher PD has given attention to long-term, content-based and collaborative music PD (Conway, 2015; Kastner, 2014; Stanley, Snell & Edgar, 2014) while a dearth of evidence-based research exists on short-term music PD (Bauer, 2007; West, 2020). The purpose of this collective case study was …

Vocational Education: Cna Students’ Perspectives Of Soft Skills In Training And The Workplace, Kimberly S. Mcclendon-Payton

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify CNAs’ perceptions about the most important soft skills used by CNAs in training and the workplace.

Methodology: This quantitative research study identified CNAs’ perceptions of the most important soft skills they used based on the composite model for soft skills. CNAs were selected based on purposeful sampling. Likert scores were collected from the survey responses.

Findings: Examination of the quantitative data from the 35 CNAs revealed that brainstorming is the most important collaboration soft skill in CNA training and the workplace.

Conclusions: Results based on the findings of this study …

Collaborative Inquiry To Support Critically Reading Children’S Literature, Laurie Rabinowitz, Amy Tondreau

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article provides an overview of a qualitative study investigating how K-5 classroom teachers describe their beliefs, concerns, and planning process for enacting read alouds featuring characters with disabilities. The study explored educators' close reading of picture books to elicit the unpacking of beliefs about individuals with disabilities conveyed by children’s literature. Through dialogue about social issues in picture books with colleagues, teachers sharpened their own critical literacy skills to bring into the classroom. Based on our findings, we offer a collaborative inquiry cycle that teacher groups can replicate to critically read children’s literature for different social justice issues.

Creating Conditions For Collaboration: A Case Study On Design-Based Professional Learning, Leslie A. Lehner

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Design thinking is a process for solving complex problems through creative actions. There are three primary ways design thinking is being used in education today: (a) as a teaching tool, (b) as a strategy for teachers to redesign their students’ learning experiences, and (c) as a tool for school leaders to design school change (Gallagher & Thordarson, 2018). Design thinking includes a strong emphasis on team-based learning regarding the problem and possible solutions (Lindberg et al., 2010). This case study describes one school’s approach to navigating complex challenges, inspiring school change, and developing conditions for meaningful collaboration using a design …

Chapter 15- "Things Are Different Now" A Student, Staff, And Faculty Course Design Institute Collaboration, Maggie Debelius, Susannah Mcgowan, Aiyanna Maciel, Clare Reid, Alexa Eason

Resilient Pedagogy

Like other institutions across the world, Georgetown University in Washington, DC switched to remote learning in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. Our Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), which serves as both a center for teaching and learning as well as a center for technology innovation, responded quickly with a series of offerings to prepare and support faculty to teach remotely. Options included a virtual conference on digital pedagogy, a series of cohort-based Course Design Institutes (CDI) throughout the summer where faculty engaged with intertwined principles and best practices from inclusive pedagogy …

How Padlet Encouraged Student Collaboration And Engagement In My Virtual Classroom, Annie Yon

New Jersey English Journal

With the growth of virtual classes, it is crucial for teachers to integrate strategies and resources that foster student engagement and build a sense of community in an online environment. One way to augment synchronous and asynchronous communication is to implement an online discussion board, which can provide rich opportunities for students to share insights, ask clarifying questions, collaborate, create multimodal projects, and have their voices heard. By incorporating an interactive discussion board, such as Padlet, as part of class resources, teachers can facilitate discourse among students that transcends the physical boundaries of the classroom, create a motivational environment, improve …