Education Commons^™

Training Needs Of Paraprofessionals Supporting Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Kira Austin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand professional development for paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD in Virginia. This understanding was reached through explanatory, sequential mixed methods design. Surveys and interviews provided insight into training practices, training needs, and training barriers. An interpretation of their professional development was developed through considering the perceptions of paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD, teachers of students with ASD, and directors of special education. Findings revealed a lack of supervision, training, and skills. The lack of training and supervision resulted in paraprofessionals learning through trial and error. Paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD felt qualified to …

Exploring Three Fifth-Grade Teachers' Understanding Of Historical Thinking: A Case Study, Deanne Rigby Murray

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Deanne R. Murray at Utah State University conducted a qualitative case study aimed at examining the understanding and practice of historical thinking of three fifth-grade teachers. These three teachers had each been a participant for 3 years in a federally funded Teach American History (TAH) grant project aimed at increasing teachers' historical knowledge and classroom practices. This TAH project in Utah was particularly focused on teachers learning to use cultural tools in socially mediated settings with the ultimate goal of improving their students' performance in history.

This study sought to understand the development of these three teachers' historical thinking through …

A Profile Of The Characteristics And Professional Development Needs Of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Ii Athletic Directors, Dustin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to identify the personal, professional, and educational backgrounds of NCAA Division II athletic directors. The study was designed to detail the professional development opportunities that existed among the population, and determine how frequently the NCAA Division II athletic directors took advantage of the opportunities that were available to them. The significance of the study rested on the ability to identify the NCAA Division II athletic director population and describe the qualities and characteristics that comprised the target population. Since little data existed detailing this population, the study provided an opportunity to describe a …

Lesson Study At The Bank Street School For Children, Ryan Harrity

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Lesson study, the primary form of professional development in Japan, is receiving increased attention in the U. S. Its efficacy in Japan is well documented, and it has been successfully implemented in the U. S. Other educator-scholars have adequately argued for its use in American schools. What is needed, however, is more documented evidence of its implementation and outcomes, as well as school-specific frameworks for conducting lesson study in various schools, especially independent schools. There has been extensive documentation of lesson study in public schools across the U. S., but none, as we know, in independent schools. This paper establishes …

A Professional Development Program To Improve Math Skills Among Preschool Children In Head Start, Jonathan Brendefur, Sam Strother, Keith Thiede, Cristianne Lane, Mary Jo Surges-Prokop

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of providing early educators professional development experiences and activities to improve the mathematical skills of preschool children in Head Start around four domains of mathematics. Because of the need to provide necessary mathematical experiences to young children to improve their early understanding and skills and provide the foundation for future success in mathematics, we provided the treatment group of early educators with professional development and center-based activities to promote four critical areas in mathematics. By randomly selecting Head Start centers to participate as the treatment group or control group, we …

Factors That Impact Administrator-Teacher Relationships, Patrick Sean Gray

Dissertations

Retaining teachers continues to be problematic for educational leaders across the country. With these numbers steadily increasing, one must examine the reasons as to why teachers are leaving the profession and how school administrators can address these problems if schools are going to maintain and increase their levels of success. Reasons teachers leave the profession can be attributed to the relationship teachers have with their building-level administrator.

The purpose of the study is to identify as well as describe the frequency and relative importance of circumstances that may impact administrator-teacher relationships. A questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was mailed to …

Literacy Coaching And Preschool Teacher's Implementation Of Literacy Instructional Practices, Teresa Byington

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Literacy coaching has gained prominence during the past decade as a professional development strategy for changing teacher practices. The purpose of this study was to identify whether a coaching intervention increased teacher's level of implementation of five targeted literacy instructional practices. Additionally, the researcher sought to determine if there was a relationship between teacher's stages of concern and their level of implementation of literacy instructional practices. Teachers participated in a six-week literacy coaching intervention. The study was a pre-post intervention group mixed methods design with both quantitative and qualitative measures. The participants of the study included eight preschool teachers and …

Readiness For Reform In Middle Schools Adopting Powerteaching For Mathematics Instruction, Elizabeth Hoag Carhart, John Nunnery, Linda Bol, Pamela Arnold, Shanan Chappell,, The Center For Education Partners, Melva R. Grant, Gary R. Morrison

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Federal policy makers and school leaders increasingly recognize middle school math as a turning point in students’ academic success, especially in predicting high school graduation rates. New i3 scale-up grants allow large-scale implementation of proven reforms that increase student achievement. PowerTeaching (PT) is one such reform that centers on cooperative learning. A five year technologically-facilitated scale-up of PowerTeaching will bring the reform to 185 high-needs middle schools nationwide. In this pilot phase of the project, we will examine eight schools’ readiness for reform. Teacher questionnaires, interviews with school leaders, PT coaches and teachers, coaching feedback, and walk-through observation data will …

Case Example Of The Implementation Of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support In A High School Setting, Hank Bohanon, Pamela Fenning, Kimberly Thier

Hank Bohanon

The purpose of this case study was to expand the literature base regarding the application of high school schoolwide positive behavior support (PBS) in an urban setting for practitioners and policymakers to address behavior issues. In addition, the study describes the use of the Change Point Test as a method for analyzing time series data that are dependent in nature. The researchers used an existing case study example to guide the implementation of the intervention. The overall implementation of PBS reached full fidelity during the final year. Focused professional development may have been related to changes in statistically significant office …

The Massachusetts Early Education And Care: Professional Development Study, Anne Douglass, Alice Carter, Frank Smith

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This study is a research-policy partnership. This study used workforce registry (n=55,768) and professional development attendance data to examine early educator characteristics and patterns of professional development participation in one state.

In the paper, we describe how these new workforce data can inform professional development. We present the concept of density in professional development participation, discuss its potential benefits, and highlight the utility of state-wide digital tracking of early educators’ patterns of professional development for informing policy. We suggest that professional development policy can impact professional development participation density, and can thus be used intentionally to promote investments that have …

The Post Master's Certificate Program In Early Education Research, Policy, And Practice, Anne Douglass, Mary Lu Love, Lynne Mendes, Angi Stone-Macdonald, Lisa Van Thiel

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) has selected the University of Massachusetts Boston to lead this innovative initiative. The development of a Post Master’s Certificate Program in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice will build much-needed capacity for advanced graduate study in early education in Massachusetts. This model program is designed to address the demand for new leadership in the rapidly advancing field of early education and care.

Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (Cesi), Camille Martinez-Krawiec

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

UMass Boston received a Performance Incentive Fund grant to institutionalize and increase teaching and learning that promotes civic and community engagement. Specifically the funds are being used to support the implementation of the Civic Engagement Scholars Initiative (CESI), which supports faculty and community partners on how to effectively engage undergraduate students in service-learning and community-based research activities that reinforce classroom learning, foster civic habits and skills, and address community-identified needs. This enhancement will be accomplished through implementation of a professional development program that improves the efficacy and assessment of faculty-driven community-engaged instruction and undergraduate research. CESI, as part of the …

An Exploratory Study Of Teacher Empowerment And Technical Education In Kentucky, Lee Wall

Lee Ann Wall

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of empowerment and principal use of power within career and technical education in Kentucky. The researcher posits that, with the continual process of educational reform, principals need to understand what empowers teachers to perform as additional expectations and responsibilities are being mandated. The researcher used a mixed methods design to examine power bases that career and technical education teachers perceived were used by their principals to identify teachers’ perceived empowerment, as well as influencers and barriers. Data were collected with a survey and two open-ended questions from …

Hard Times: Women Scholars And The Dynamics Of Economic Recession, Linda Zionkowski

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

No abstract provided.

Friendship, Education, And Justice Teaching: The Professional Development Of Two Teacher-Friends, Debbie Sonu

Publications and Research

This paper discusses the distinct nature of friendship between teachers. Using literature on both the philosophical study of friendship and that of professional development, I present data from a qualitative study with two elementary school teachers in New York City in order to explore how the benefits of friendship might deepen an understanding of one's work with students. While literature on professional development tends to focus on effectively designed and structured activity, this article highlights the importance of teacher amity in (a) staving off negative judgments about teacher work, (b) harnessing the freedom to create and err, and (c) cultivating …

Overcoming A Common Storm: Designing Professional Development For Teachers Implementing The Common Core, Jonathan Bostic, Gabriel T. Matney

School of Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Classroom implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) requires significant professional development that develops teachers’ understanding of the mathematics content and practice standards. This professional development must begin with the content and pedagogical needs of the teachers it serves. This study examined elementary and middle school teachers’ perceived mathematics content needs related to the CCSSM mathematics content domains, their perceived pedagogical needs, and the connection between these perceptions and statewide assessment data. K-5 teachers indicated a great need in Operations and Algebraic Thinking and Numbers and Operations on Fractions. Middle school teachers expressed a major need in …

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presentation at the 12th American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 24-27, 2013.

A District-Wide Study Confirming The Relationship Between Professional Learning Communities And Student Achievement In Elementary Schools, Joseph Samuel Backman

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have studied professional learning communities for over two decades. Educators have utilized the elements of professional learning communities in their schools to improve instruction and student learning. Yet, there is limited empirical evidence that establishes, describes, and confirms this relationship. This study was completed to better understand the nature, strength, and types of relationships between the individual elements of professional learning communities and student achievement. The sample for this study was 26 elementary schools, 439 teachers, and nearly 11,000 students. An analysis of professional learning communities and student achievement data through hierarchical linear modeling indicated that each of the …

Professional Development As A Community Of Practice And Its Associated Influence On The Induction Of A Beginning Mathematics Teacher, Savannah O. Steele

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study analyzes a professional development course and its associated influence on the induction of a beginning mathematics teacher from a sociocultural perspective. Specifically, it examines whether a specific high school mathematics professional development course formed a community of practice through the elements of mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire. A community of practice is an inherently sociocultural framework. The results show how each element was present in the professional development, indicating that a community of practice had formed. Using those three elements of community of practice, the study further analyzes the induction of one first-year teacher, Sarah, …

Emerging Critical Literacy In Teachers As Novice Researchers, Jennifer Mitton Kukner

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the experiences of three teachers as novice researchers as they taught full-time in a university English language school in Turkey. Viewing the participants’ experiences as researchers through a narrative understanding of teacher knowledge and a critical literacy lens enhanced their critical cognisance of their positioning as women instructors in a higher education setting. Their research experiences were shaped not only by their classroom concerns but also by expectations and larger social narratives that lived beyond their classroom doors. This study focuses specifically upon English language teachers and acknowledges the intersection of gender roles and contextual constraints as …

Implementing Connected Math Project 2: Observable Influences Of Professional Development Activities On Reported Staff Attitudes About Implementation, Mary Lee Kappes

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transfomation, Chantal Levesque-Bristol, Tomalee Doan

IMPACT Presentations

Webinar presentation given at Wiley Learning. Summarizes Instruction Matters Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT). Describes IMPACT goals, campus-wide collaboration, professional development program, IMPACT classrooms, assessment plan and progress to date. Discrusses student perceptions and learning gains.

Research As Collaborative Act: A Latherian Approach To Collaborative Analysis Of Race-Based Professional Development With K-12 Educators, Susan Adams

Susan Adams

Paper presentation at the 34th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, Philadelphia, PA, February 23, 2013.

What Happened To The National Statement For The Teaching Profession?, Lawrence C. Ingvarson

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

In 2003, 15 teacher associations put together a National Statement from the Teaching Profession on Teacher Standards, Quality and Professionalism. It recommended that A nationally coordinated, rigorous and consistent system should be established to provide recognition to teachers who demonstrate advanced standards . . . The enterprise bargaining process between employers and unions will be an important mechanism for providing recognition for professional certification. All employing authorities should be encouraged to provide recognition and support for professional certification as the process comes to demonstrate its credibility and its effects on professional learning. (p. 4) The Statement was the culmination of …

Professional Development Strategies That Promote Science Inquiry Teaching And Learning, Steven Kerlin

Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

The recently released Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) calls for science education to addresses weaknesses in current science education of unorganized learning progressions, a focus on a breadth of discrete facts, and a lack of experiences in how science is actually done. Teacher professional development in inquiry science teaching and learning is one way to address these current issues in science education effectively. Higher education faculty have been one of the major groups of providers of teacher professional development programs. Many of these professional development programs have been delivered in short-term workshops and traditionally focused on …

Volusia System For Empowering Teachers (Vset): Influence On Teacher Practice And Student Achievement, Lesley Sileo-Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study provides an empirical analysis of the primary assumptions of a newly implemented teacher evaluation system, namely that the specific teaching practices evaluated are related to student achievement, and that teacher-directed professional growth plans effectively shape teacher practices in a particular domain. Results of the study are intended to inform the interpretation and the refinement of the Volusia System for Empowering Teachers (VSET), which aims to build capacity in the Volusia teacher work force and ultimately to improve student performance (School Board of Volusia County Team Volusia, Race to the Top application, 2011). This study focused on 14 pilot …

An Analysis Of Student Achievement Outcomes Of Teachers Who Have Earned The Reading Endorsement Offered Through Brevard Public Schools Compared To Those Who Earned The Reading Endorsement Through Other Means, And Those Who Have Not Earned A Reading Endorsement, Carrie Chancellor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine relationships between the independent variables of teaching years of experience and participation in Reading Endorsement professional development offered through Brevard Public Schools and the dependent variables of student outcome measures, as determined through teacher aggregated reading Value Added Model (VAM) scores. The significance of the study was that it will add to the literature by being the first study of its kind for the Brevard Public School District. This study will also provide information as to the reading instruction preparation effectiveness examined through student performance outcomes. This study used multiple statistical procedures to analyze the …

“More Time. More Showing. More Helping. That’S How It Sticks”: The Perspectives Of Early Childhood Coachees, Lisa L. Knoche, Miriam E. Kuhn, Jungwon Eum

Special Education and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Coaching is a form of consultation used in early childhood settings to support positive outcomes for young children and families. While some research shows the effectiveness of coaching on practice and outcomes, little information is available on the experiences and perspectives of “coachees” as recipients of coaching support. The purpose of this study was to understand, from the coachees’ point of view, the benefits and challenges of participating in an early childhood coaching relationship. Twenty-one parents, preschool teachers and childcare providers who had engaged in coaching relationships participated in interviews and completed surveys regarding their experiences and perspectives. Data were …

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 …

Theory Guided Professional Development In Early Childhood Science Education, Soo-Young Hong, Julia C. Torquati, Victoria J. Molfese

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standard. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical …