Education Commons^™

Predominantly White Teacher Education Programs Are Stifling Black Preservice Students’ Teaching Experience: Now What?, Jasmine N. Wilson

Culminating Experience Projects

scholarship theorizes and discusses Black preservice teachers’ experiences in predominantly White teacher education programs as stifling. While many studies have explored ways to improve Black students' experiences in teacher education, few studies have sought to adapt Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) successful strategies to produce and retain Black teachers. In this project I have two goals. My first goal is to highlight the neglect and inequity that Black preservice teachers face in predominantly White teacher education programs. My second goal is to ensure that faculty members in teacher education programs effectively support and prepare Black preservice teachers for long …

An Examination Of The Cultural Competencies And Practices Of Preservice Teachers Enrolled In Nonurban Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs, Terrie L. Gyles

Theses and Dissertations

The critical shortage of qualified teachers in hard to staff urban schools has been a persistent issue in the U.S. for decades. Teachers and researchers have pointed to the inadequacy of teacher preparation programs to prepare teacher candidates to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students and special education students as the catalyst of the teacher shortage in urban schools. Urban school systems, like the New York City Department of Education, have had success in filling their teacher shortages through alternative teacher certification programs. Through these programs, teacher candidates are given a preservice teacher preparation that incorporates three …

The Relationship Between Social Justice Attitudes And Compassion In Preservice Teachers: A Critically Compassionate Intellectualism Framework, Megan Hut

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation aims to gain further knowledge about the implementation of the Critically Compassionate Intellectualism (CCI; Cammarota & Romero, 2003) framework in teacher education. This framework, originally developed to provide a better education for Latine students who were being silenced in their original schools, emphasizes authentic caring, critical pedagogy, and social justice content. CCI aims to provide students with an education that better equips them to be part of our democratic society and is supposed to lead to an increase in students’ critical consciousness through developing compassionate relationships and making content related to students’ experiences. Based on the success of …

Internationalizing The Teacher Education Curriculum Toward Global Competency: Academic Leaders’ Perceptions, Ellie F. G. Holliday

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

To prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world, P-12 teachers must be trained to infuse intercultural and global perspectives into their teaching practice. However, teacher education programs (TEPs) have been criticized for their lack of global perspectives in the curriculum and have been found to be the least internationalized programs at United States (U.S.) universities. Though university senior international officers (SIOs) play a large role in developing a strategic approach toward curriculum internationalization, there is a paucity of research on their perspectives on this process.

In this explanatory sequential mixed methods study, TEP leaders and SIOs at universities in the …

Does Race Still Matter? An Exploration Of Race And Mentoring Relationships From The Perspective Of Early Career Teachers Of Color And Mentors, Franchesca R. Ho Sang

Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring has been attributed to lowering attrition rates of teachers. At present, the majority of teachers in the United States are White and female. The national teacher workforce does not represent the student body. Although there have been recent initiatives to improve the diversity within the teacher workforce, by explicitly recruiting teachers of color (TOC), the attrition rates of these teachers are negating the effects of recruitment efforts. Previous research has pointed to the need to consider race in novice TOC mentee and mentor matches, as cultural capital theory suggests common knowledge and experience may lead to stronger mentor relationships …

White Out: An Analysis Of Presentations Of Race And Ethnicity In U.S. Inclusive Education Textbooks, Phillandra Samantha Smith

Dissertations - ALL

Textbooks are heavily used in the United States and throughout the world as a medium between students and fields of knowledge. In the field of education, textbooks are a primary source through which pre-service teachers gain expert knowledge and develop their professional stature. Inclusive education textbooks used in introductory courses have a particular significance in that they help to shape the pre-service teacher’s understanding of the field by providing access to information and ideas at a time when prospective teachers are beginning to formulate their pedagogical and philosophical beliefs. The purpose of this study was to analyze engagement with race …

Efficacy Of Community Building In Adult Online Learning Environments, Meghan Jennifer Gwin Anson M.Ed.

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This qualitative research study was conducted during synchronous class sessions with adult learners enrolled in an online Montessori teacher education program. The aim was to determine which techniques were being used to facilitate adult learning in an online learning environment. The research collected data through data tools designed to record the observed behaviors of participants engaged in online synchronous class sessions. The data revealed the use of learning techniques beneficial to developing self-confidence, community building, and knowledge acquisition by utilizing qualitative and quantitative research methods. This study can serve as a framework for future research projects focusing on adult learning …

Ngss-Based Constructivist Pedagogies: One Secondary Education Teacher’S Approach To Developing Student’S Science Identities, Massa Mafi

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This practitioner action research study explored features of NGSS-based pedagogies to improve secondary education student engagement, critical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving. It examined ways that constructivist pedagogies might encourage students to understand science by putting their skills and knowledge into practice as young engineers. The study involved 51 secondary education students from a large district in the southwest and focused on how NGSS inquiry-based learning can improve scientific understanding and skills within group work, the role that teacher support and modeling can play in learning, and how peer interactions can influence their scientific identities. Qualitative findings from teacher observations, classwork …

Walking The Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion Talk: Promoting Stem Teacher Candidates’ Views, Understandings, And Implementation Of Differentiated Instruction, Mohammed Estaiteyeh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a teaching philosophy that addresses learning for students of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and interests. This study explores teacher candidates’ (TCs’) preparation to implement DI in a STEM curriculum and pedagogy course in a teacher education program at a Canadian university. The course is enriched with DI resources and training focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). The course’s efficacy in enhancing TCs’ professional knowledge of DI is explored through the following research questions: 1) What are intermediate-secondary STEM TCs’ views and understandings of DI? 2a) How do TCs develop the curriculum to be inclusive of DI …

Global Citizenship Education And Teacher Learning And Change: Lessons Learned From Within A Nascent Movement, Janette Neumann

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory transdisciplinary mixed methods study seeks to emphasize Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and teacher learning and change. While there is increased interest in making education more inclusive and equitable, GCED remains obscure and efforts to move policy and practice forward are prescient and still forming. This two-phase study seeks to illuminate and explore the learning process teachers experience to become globally competent. Phase one of the study utilizes a sequential design beginning with the collection of quantitative and qualitative data through a questionnaire, followed by interviews where initial summative data is shared, and interview questions center around each participant’s …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professional Development Effectiveness, Justin C. Hose

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Through continuing education, educators improve their skills and become more proficient at their jobs. However, some educational leaders are unaware of the perception of teachers regarding professional development. Grounded in Desimone and Garet’s framework of best practices in teachers’ professional development, the purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to compare that framework to what a sample of teachers believe is effective professional development based on their experiences. Data were interviews with 10 teachers with at least a year of experience in Virginia. The framework was used to compare the theory of what makes effective professional development to the actual …

Examining The Relationship Between Admission Requirements And Program Outcome Variables In A Special Education Teacher Preparation Program, Emily Woofenden

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The need for well-prepared special education teachers makes it important to examine how to best select candidates for special education teacher preparation programs, or at least to determine which, if any, admission variables relate to program outcome measures. This study is a replication and extension of a 2012 study—it used archival data from 64 students to investigate the relationships among multiple pre-admission variables from teacher candidate applications and on-site admission tasks (undergraduate GPA, letter of reference ratings, interview ratings, math assessment scores, and a teaching skills task) and outcome variables (graduate GPA and preservice practicum teaching performance scores). The outcome …

Inclusive Practices In Teacher Education Programs, Melike Yozgatli

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Inclusive education is a global trend and an educational right that refers to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings (GECs). Applying to the most effective practices is particularly essential for students with disabilities in GECs. Most of the responsibility to implement inclusive practices and create a positive inclusive classroom environment falls on special and general education teachers in GECs. Thus, pre-service teacher education is crucial for teachers’ future achievements in inclusionary settings to address the diverse needs of students with disabilities. The purpose of this survey study was to investigate teacher education programs in the United …

Controversy In The Early Elementary Classroom: A Case Study Of The 2020 Presidential Election, Zachary W. Stumbo

Doctoral Dissertations

This single case study with embedded units of analysis examines how three early elementary teachers in Kentucky public schools taught the 2020 Presidential Election in grades one, two, and three using Scholastic News resources as instructional tools. The research questions focused on how teachers used the materials and the pedagogical strengths of the instructional resources. The three research participants were purposefully selected as early-career, mid-career, and late-career teacher leaders in grades one, two, and three. Data collected included semi-structured interviews, qualitative data analysis of the Scholastic News instructional materials, multi-level policies, and news reports concerning the election. The analysis focused …

A Thin Line Of Social Justice: Challenges And Changes In Navigating Relations Of Power In Graduate Schools Of Education, Heather Catherine Sands

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This dissertation brings together three qualitative research articles to interrogate a disjuncture between curriculum development in graduate schools of education and the relations of power it fosters in teacher education and counselor education. In applying biopower and intersectional analyses throughout each article, this dissertation contends that the recognition of power relations within these fields helps to highlight hegemonic patterns of teaching and counseling that occur in settings of classrooms and sessions. Three themes emerged within this dissertation: resistance, community, and subjectivity. Article One demonstrates a gap between teachers and school counselors with cyberbullying directed toward LGBTQ+ students. The Article leverages …

Studying Wash-Out During Professional Socializaton, Christopher Mellor

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Teacher washout can disrupt teacher effectiveness and undermine the espoused pedagogy in teacher education programs. Teacher washout occurs once an individual occupies a teaching role after formal training but corresponds with the potency of teacher education programs and K-12 experiences. Teacher washout literature is limited and does not address the socialization process of formal training. The following two hybrid dissertation studies examine washout, wash-in, and never washed-in. By doing so, we can expand the definition of washout and gain helpful insights on the perceptions of pre-service teachers. Implications from these studies provide faculty with proposals for change to decrease the …

Understanding Pre-Service Elementary Mathematics Teacher Learning In An Early Lesson Study Experience, Christopher Dennis Nazelli

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the most important in-school factor in student learning, elementary school teachers must be able to offer all students the quality mathematical learning experiences that they deserve; and the opportunities to learn that pre-service teachers (PSTs) encounter during their preparation programs impact their ability to do so. Content courses are crucial components of the mathematical education of elementary teachers and can be sites for the early development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008). These courses, often taken early in their preparation programs, can provide PSTs opportunities to create a new vision of mathematics, build new …

Early Childhood Education Teacher Experience And Knowledge Regarding Outdoor Learning And Affordances, Jennifer Karshna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early childhood education (ECE) teachers have indicated that they are interested in supporting children’s learning outdoors but have been challenged with intentional use of the outdoor learning environment (OLE). The purpose of this qualitative study was to illuminate ECE teacher experience with and knowledge of supporting children’s learning in the OLE, specifically using affordances for teaching and learning. The conceptual framework was based on the Reggio Emilia approach, Gibson’s affordance theory, Dewey’s ideas regarding educational experiences, and Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. The key research question addressed teachers’ experiences and knowledge of affordances in the OLE. The 12 participants were …

Multimodality In The Art & Media Arts Classroom: A Qualitative Study Of Multimodal Literacies As They Appear In Art & Media Educator Classroom Curriculum And Practice, Kathleen M. Maniaci

Dissertations - ALL

As a visual arts educator, I understand the unique opportunities students have to learn by making, inventing, and creating, to communicate their ideas. The work of the New London Group (2000), the more recent National Core Arts Standards and the National Core Media Arts Standards (2014) and the New York Arts & Media Arts Standards (2017) have significantly influenced this study by reinforcing both the necessity and potential to both art and media arts teaching practices in developing greater applications for multimodal literacy theory, defined by the National Council of the Teachers of English as “Integration of multiple modes of …

Perceptions Of Preservice Teachers Of Students With Autism And Intellectual Disabilities In Their Teacher Preparation Programs In Saudi Arabia, Salman Almughyiri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the male preservice special education teachers’ perceptions in regard to the preservice special education teacher preparation courses, practicum, and evidence-based practices that they have recently completed. The participants of the study included five preservice special education teachers from two universities, Shaqra University and King Saud University, in Riyadh (the capital city of Saudi Arabia). Qualitative interview designs were employed to gather the data, which included conducting fifteen interviews. Each participant was interviewed three times with 45-90 minutes of length for each interview. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, …

The Impact Of Teacher Beliefs On Classroom Technology Use: A Case Study On The Interplay Between Teachers’ Beliefs About Students And Technology And Their Classroom Technology Practices With A Primarily Minority Student Population, Tracee Miller

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess the intersection of teachers in urban public schools’ digital beliefs and with their technology practices in the classroom, especially in classrooms where most students are students of color. It examines some subtopics of the primary research question, including what beliefs tech-savvy teachers hold about how technology should be used in classrooms, whether teachers use technology to empower students and encourage creativity, whether teachers integrate students’ self-created digital identities in a classroom setting, and how school- or district-level expectations and support regarding technology integration into classroom settings impact teachers’ implementation and students’ experiences. …

Title I Schools And Strategies That Work, Michelle Manriquez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the strategies principals of Title I schools perceived as most effective in improving English language arts (ELA) scores by at least 10 points, through the lens of WestEd’s Four Domains of Rapid School Improvement.

Methodology: This study utilized a qualitative methodology to gather data via the California Dashboard and semi-structured interviews of 11 principals from 11 different sites in northern California that showed at least 10-point growth on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test. The interview questions were based on the Four Domains for Rapid School Improvement: …

The "Being" And "Doing" Of A "Good Teacher" From A Soka Perspective, Nozomi Inukai

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Under the current neoliberal educational reform movement in the U.S., qualified or “good” teachers are increasingly considered in narrow terms of efficiently delivering content to raise students’ test scores. The primary and secondary literature in the field of Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education, however, considers the notion of a “good teacher” much more holistically, addressing both the “being” (e.g., attitude, disposition, etc.) and the “doing” (e.g., instructional methods, assessment practices, etc.). The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the perspectives among faculty at Soka University of America (SUA) about what constitutes a “good teacher” and “good teaching.” This qualitative, single-site …

Examining Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Development Throughout Teacher Education, Jenny Christine Hernandez

Dissertations

Teacher preparation plays an integral role in the success of American education, and many programs are not adequately preparing teachers for the classroom (Guha, Hyler, & Darling-Hammond, 2017b; National Council on Teacher Quality [NCTQ], 2018). The purpose of this study was to better understand preservice teacher self-efficacy development and perceptions of teacher education program effectiveness for program improvement. Bandura’s (1977) theory of self-efficacy guided this study. Tschannen- Moran and Hoy’s (2001) Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale was distributed three times throughout the fall 2019 semester to preservice teachers completing their student teaching practicum to detect changes in self-efficacy levels. Perceptual …

The Cultural Relevance Of Music Education As It Relates To African American Students In South Carolina, Felicia Denise Denise Myers Bulgozdy

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, Critical Race Theory is used to examine the current curriculum that preservice music teachers are taught, and are consequently teaching K-12 students, in an effort to illustrate the need for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Documents such as the S.C. All-State Choral rubric, as well as a list of required courses for future music educators at a local university, are studied to show the overwhelming European influence on the curriculum that is being taught in music classes daily across the state, and demonstrate the lack of cultural relevance to the African American students in those classes. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy …

Predicting Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy In Content Area Reading: A Multiple Regression Analysis, Fatih Destebasi

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The main purpose of this study was to predict secondary and middle school pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in content area reading by using demographic, academic achievement, literacy methods courses, faculty support, preparedness for content area reading, and attitudes toward teaching reading in content classrooms as variables. Based on that purpose, this study was guided by the following research question: What are the predictors of secondary and middle school pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in content area reading among variables from verbal persuasion of teacher education faculty, preparedness for content area reading, attitudes toward teaching reading in content classrooms, number of literacy method courses, …

Teachers' Knowledge And Self-Efficacy Beliefs As Factors Affecting Technology Integration Practices, Armando L. Gilkes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research indicates that teachers can be reluctant to integrate technology into their instructional practices. This study examined the problem of insufficient technology integration in high school classrooms, using social learning theory and motivational systems theory as theoretical frameworks. A cross-sectional survey design was used to investigate the relationship between the independent variables, technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), teacher self-efficacy (TSE), and teacher characteristics (experience, education, and subject taught), and the dependent variable, technology integration level (TI). A combined online TPACK questionnaire, Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale, and Concerns-Based Adoption Model survey were completed by 72 teachers from 6 high schools …

Youth Organizers As Essential Partners In Teacher Education: Implications From A Community-Based Action Research Project, Kaitlin Elizabeth Popielarz

Wayne State University Dissertations

The primary purpose of this critical qualitative action research project is to analyze the possibilities, contradictions, and limitations of youth organizers as essential partners in teacher education. More specifically, this research project examines the impact of designing and implementing a community-based social studies methods course alongside youth organizers and their adult allies. There is limited research in teacher education literature about partnering with youth-centered and youth-led grassroots organizations. In addition, research pertaining to community-based teacher education does not adequately affirm and center the voices and lived experiences of youth organizers who are social change agents in schools and communities. In …

A Participatory Action Research Study With One Emancipatory School Garden, Colleen Q. Saxen

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Although school gardens have been increasingly popular in the United States, much existing literature evaluated success of the programs from a limited set of criteria, such as the extent to which gardens reformed student eating habits and nutritional knowledge. Yet, school gardens offered benefits and outcomes not immediately apparent within this reform paradigm. In addition, the attention on forming a particular kind of food consumer ignored the diverse cultural and racial histories related to agriculture and food in the United States. In this participatory action research (PAR) dissertation, participants, including school staff and community partners, explored one school garden program …

The Viability Of Simulated Large-Scale Marking As Professional Development For Preservice Teachers, Nathanael Reinertsen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Judging the quality of student work is a core skill of a proficient teacher. This professional competency is often utilised by organisations that run large-scale marking operations when they recruit teachers as markers. These organisations and the teachers themselves often claim that large-scale marking is valuable professional development.

This research aimed to determine whether professional learning outcomes similar to those reported by experienced teachers can be achieved for preservice teachers through participation in a live simulation of a large-scale marking operation. The research was conducted in three phases: an online survey of Australian teachers to establish that reports of benefit …