Education Commons^™

Highlighting Teacher Voices: Discussions On Race And Racism In The Elementary Classroom, Carrie Lynn Buckner

Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout my career in education, I have observed that teachers are challenged by engaging in discussions involving race and racism. This study seeks to understand teachers’ feelings further when discussing race and racism in the elementary classroom by answering the research question: How do elementary teachers experience race and racism in their schools and classrooms?

This qualitative, critical narrative inquiry dissertation focused on three participant interviews with public-school elementary teachers in Tennessee. The data generated from these interviews informed narratives and were then analyzed through the lens of Critical Race Theory. This was followed by In Vivo and structural coding …

Transformative White Identity As A Teacher Educator: A Poetic Narrative Autoethnography, Scott E. Jenkinson

Doctoral Dissertations

Whiteness, white privilege, and white supremacy are oppressive power structures that invisibly condition educational relationships among all students, teachers, and teacher educators. To undermine this destructive pattern, white teacher educators must actively commit to an ongoing and life-long process of white identity (re)formation that informs antiracist pedagogical praxis and models self -reflective practices for their pre-service teachers. The purpose of this poetic narrative evocative autoethnography is to show but one example of how a white teacher educator might begin this emotionally forward transformative experience.

The researcher, a white teacher educator at a southeastern United States public 4-year institution, developed a …

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 …

Eği̇ti̇m Si̇stemi̇mi̇z Ve 21. Yüzyil Hayali̇mi̇z: 2045 Hedeflerine İlerlerken, Türkiye Için Stem Odaklı Ekonomik Bir Yol Haritası, Mehmet Aydeniz

Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Publications and Other Works

Bilimsel ve teknolojik gelişmeler, yeni sanayilerin oluşmasında, ülkelerin askeri savunma kapasitelerini artırmada, mevcut sanayilerde üretkenliği tetiklemekte, hayat kalitesinin yükselmesinde ve eğitimin erişebilirliğinde önemli bir rol oynamaya devam etmektedir. Dolayısıyla bir Ülkenin ekonomik gelişimi, bilimsel çalışma yapabilme kapasitesine, teknolojisinin gelişimine, girişimcilik ortamı ve inovasyon yapabilme kapasitesine bağlıdır.

Ekonomiye önemli katkıları olan bilimin ve teknolojinin gelişmesi, STEM alanlarında gerekli ön bilgi ve becerilere sahip, problemlere yaratıcı bir bakışla yaklaşabilen, özgür düşünebilen, sorgulayan, inovatif çözüm üretebilen, dayanışmayı önemseyen bir nesil yetiştirebilen okulların varlığına bağlıdır.

Peki Türk Eğitim Sistemi, Ülkemizin ekonomik yarışabilirlik potansiyelini yükseltecek, savunma kapasitesini artıracak, bölgesel liderliğinin bir adım öne çıkmasını sağlayacak …

The Use Of Ell Specific Assessment Accommodations: A Comparative Case Study Of Classroom Practices, Natalia Yeremina Ward

Doctoral Dissertations

Access and equity of instructional and assessment practices used with English Language Learners (ELLs) have been in the forefront of educational research. In recent years, the developments in computerized assessment design and the prevalence of Universal Design for Learning have complicated the already complex terrain of literacy and language instruction and assessment of ELLs. Within this context, the present study focuses on the daily experiences of two third-grade ELLs in a small city school system in the southeast United States. Through classroom observations, interviews with teachers and administrators, and document analysis, this comparative ethnographic case study aims to explore systematic …

Expert Elementary Readers: A Profile Of Reading Proficiency, Shelley Watson Burton

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined, through think-aloud protocols, the metacognitive processes that proficient fourth-grade readers use while they read to explore what types of thinking are present in successful elementary-school readers. Using an embedded mixed methods design, I studied the reported thinking processes of 12 proficient, fourth-grade readers to determine what these readers reported thinking as they read informational texts and what types of patterns were evident in their thinking. Several common themes emerged from the analysis of the students’ think-alouds and the findings indicated that the participants applied multiple, similar reading strategies while reading to aid their comprehension.

Toward A Theory Of Teacher Education For Justice-Oriented Stem, Beth Leah Sondel 7722095, Joanna Koch, Sarah Carrier, Temple A. Walkowiak

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

Among the multiple perspectives as to the focus of education policy, there has been much recent attention paid to both STEM and social justice education. While these approaches are often seen in opposition with each other, in this paper we explore the possibility of combining these two aims as we begin to develop a theory of teacher education for justice-oriented STEM education.

Providing Equal Opportunity To Learn Science For English Language Learners: The Role Of Simulated Language Learner Experiences In Teacher Preparation, Angela W. Webb, Estanislado S. Barrera Iv

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing student population in our nation’s public school systems; yet, preservice and inservice teachers are commonly underprepared to teach science effectively to this group of students. Though obviously inequitable, providing ELLs with poor or subpar science instruction denies them their civil right to equal opportunity to learn science. In this paper, we discuss simulation as a promising way to prepare preservice elementary teachers to plan and deliver quality science instruction and robust opportunities to learn to ELLs.

Family Experiences With Standardized Assessments Leading To Participation In The Opt Out Movement, Christy Lee Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

With the hope of giving voice to individuals who are usually left out of conversations regarding standardized assessments—the families who live with the effects of those tests on their children—this study was designed to answer the following research questions:

1) Who are some of the individuals who are participating in the opt out movement?

2) How are some individuals making the decision to participate in the opt out movement?

a) What knowledge do these individuals who are participating in the opt out movement have regarding the standardized assessments that their children are being given in public schools?

b) How have …

Coaching Conversations: Discourse Within Reading Recovery Teacher Leader Training, Kristi Dawn Swafford

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discourse of literacy coaching conversations within the Reading Recovery Teacher Leader training year. Both Reading Recovery and literacy coaching have been well researched, however there were gaps in the literature concerning the role of the Reading Recovery Teacher Leader within Reading Recovery and the details of literacy coaching interactions, specifically the language of coaching sessions. This study sought to address these gaps in the literature by examining the discourse of Reading Recovery Teacher leaders and their coaches as they participated in literacy coaching sessions during their 2014.2015 training year. Eleven coaching …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

#Learningtoteach: Using Instagram To Elicit Pre-Service Teacher Reflection, Monica Thomas Billen

Doctoral Dissertations

The ability to reflect has been identified as a crucial element of teacher expertise. In the past, teacher education programs have encouraged pre-service teachers to become reflective practitioners by keeping journals, creating portfolios, and/or engaging in conversation. However, these methods do not allow individuals to utilize parts of the brain that process visual information. This qualitative study investigated the reflective practice of fourteen pre-service teachers who utilized visual information through photos on Instagram. The purpose of this naturalistic qualitative study was to describe and better understand the development and reflective practice of beginning teachers through observation, interview, and documents. Specifically, …

Communicating With Hispanic Parents Of Young, School-Age Children, Sarah Grace Williams

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Beliefs And Curricular Knowledge On Planning For Science: A Multisite Case Study Of Four Teachers, Jessica L. Horton

Doctoral Dissertations

This descriptive multisite case study details how the beliefs and curricular knowledge of four science teachers in a southeastern school district affected their planning for science instruction.

Through the analysis of interviews, think-aloud planning records for one unit of instruction, and related documentation, categories were identified and connections drawn to how their beliefs and knowledge influenced planning for instruction.

The four teachers in this study jointly expressed certain beliefs about how students best learn science. They expressed beliefs that students best learn science through hands-on activities, through discourse, and by building the student’s knowledge base. The teachers also expressed beliefs …

“Those Events Really Happened!” How Elementary Students Transact With History And Historical Fiction While Reading The American Girl Series, Sarah Lewis Philpott

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examines how elementary readers transact with history and historical fiction while reading the American Girl series. A review of literature revealed a lack of educational research about the AG series and a need for research concerning how elementary students transact with historical fiction. The researcher attempted to answer the following questions:

1. How do fourth grade students transact with history while reading the AG series of historical fiction?
2. How do fourth grade students transact with the AG series of historical fiction?

The researcher interviewed, observed, and participated in a book club with seven public school females. Data were …

The Intersection Between Home And School: Developing A Scale To Measure Parental Perceptions Of Childhood School Stress, Teresa Marie Henke

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Parents in the home and educators in the schools are key adults in the most important contexts in the daily lives of school-age children. In the demanding, achievement, and accountability oriented culture of today, it is expected that children experience normal everyday stressors as they move between these two environments. The impact of stress related to daily hassles has been reported to have both cognitive and physical effects on the present and future well-being of children. This study represented an attempt to advance the understanding of childhood stress in the intersection between school and home by investigating the perceptions …

After The Final Bell: The Self-Directed Learning Practices Of Elementary Teachers, Susan Renee Wagner

Doctoral Dissertations

Are elementary teachers self-directed learners? If so, do their learning activities outside their classrooms translate into their classrooms? The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship, if any, between elementary teachers’ self-directed learning and activities in their classrooms. A two phase, mixed methods design first utilized a quantitative study from which the results were used to denote the type of data collected in the second, qualitative phase. The quantitative Phase I of this study involved using a survey instrument in order to identify self-directed learners and identify categories of teacher learners. These quantitative data were gathered through the …

Decolonial Multiculturalism And Local-Global Contexts: A Postcritical Feminist Bricolage For Developing New Praxes In Education, Katharine Matthaei Sprecher

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a conceptual bricolage that explores complex, reflexive, and interrelated dimensions of educational praxes. My work is grounded in the assertion that the ever-changing, local-global nature of contemporary societies requires new approaches to curricula, pedagogies, policies, and practices in U.S. schools to meet the challenges and opportunities of a global era. Presenting my research and findings as four articles, I begin with a dialectical analysis of theoretical and pedagogical literatures to develop an adaptable framework for decolonial multicultural education. In Article 1, I demonstrate how this framework synergizes aspects of social reconstructionist and critical multicultural, global, and …

A Case Study Of The Full Service Community School Model: School Level Benefits In An Urban, Southern Elementary School, Elisa Cooper Luna

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative single case study was to explore the Full Service Community Schools model in one, urban elementary school. More specifically, the study sought to understand the impact this model had on students and teachers at one particular research site. This study was also intended to examine the impact the Full Service Community School model had on the role of school administrators. The research questions that guided this study were:

(1) How does the Full Service Community School model impact students?

(2) How does the Full Service Community School model impact teachers?

(3) What impact …

Teachers' Experiences With Comprehension Instruction In Upper Elementary Classrooms, Kathryn Louise Solic

Doctoral Dissertations

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Narratives Of The Development Of Urban Teacher Leaders, Susan K. Newsom

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the development of urban elementary teacher leaders as captured in narrative data and analyzed through the theoretical lenses of role identity, distributed leadership, teacher leadership and urban teacher leadership. The narratives of five teacher leaders provided rich descriptions that made it possible to: (a) examine possible mechanisms for encouraging leadership assertion choices; (b) identify support practices for encouraging leadership within future teachers in the urban context; and (c) provide insight for building leadership roles in the school environment for those who coordinate professional development activities.

Data were collected via semi-structured …

Program, Classroom, And Teacher Characteristics: Their Associations, Mihyang Ryu

Doctoral Dissertations

With data from the NCEDL Multi-State Pre-Kindergarten Study, the relationship between the characteristics of program, classroom, and teachers and classroom quality was examined in this study. Classroom quality was measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System and the Emerging Academics Snapshot. The sample consisted of 227 pre-k teachers in state-funded programs from six states. The percentage of children from low-income families in the classroom and the number of children with limited English proficiency (the only two predictive variables that described children’s characteristics) were found to be statistically significant predictors of classroom process quality. These findings were discussed with regard to …

A Study Of The Perceptions Of Job Satisfaction Of General And Special Education Teachers In Selected Georgia Elementary Schools Implementing The Inclusion Model, Jonathan Edward Willard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of job satisfaction of general and special education teachers. Full-time teachers in grades K-5 in 26 randomly selected Georgia elementary schools were surveyed. Differences in job satisfaction were measured through the use of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire – Short Form (MSQ) and a descriptive survey accompanying it. Differences in responses based on the descriptors were analyzed using the Mann Whitney U and multivariate analysis of variance at a confidence level of .05.

General education teachers reported greater levels of satisfaction than special education teachers on the MSQ scales of Achievement, Social …