Education Commons^™

New Era Of Teaching, Learning, And Technology: Teachers’ Perceived Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Self-Efficacy Towards Differentiated Instruction, Robin A. Millen, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

Shifting from an industrial model of education to a model that best provides students with differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2014) requires educational philosophical change (Fullan, 2014) as well as innovation diffusion (Rogers, 2003). The problem is not the amount of research that exists on differentiation, the diffusion of innovations, or the change process. The problem is what new technological pedagogical content knowledge (Koehler & Mishra, 2008) do educators need to make this change process happen? How is this knowledge communicated to finally change the “fundamental processes of schooling” (Elmore, 1996, p. 4)?

This sequential, mixed-methods study addressed the following condensed research …

The Relationship Of Reading Motivation And Self-Efficacy To Reading Achievement, Jessica Lynn Hedges, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

Academic motivation and self-efficacy (Bandura 1977, 1986, 1993, 1997) are fast becoming critical areas of literacy instruction and determining factors of overall reading achievement and life-long application (Applegate & Applegate, 2010; Marinak & Gambrell, 2008; McClure, 2008; Melnick, Henk, & Marinak, 2009). This concurrent mixed methods study examined the relationship of reading motivation and self-efficacy with respect to reading achievement for N=487 grade 5-8 suburban middle school level students. All participants completed the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ), the Reader Self Perception Scale 2 (RSPS2), and the AIMSWeb curriculum-based measurement instrument. In addition, N=4 content expert interviews were conducted. Quantitative …

Aligning Professional Development To An Educator Evaluation System To Support Teachers, Kathleen A. Torregrossa, Robert K. Gable

K-12 Education

The professional development (PD) opportunities for teachers in a K-12 district were examined to determine the extent to which they related to, and supported, the teachers’ rating on their evaluations. This district addressed teacher evaluation and teacher professional development jointly with their local and state level teachers’ unions with the collective “conception of teacher evaluation as part of a teaching and learning system that supports continuous improvement” (Darling-Hammond, 2014, p. 5).

This mixed-methods study examined the perceived confidence of educators in relation to their PD needs and their evaluation standards utilizing an online questionnaire and a focus group to address …

A Mixed Methods Study Of The Causes Of Chronic Absenteeism In A Large, Urban High School, Michaela Keegan, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

Failing to graduate from high school can be related to problems during adulthood, individually for students who drop out and collectively on communities and the nation as a whole (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; Balfanz, Herzog, & MacIver, 2007; Orfield, 2004; Providence Public, 2012). Two factors, attendance and self-efficacy, have been linked to academic achievement and graduation rates and were the focus of this study.

Recent studies suggest a strong relationship between students’ attendance rates and graduation rates. A study of 9th graders in Chicago found that students with satisfactory attendance graduate at a higher rate than those with chronic absenteeism. …

The Relationship Between Academic-Efficacy And Persistence In Adult Remedial Education: A Replication Study, Carol L. Holmquist, Robert K. Gable

K-12 Education

Self-efficacy is considered a construct influencing persistence (Bandura 1997, 2001, 2012). For adults pursuing academic remediation in preparation for higher education, persistence is a specific barrier to success in approximately 50% of cases. This study examined the relationships between general self-efficacy and academic-efficacy constructs with adult remedial education persistence for N = 88 students, and found a lack of relationship consistent with the earlier sample of students (Holmquist, Gable, & Billups, 2013). Further, few relationships were found with selected student demographic characteristics.

Inquiry-Based Instruction – Cultivating Analytical Habits Of Mind With 21st Century Skills: A Qualitative Study, Kimberly A. Laliberte, Robert K. Gable, Felice D. Billups

K-12 Education

Significant challenges face the United States regarding global competition as 21st century workforce skills lag behind corporate demands in STEM-based careers (Bucher, 2011; Campbell & Pedersen, 2007; Kramer, 2010; Savitz & Elias, 2011; Scott, 2007). Strategic interventions for inquiry-based, 21st century skills development are of grave necessity for K-12 education to encourage post-secondary STEM opportunities (Abaidoo, 2012; Mouhammed, 2009; Porter & Rivkin, 2012; Rombel, 2012).

This study investigated inquiry techniques in K-12 urban classrooms where greatest equity gaps reside and explored teacher self-efficacy with respect to promoting 21st century skills. Changes needed to promote sustainable, inquiry-based, analytic habits of mind …

Supporting New Teachers: Aligning Professional Development To Educator Evaluation Data, Kathleen A. Torregrossa, Robert K. Gable

K-12 Education

Professional development programs and teacher evaluation systems should go hand-in-hand to support teachers across all career stages (Danielson, 2007). The professional development (PD) opportunities in a K-12 district were examined to determine the extent to which they related to, and supported, the novice teachers’ rating on their evaluations. This district addressed teacher evaluation and teacher professional development jointly with their local and state level teachers’ unions with the collective “conception of teacher evaluation as part of a teaching and learning system that supports continuous improvement” (Darling-Hammond, 2014, p. 5). However, in 2014/15, this district did not have a mentoring/induction program …

Closing The Gap Between Technological And Best Practice Innovations: Tpack And Di, Robin A. Millen, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

Implementing differentiated instruction with the fast changing landscape of technology is a complex process (Fullan, 2014; Tomlinson; 2014) and requires widespread diffusion of multiple innovations by educators (Meyer, 2004). However, most U.S. classrooms remain stagnant in their attempts to successfully incorporate innovative pedagogies (Darling-Hammond, 2010; November, 2014; Prensky, 2010; Robinson, 2011). Thus Fullan (2014) reported, “The time is right to bring together knowledge of systems change, new pedagogies and technologies that allow change to scale through diffusion” (p. 13).

To understand this problem, this pragmatic, mixed-methods study (Creswell, 2009) collected data through the following condensed research questions: What are the …

Closing Intraschool Achievement Gaps: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Donna Braun, Felice D. Billups, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

This pilot project was designed to explore the degree to which educators closed identified intraschool achievement gaps (i.e. gaps occurring between sub-groups of students in the same school,), as well as to explore leaders, teachers, and staff perspectives on the ways their beliefs, assumptions and practices shifted while engaging in the effort to close the gaps.

Relevance Of Oral Language Skillsthe Relevance Of Oral Language Skills To Performance On State Literacy Testing, Alison F. Bateson-Toupin, Susan A. Brady, Robert Gable

K-12 Education

Purpose: Investigated correspondences between performance on an array of literacy and oral language abilities with the proficiency ratings on the reading portion of the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP).

Method: Tested 106 fifth-grade students on measures of word-level reading and oral language (i.e., vocabulary, syntax, discourse) near the time when students completed the NECAP assessment. Analyses of performance were conducted with three NECAP outcome groups (Above Proficient, Proficient, Nonproficient (combination of Partially Proficient and Substantially Below groups).

Results: Large effect sizes were obtained for differences in oral language and word-level reading skills among the three groups. …