Education Commons^™

Exploring Career Change Transitions Through A Dialogic Conceptualization Of Science Teacher Identity, Lara Smetana, Ali Kushki

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Research into the construct of science teacher identity has gained momentum over the past decade in an effort to achieve a more comprehensive, holistic understanding of teacher learning and development. As yet few studies have examined the unique identity challenges of science teacher career changers. Akkerman and Meijer’s (2011) dialogical approach to the conceptualization of teacher identity informed this longitudinal, qualitative study exploring the different identity aspects, or I-positions, of two individuals who had changed careers to teach high-school biology. The study identified moments of disequilibrium experienced by the participants and explored how they each eventually restored equilibrium. Analysis included …

The Changing Profile Of Ecs Teachers, Steven Mcgee, Lucia Dettori, Ronald I. Greenberg, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Dale F. Reed, Don Yanek

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study compares the characteristics and professional development (PD) experiences between teachers who began teaching Exploring Computer Science before and after the enactment of a CS graduation requirement in the Chicago Public Schools. The post-requirement teachers were less likely to have a CS background, but their experience in the ECS PD and their level of confidence at the end of the PD were equivalent to the early adopters.

Teacher Leadership: A Case Study In The Preparation Of Future Teacher Leaders, Abigail Hasebroock

Dissertations

Over the past century, Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade (PK-12) schools evolved into hierarchical learning organizations that centralized power, decision-making, and leadership at the top in the hands of a few predominantly male administrators. the teaching force, by contrast, became majority female. While teacher education programs formalized, the accountability movement that swept across the U.S. schooling system during the 1980s led to narrowed teacher educator programs and licensure requirements. Consequently, traditional teacher education programs in four-year universities focused more on theory and pedagogy but less on praxis and leadership in the name of producing highly-qualified teachers. Today, new pathways for teacher …

Soul Of Cafecs, Lucia Dettori, Steven Mcgee, Ron Greenberg, Dale Reed, Don Yanek, Andrew Rasmussen

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Chicago Alliance For Equity In Computer Science (Cafecs): Cycles Of Improvement, Steven Mcgee, Lucia Dettori, Don Yanek, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Ronald I. Greenberg, Dale F. Reed, Erin Henrick

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Factors Correlating With Course Failure In A High School Computer Science Course, Steven Mcgee, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lucia Dettori, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Erica Wheeler, Randi Mcgee-Tekula, Jennifer Duck

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

"Chicago Alliance For Equity In Computer Science (Cafecs): Cycles Of Improvement'' Poster In Special Session: A Discussion Of Research Practice Partnerships In Cs Education, Steven Mcgee, Lucia Dettori, Don Yanek, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Ronald I. Greenberg, Dale F. Reed, Erin Henrick

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

CAFECS builds upon a long-term partnership between Chicago Public Schools (CPS), The Learning Partnership, Depaul University, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois Chicago. It was formed to support CPS in the enactment of it's high school CS grad requirement. This poster will describe the formation of CAFECS, how the partnership has evolved after formalizing as an RPP, its research agenda, and the process of assessing the progress of CAFECS.

Standardizing Facilitator Development For Exploring Computer Science Professional Development, Steven Mcgee, John Wachen, Lucia Dettori, Don Yanek, Faythe Brannon, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Dale F. Reed, Ronald I. Greenberg

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A key strategy for broadening CS participation

in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has been the enactment

of a high school CS graduation requirement. The Exploring

Computer Science (ECS) curriculum and professional development

(PD) program serve as a core foundation for supporting

enactment of this policy. The CAFE´CS researcher-practitioner

partnership provides support for ECS implementation in CPS.

An important part of the sustainability of the ECS PD model in

CPS is the development of local workshop facilitators. Potential

facilitators have generally been selected based on the CAFE´CS

team’s personal familiarity with active ECS teachers. Once

selected, teachers engage in a …

Teacher Preparation And English Language Learners: The Negotiation Of Teaching Identities In Communities Of Practice, Eleni Giatsou

Dissertations

This dissertation unveils the identity formation and negotiation processes of teacher candidates, through their practice with English Language Learners (ELLs) in a field-based teacher preparation program. Identity, like learning, is socially constructed and continuously negotiated by someone's engagement in a community (Wenger, 1998). Thus, sociocultural theory and specifically the theoretical construct of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), guided the exploration of candidates' teaching identities to reveal the processes of becoming a teacher of ELLs. I conducted a qualitative case study to examine candidates' teaching practices with ELLs at a surface level and the (re)construction of their teaching identities at a …

Holding Onto Dread And Hope: The Need For Critical Whiteness Studies In Education As Resistance In The Trump Era, Brittany A. Aronson, Kyle Ashlee

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

The purpose of this article is to critically examine how white higher education instructors work through the tensions of dread and hope while supporting and preparing educators during the Trump Administration. Dread is a result of the permanence of racism while hope seeps through a collective effort and commitment to dismantling white supremacy. Aronson is racialized as a white, ethnically Latina female teacher educator who educates predominantly white female pre-service teachers and Ashlee is a white male doctoral candidate who teaches master’s level student affairs courses to predominantly white students. Using critical autoethnographic narratives, they reflect on their experiences using …

International Mindedness: Phenomenological Inquiry Into Teacher Candidate Experiences, Kathleen Patricia Castillo-Clark

Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to the scholarship surrounding the development of international mindedness in teacher candidates. Phenomenological interview techniques were used to explore the experiences and perceptions of teacher candidates who enrolled in an undergraduate teacher preparation program leading to the International Baccalaureate educator certificate. By highlighting the teacher candidates, this study captured the strengths, challenges, and needs unique to this group. The findings can inform an understanding of how international mindedness develops in teacher candidates and subsequently how it is enacted, identifying curricular and instructional supports in practice that best support this learning. This study will also inform teacher educators …

Navigating A Social Justice Motivation And Praxis As Student Affairs Professionals, Nadeeka D. Karunaratne, Lauren M. Koppel, Chee Ia Yang

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

While diversity and social justice are espoused values of the field of student affairs, student affairs professionals are socialized to varying degrees in regard to the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to be social justice advocates. Through qualitative interviews with nine entry- and mid-level student affairs professionals, we explored the motivations and experiences of student affairs professionals who enact values of social justice in their praxis. Participants shared strategies to navigating the field and their advocacy, the influence of theirs and others’ identities on their work, techniques for implementing intentional social justice praxis, challenges faced in their advocacy, and how …

Cultural Institutions As Partners In Initial Elementary Science Teacher Preparation, Lara Smetana, Daniel Birmingham, Heidi Rouleau, Jenna Carlson, Shannon Phillips

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite an increased recognition of the role that ‘informal’ learning spaces (e.g. museums, aquariums, other cultural institutions) have in children’s science education (NRC, 2015), there remains a gap between the goals and values of ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ (i.e. school-based) learning sectors. Moreover, the potential for informal spaces and institutions to also play a role in initial teacher preparation is only beginning to be realized. Here, we present our Science Teacher Learning Ecosystem model and explain how it frames the design of our elementary science teacher education coursework. We then use this framework to describe learning experiences that are collaboratively planned …

Critical Media Literacy Instruction With Teacher Residents In Urban Catholic Schools: A Comparative Case Study Approach To Implementation And Critical Transformational Learning, Jennifer K. Shah

Dissertations

Critical literacy is a cultivated habit that students learn in order to read media texts in their world more consciously. The Catholic context is ideal for work around critical media literacy due to a continued mission and vision around social justice. This research fills gaps in literature relating to critical media literacy in Catholic schools. The goals are threefold: (1) to study the transformational learning of teacher residents as they learn about and implement critical media literacy in urban Catholic schools, (2) to identify supports and barriers related to this process in order to better address critical media literacy implementation …

Los Recién Llegados: Construyendo Collaborative Relationships Between Recently Arrived Salvadoran Parents And Educators In The Nation's Capital, Ingrid Tamara Colon

Dissertations

This qualitative study explored recently arrived Salvadoran parents in Washington, D.C. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to learn the perspectives that recently arrived Salvadoran parents have about their children's education to build and sustain collaborative relationships in schools. This study holds implications for schools, school administrators, teachers, teacher preparation programs, policy makers, and educational researchers serving recently arrived Salvadoran immigrants. Specifically, this dissertation calls for educators and stakeholders to directly learn from recently arrived Salvadoran parents to identify and address the unique needs of their children in U.S. schools.

This dissertation examined the following question: What perspectives do …

Teacher Educator Identity In A Culture Of Iterative Teacher Education Program Design: A Collaborative Self-Study, Aurora Chang, Sabina Rak Neugebauer, Aimee Papola-Ellis, David Ensminger, Ann Marie Ryan, Adam Kennedy

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Faculty in the School of Education at our institution have collaborated to re-envision teacher education at our university. A complex, dynamic, time-consuming and sometimes painstaking process, redesigning a teacher education program from a traditional approach (i.e., where courses focus primarily on theoretical principles of practice through textbooks and University-based classroom discussions), to a model of teacher education that embraces teaching, learning and leading with schools and in communities is challenging, yet exciting work. Little is known about teacher educators’ experiences as they either design or deliver collaborative field-based models of teacher education. In this article, we examine our experiences in …

The Impact Of The Exploring Computer Science Instructional Model In Chicago Public Schools, Lucia Dettori, Ronald I. Greenberg, Steven Mcgee, Dale Reed

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

As part of the Taste of Computing project, the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) instructional model has been expanded to many high schools in the Chicago Public Schools system. We report on initial outcomes showing that students value the ECS course experience, resulting in increased awareness of and interest in the field of computer science. We compare these results by race and gender. The data provide a good basis for exploring the impact of meaningful computer science instruction on students from groups underrepresented in computing; of several hundred students surveyed, nearly half were female, and over half were Hispanic or African-American.

Dear Officer Bogash: Policing Black Bodies On College Campuses, Jordan S. West

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Students' Critical Reflections on Racial (in)justice

"Do Not Engage Y'All!" Training And Preparing Our Black Students For Battle, Michael J. Seaberry

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Students' Critical Reflections on Racial (in)justice

The Impact Of Meaningful High School Computer Science Experiences In The Chicago Public Schools, Lucia Dettori, Ronald I. Greenberg, Steven Mcgee, Dale Reed

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

We report on initial outcomes of the Taste of Computing project, under which a meaningful computer science course has been initiated in many high schools of the Chicago Public Schools system. Surveys of students have shown that they attribute high value to the course and have experienced increases in their understanding and interest regarding the computing field. Data was also collected from teachers participating in professional development regarding their preparation and confidence in teaching the new course. We report on the strengths of various survey responses and their relationships, and we compare student responses by race and gender. The data …

A Community-University Partnership: Collaborating To Improve Teacher Preparation For An Urban Indigenous Community, Anna Lees

Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored a community-university partnership for teacher preparation with an urban Indigenous community organization in Chicago, Illinois. In the examined partnership, Indigenous participants collaborated with university faculty to prepare graduate-level students in an initial preparation program. I examined the impact of the partnership on the participating Indigenous community members, emphasizing how their interactions with university faculty and teacher candidates impacted the Indigenous organization and participants. Indigenous participants considered what teachers must understand to serve urban Indigenous children and the community's role in teacher preparation.

I collected data through focus groups with Indigenous participants before and after engagement …

Teacher Mathematics Language: Its Use In The Early Childhood Classroom And Relationship With Young Children's Learning, Emma Whitman

Dissertations

Early mathematics instruction has been linked to children's later outcomes in both literacy and mathematics. One important component of this instruction, teachers' mathematics language in the early childhood classroom, has been connected to children's mathematical gains. However, this work is lacking in both scope and depth. The objective of this study was to provide a review of the use of math language by early childhood teachers and address the issues neglected in the current literature. The study looks at: the type of content that teachers' mathematics language emphasizes, the mediating effects of settings on the mathematics language that is used, …

Ecs Evaluation Survey Instruments, Ronald I. Greenberg, Steven Mcgee

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is a compilation of several surveys used in conjunction with a large-scale implementation of the Exploring Computer Science Curriculum in high schools in the Chicago Public Schools: ECS student presurvey pp. 1--2, ECS student postsurvey pp. 3--4, teacher background survey pp. 5--11, teacher ECS workshop feedback form pp. 12--13, teacher ECS implementation survey pp. 14--24

Teaching, Learning, And Leading With Schools And Communities: One Urban University Re-Envisions Teacher Preparation For The Next Generation, Ann Marie Ryan, David Ensminger, Amy J. Heineke, Adam Kennedy, David P. Prasse, Lara K. Smetana

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Colleagues in the TLLSC program at Loyola University Chicago analyze the trajectory of teacher education and how it can be improved.

A Phenomenological Study Of Indonesian Cohort Group's Transformative Learning, Markus Budiraharjo

Dissertations

This study was set to investigate how a cohort of ten Indonesian teachers experienced transformations in their teaching professionalism upon receiving an assignment of instructional leadership training to other school leaders. These ten teachers, who came from three different Indonesian Jesuit high schools and one archdiocese-based educational foundation in Jakarta, belonged to an initiative called Indonesia Secondary Education Development Program (ISEDP) intended to develop instructional leadership skills among school administrators in Indonesia. This six-year initiative (2006-2012) involved three international institutions, namely Loyola University Chicago (LUC), Indonesian Jesuit High Schools Association (IJSA), and Sanata Dharma University (SDU), Indonesia. The goal was …

Student Achievement In Middle Grades: Gauging The Effect Of Teacher Training On Student Learning, Natalya Gnedko

Dissertations

In the United States, teacher certification has been a baseline measure of teacher quality and gateway to the teaching profession for many decades. Research suggests that teacher certification is beneficial to student achievement, with findings particularly promising when content area of teacher certification is taken into account. Positive findings are largely limited to high school. However, in recent years middle grades have been increasingly viewed as a starting point for success in high school and college, which led many school districts to require advanced training for middle grades teachers. To examine the effectiveness of advanced teacher training in middle grades, …

Integration Of Social, Behavioral, And Academic Initiatives: Part Ii, Hank Bohanon, Meng-Jia Wu

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In part one of this series we discussed the connections among Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and Response to Intervention (RtI). Specifically, we compared the processes and fidelity components of these approaches. We attempted to highlight the similarities in systems, practices, and data for each approach, with the understanding that nuances could found within the practices of each. The following section provides specific examples of the overlap in these approaches; the integration of systems, practices, and data; and factors related to core instruction.

Integration Of Social, Behavioral, And Academic Initiatives: Part I, Hank Bohanon, Meng-Jia Wu

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many schools are working towards improving their overall social and behavioral climate. This endeavor is undertaken for its own sake, and in the anticipation it will improve academic performance for students. School climate has been related to a lack of connection and commitment on the part of students towards the school, discipline problems, and dropping out (Zins & Elias, 2007). There appear to be at least three predominant schoolwide initiatives to frame improving school climate: Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS), Response to Intervention (RtI), and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

Perceptions Of Middle School Teachers On The Quality Of Professional Development, Safurat Anike Giwa

Dissertations

Professional learning and professional development are the essential tools employed in schools, districts, and universities in order to increase teachers' knowledge and skills. To gain the most from professional development in middle schools, the experiences and activities must be based on standards. Few researchers explore how teachers think about the context, process, and content of current professional development at the middle school level. This dissertation examines how teacher learning is demonstrated in professional development activities and experience and assesses whether middle school teachers' perceptions of their professional development experiences is aligned to the standards of Learning Forward (2001) (formerly the …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Of Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Job Satisfaction, And Teacher Working Conditions, Thomas Meagher

Dissertations

Demands to changes of instruction for mathematics classrooms are presented in

standards promoted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Illinois State

Board of Education and other government reports creates a demand for teacher

professional development to support teachers to adapt to these changes of instruction.

The overall purpose of this study investigated characteristics of effective professional

development and how those characteristics are associated with teacher job satisfaction

and teacher working conditions. With the completion of this dissertation, this study adds

to the literature relevant to teacher professional development by demonstrating an

association between teacher professional development and teacher …