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Full-Text Articles in Education

Teacher Perceptions On Changing Instructional Practices In Mathematics With The Implementation Of The Common Core State Standards, Esther M. Underwood Dec 2015

Teacher Perceptions On Changing Instructional Practices In Mathematics With The Implementation Of The Common Core State Standards, Esther M. Underwood

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

As schools across the U.S. begin to implement Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), teachers must shift their instructional practices from a traditional emphasis on procedures and algorithms to a conceptually based model in which students engage more meaningfully with mathematical concepts. The purpose of this study is to examine participants’ perspectives about the influence of CCSSM on their instructional practices, and the challenges they face in effectively implementing these changes. The literature reveals the need for professional development, standards aligned materials, and ongoing support of teachers in order for them to make substantial changes to their instructional approach. …


Training Together: State Policy And Collective Participation In Early Educator Professional Development, Anne Douglass, Alice Carter, Frank Smith, Sherri Killins Jun 2015

Training Together: State Policy And Collective Participation In Early Educator Professional Development, Anne Douglass, Alice Carter, Frank Smith, Sherri Killins

New England Journal of Public Policy

This study used one state’s early care and education work-force registry and professional development attendance data to examine early educator patterns of professional development participation and the extent of collective participation. The article presents the concept of collective participation in professional development, discusses its potential benefits, and highlights the utility of statewide digital tracking of early educators’ patterns of professional development for informing policy. Results show that collective participation is uncommon in early education and care but can be increased through professional development policy decisions. The article concludes with implications for research and policy.


Improving Motivation, Engagement And Differentiation In Lesson Development Using An Interactive White Board: 10-Hour Workshop Cycle Toward Professional Development Certificate, Leslie Lieman, Jenelle Fiori, Naliza Sadik May 2015

Improving Motivation, Engagement And Differentiation In Lesson Development Using An Interactive White Board: 10-Hour Workshop Cycle Toward Professional Development Certificate, Leslie Lieman, Jenelle Fiori, Naliza Sadik

Publications and Research

The School of Education prepares aspiring teachers for teaching in 21st century classrooms by offering intensive interactive white board training cycles. In designing interactive lessons, the workshop cycle focuses on the pedagogical decision making that can improve classroom teaching and student engagement and understanding.


Teachers' Perceptions Of An Integrated Third Grade Curriculum's Effects On Students' Reading Achievement, Charlene Lane Bazemore Jan 2015

Teachers' Perceptions Of An Integrated Third Grade Curriculum's Effects On Students' Reading Achievement, Charlene Lane Bazemore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School leaders in a Virginia urban school district designed and implemented a reading-infused integrated curriculum to address Grade 3 students' struggles to read and comprehend grade-level text. Informed via a constructivist approach, the curriculum integrated the core subjects, reading, and service learning for developing competent readers, thinkers, and problem solvers. This instrumental case study focused on 13 Grade 3 teachers' perceptions of the integrated curriculum in regards to their students' reading achievement. Qualitative data were collected from face-to-face interviews, students' progress of work documents, and the district's integrated curriculum unit. Open coding was employed to analyze the data. Inductively, triangulated …


Leaping The Language Gap: Strategies For Preschool And Head Start Teachers, Carolyn D. Abel, Jannah Walters Nerren, Hope Elizabeth Wilson Jan 2015

Leaping The Language Gap: Strategies For Preschool And Head Start Teachers, Carolyn D. Abel, Jannah Walters Nerren, Hope Elizabeth Wilson

Faculty Publications

Strategies that promote the development of language skills are recognized as important in early childhood education. For early childhood centers and care providers, there are also additional concerns that interventions which meet these developmental needs are both time and cost effective. This pilot study investigates the effect of indirect language stimulation (ILS) techniques on the receptive and expressive oral language of 4-year-olds, using techniques that can be easily taught to teachers and implemented in the classroom. Two preschool teachers in a southwest rural community in the United States were randomly assigned for instruction over a 6-month period on effective ways …


Effects Of Teacher Prompting Techniques On The Writing Performance Of Fourth And Fifth Graders, Mindy S. Allenger Jan 2015

Effects Of Teacher Prompting Techniques On The Writing Performance Of Fourth And Fifth Graders, Mindy S. Allenger

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study was a quantitative research investigation to determine the effects of teacher prompting techniques on the writing performance of 137 fourth and fifth graders from two parochial schools in West Virginia. Over a two-week period from March, 2014, to April, 2014, researchers collected writing samples with three typologies of prompting; no prompting, general prompting, and content specific prompting. The major outcome variables included were the numbers of words, number of sentences, and average sentence length, and writing ease and complexity level using the Flesch Kincaid Readability and The Flesch Reading Ease. Data analysis was accomplished by applying several types …


Teachers' Perceptions Of The Reading Achievement Gap Between High-Achieving Students And Below-Basic Students, Helen Anne Iaconelli Jan 2015

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Reading Achievement Gap Between High-Achieving Students And Below-Basic Students, Helen Anne Iaconelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Atlantic Avenue Elementary School (AAES) experienced reading achievement gaps between high-performing students and below-basic students within the school reading curriculum and balanced literacy framework. Vygotsky's theories of scaffolding and zone of proximal development served as the framework guiding this project, which used a qualitative case study design to explore reading teachers' perceptions of the ways in which they were addressing this reading achievement gap. Individual interviews, classroom observations, and lesson plans were the sources of the qualitative data collected from 6 reading teachers. The data were coded manually using emerging and constant-comparative strategies to identify common themes. The themes that …


Supporting Elementary Teachers In Effective Writing Instruction Through Professional Development, Whitney Nash Young Jan 2015

Supporting Elementary Teachers In Effective Writing Instruction Through Professional Development, Whitney Nash Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing have created a challenge for teachers at an urban elementary school as they struggled to provide effective writing instruction to support the rigorous expectations of the standards. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary teachers' lived experiences of instruction and better understand instructional writing procedures and strategies. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Dennick's work for incorporating educational theory into teaching practices, which combined elements of constructivist, experiential, and humanist learning theories. Research questions investigated how teachers perceived the impact of the CCSS writing standards on their practice …


Countering Student Apathy To Increase Student Engagement, Rebecca Ann Schou Jan 2015

Countering Student Apathy To Increase Student Engagement, Rebecca Ann Schou

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a suburban elementary school in Maryland, 3 years of data revealed that the school is grappling with the problem of student apathy. While there is a growing body of research on apathy and its effects on student achievement, few researchers have examined the problem from the perspective of the apathetic student. The purpose of this qualitative case study, grounded in the social learning and cognitive development theories of Vygotsky and Piaget, was to explore student apathy and the learning environment at the target school through the perspectives of 8 former students and their parents. The research questions focused on …


Antecedents Of Teachers’ Educational Beliefs About Mathematics And Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Among In-Service Teachers In High Poverty Urban Schools, Danya M. Corkin, Adem Ekmekci, Anne Papakonstantinou Jan 2015

Antecedents Of Teachers’ Educational Beliefs About Mathematics And Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Among In-Service Teachers In High Poverty Urban Schools, Danya M. Corkin, Adem Ekmekci, Anne Papakonstantinou

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper examines the antecedents of three types of educational beliefs about mathematics among 151 teachers predominantly working in high poverty schools. Studies across various countries have found that teachers in high poverty schools are less likely to enact instructional approaches that align with mathematics reform standards set by national and international organizations. Researchers contend that for instruction to change, educational beliefs about mathematics and teaching must change. Regression analyses indicated that mathematics-teaching experience was associated with teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching mathematics at the onset of professional development and the number of mathematics college courses teachers had taken moderated their …