Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Healing Racial Trauma From Public School Systems, Lisa Y. Collins

Journal of Research Initiatives

Oregon needs Black educators in the K-12 public school system. In 35 school districts throughout the state, the number of students of color has risen by over 40% in recent years (Oregon Chief Education Office, 2019). The number of educators of color in the state is under 10%. The number of Black educators is even lower. Research has shown that Black educators improve all students' academic, cultural, and social aspects, especially Black students. Nationally, Black educators were impacted by the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. At that time in history, Black communities fought for civil rights as they experienced …

The Reality Of Teaching English Virtually: Esl Teachers' Perspectives And Experiences During The Covid-19 National Pandemic, Natalia Guerrero

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the dilemma ESL teachers experienced as the educational system shifted from the usual modus operandi of in-person lessons to the uncharted virtual learning environment (VLE). ESL teachers, in one of the largest urban districts in Louisiana, accumulated additional roles and responsibilities that were unique to the teachers of the English learner (EL) population enrolled at their schools.

Data collected to answer the research questions were the product of single and focus group’s interviews with five ESL elementary and middle school teachers in Freedom District. State and district emergency response to COVID-19 guidelines, along with instructional artifacts, were …

Forced Isolation In An Era Of Inclusion Within U.S. K-12 Public School Communities, Cheryl Burleigh, Andrea Wilson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the forefront disparities and inequities in U.S. K–12 public school systems that affected both educators and the students they served—not only during school closures but also after in-person instruction resumed. The purpose of this scholarly essay is to shed light on the levels of isolation that occurred during the pandemic and still affect educators in K–12 public schools as they seek to foster academically rigorous and inclusive school communities. Recognizing, and then quickly responding to, historic events by implementing strategies that take into account the social determinants of learning and health is the starting point …

Administrator Feedback To Teachers, Regina Frazier, Candace Wilkerson, Jacquie Cioffi, Patrick Simmons, Makeba Lindsay D'Abreu, Thea Racelis, Amanda Simmons, Melissa Yancey, Deanna Fierro, David B. Naff

MERC Publications

This brief from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) curates peer-reviewed scholarship as well as state and school board policies in Virginia related to administrator feedback to teachers. It explores the following questions: 1) What is the purpose of administrators providing feedback to teachers? 2) How do administrators typically provide feedback to teachers? 3) How do teachers typically receive feedback from administrators? 4) What are research-based strategies for administrators to provide productive feedback to teachers? It concludes with key takeaways and recommendations for how administrators provide feedback to teachers.

Economic Evaluation Of Teacher Induction Programs: A Toolkit How-To Guide, Jonathan D. Becker, Elisa Tedona, Matthew Togna

MERC Publications

Research shows that teacher induction programs can be effective as measured by a number of outcomes. However, research also shows that teacher induction programs vary greatly from one district to another. Furthermore, there is no research that examines teacher induction programs with respect to costs and benefits. Educational leaders and stakeholders do not need to wait on formal institutional research to do such an economic evaluation.

This how-to guide, in combination with a comprehensive report, the Teacher Induction Program Cost Matrix and the Teacher Induction Program Benefit-Cost Workbook, comprises a toolkit designed to allow school and district leaders to …

Teachers Of General Education: Perceptions And Experiences Teaching Inclusion In U.S. Schools, Ann C. Sander

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of a group of U.S. public schools, kindergarten through fifth grade teachers, certified in general education with experience teaching inclusion--a federally mandated practice requiring schools to educate students both with and without disabilities in the same classroom. Much of the literature surrounding inclusion focuses on the perceived benefits of the program and children with disabilities' legal rights. The literature has a limited number of references describing the perceptions and experiences of teachers who are required to provide the educational services necessary for inclusion in the classroom.

In this study, 35 participants …

Culturally Relevant Practices And Community: Increasing Minority Leadership In School Administration To Improve School Climate, Cassandra Suggs, Joy N. Rogers

Dissertations

This dissertation and research looks into the area of Culturally Relevant Practices and Leadership in K-12 schools and the potential effect on all students in having minority leadership present. The research dives into interviews of teachers, hiring leaders, district leaders and building leaders. It also uses survey results from over 700 students, with the central theme of the questions around school safety, climate, culture, support, academics and a sense of belonging. The research purpose was to look into the potential positive effect on students and staff, if Culturally Relevant Practices and hiring of minority leadership was in place within school …

What Is The Impact Of Work-From-Home (Wfh) Arrangements On The Quality Of Life (Qol)?, Jordan Lee, Mykyta Pervak, Augustine Peh, Jun Hao Tang, Eoh Jin Cho, Calister Tan

Introduction to Research Methods RSCH 202

The ongoing pandemic has forced countries’ education systems to continue to operate in a fragile and uncertain environment. Given the limited existing literature regarding the pandemic’s impact on the Quality of life (QoL) for teachers, this study aims to bridge the gap and provide a detailed analysis of how the extent of providing online courses and time to transition online during the pandemic could impact a tertiary educator’s QoL. The factors defining the dependent variable, QoL, were derived from past studies and made applicable within the confines of our research. The independent variables are the amount of time spent …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professional Development: A Narrative Inquiry Examining Insights From Middle School Teachers, Julie Hatling

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout their careers, teachers seek professional growth opportunities to continually improve their craft. This quest has resulted in various learning experiences for teachers that have impacted their practice in differing ways. Bayar (2014) writes that schools traditionally provide training for teachers, professional development (PD), to help in-service teachers grow as professionals. To gain further insight into the topic of teacher PD, this narrative inquiry sought to obtain a better understanding of PD based on teachers’ perceptions of their past PD experiences and how those experiences impacted their professional practice. This study was guided by a central question and sub-questions. The …

Leaning Into The Disposition Of Hope: Reflections From A Teacher Educator, Michelle C. Hughes Dr.

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Teaching is multifaceted work that must foster safety, structure, comfort, and connection for K-12 students (Noddings,1984; Shotsberger & Freytag, 2020; Tomlinson, 2019). During the Covid-19 pandemic, a teacher's presence has necessitated fostering an even greater sense of stability and hope for and in K-12 students. With complex challenges such as teaching remotely and responding to students' mental health needs, pre-service and veteran teachers alike must cultivate hope in professional practice more than ever before. Hughes explores the disposition of hope, offering educators five practical suggestions to seek and share hope, use hope-filled language, find hope in community, and view times …

Seeking Universal Education: From Singapore’S Educational Success, Gulnar Rzayeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, education is considered a fundamental human right. However, this right is not accessible for every child. Not all education systems are capable of providing quality education. There are various reasons behind this issue. Based on the OECD and PISA records, Singapore has a successful education system with multiple ethnicities and religions. This study intends to discover some characteristics of Singapore's education system and the feasibility of achieving similar success in other practices. In the methodology part, based on a literature review on the education policy and the education system of Singapore, content …

Uncommon And Non-Traditional Urban Relationship Strategies: From Relationship Loss To Relationship Recovery, Lasonya L. Moore

Journal of English Learner Education

With increasing student diversity across our nation, there is a growing need to scale up educational innovations related to building holistic relationships. Many students in K-12 public schools enter educational settings with uncommon and nontraditional ways of building and developing longitudinal relationships that allow students to thrive and not just survive. Specifically, teachers/educators feel ill-equipped and ill-trained to adequately support the increasing number of English learners(ELs) and Exceptional education students (specifically Students of Color (SOC) with emotional and behavioral disorders) identified in inclusive classrooms. Thus, there remains an urgent need to share uncommon and non-traditional strategies to develop and build …

Middle School Teachers’ Use Of Differentiated Instruction Strategies, Felecia G. Prince

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMiddle School Teachers’ Use of Differentiated Instruction Strategies by Felecia George Prince MEd, Troy University, 2010 BS, Georgia Southern University, 1988 AA, East Georgia College, 1984 Project Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University June 2020Abstract The administrators at the study site were concerned that teachers struggle with differentiated instruction (DI) in their classrooms, which involves strategies to support students’ levels. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to learn what DI strategies teachers used at the study site. The conceptual framework of Tomlinson on the differentiated strategies …

When Knowing Is Not Enough: A Narrative Exploration Of How K-12 Teachers Make Decisions About The Transfer Of Critical Competencies From Professional Learning To Daily Practice, Nell E. Ballard-Jones

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

School districts spend millions of dollars each year to provide training and learning to staff working in direct and indirect service to students (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2021). This financial commitment says nothing about what is even more important: the need for school employees and the systems in which we work to serve students more effectively. Despite vast allocations of time and money and presumably best intentions for better social and academic outcomes for students, very little data exist that reflect regular transfer and application of training/learning into professional practice (Nittler et al., 2015). By and large, schools and …

Reflective School Library Practitioners: Use Of Journaling To Strengthen Practice, Elizabeth A. Burns

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Reflection is a skill educators of school librarians hope to foster in their students. Widely used in teacher preparation (Hodgins 2014), reflective journaling is a pedagogical strategy that aligns with the text-based nature of library and information studies coursework, especially as more library schools move online (Kymes and Ray 2012). This study explores use of structured dialogic journaling as a pedagogical approach to inform and shape the reflective practice of pre-service school librarians. Journals were introduced in an early school library methods course and structured using Schon’s Reflective Practitioner model (1987). Additional opportunities to engage with dialogic journals continued through …

Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Techniques And Former Riverside County And San Bernardino County Teachers Of The Year: A Phenomenological Study, Brian Redmond

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine what former County Teachers of the Year understand and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally Responsive Factors (developing personal relationships, creating caring learning communities, establishing a business-like learning environment, establishing congruent communication processes and, teaching with assertiveness and clearly stating expectations).

Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological design to discover what former County Teachers of the Year do to identify and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally …

You Must Know Them Before You Can Grow Them, Beatrice "Bea" Lewis

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

It is an inescapable truth that schools must learn as much about their students and their experiences in order to create a culture built on relationships, which is the cornerstone to student learning. The dynamics and complexities of building positive relationships with students are impacted when teachers’ attitudes, values, and biases conflict with school culture. In this interactive “real talk” session, participants will examine their own biases and attitudes that may be hindering the cultivation of positive relationships. Participants will be introduced to a variety of approaches that can be used to evaluate the values, beliefs, and attitudes that are …

Mentor Teachers' Perceptions Of Effective Mentoring Strategies, Paula Tomlinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators at a public high school in Southeastern United States depend on mentor teachers to minimize the attrition rate among beginning teachers, yet the strategies implemented by mentors lack definition and clarity. The purpose of this study was to explore mentor teachers' perceptions of effective mentoring strategies and their needs when mentoring new teachers. Maslow's humanistic learning theory guided this bounded basic qualitative study. The research questions focused on the mentoring strategies mentor teachers perceived as effective and the needs of the mentors. Ten high school mentor teachers, who currently mentor new teachers, were purposefully selected to participate in individual …

Burnout Levels Of Teachers Within A Selected School District In Minnesota, Adam Whirley

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify feelings of burnout within a selected school district in Minnesota and to identify contributing demographic factors. For this study, a random school district in Minnesota was chosen to be surveyed. By identifying feelings of burnout and demographic factors associated with these feelings, appropriate mental health interventions will be developed and implemented within school districts and the workplace. By implementing these interventions there will be a reduction in occupational burnout and stronger mental health among employees. The study showed a significance relationship between 9-12(High School) teachers and higher levels of burnout when compared …

School Principal's Leadership Style And Teacher's Self-Efficacy In High And Low Achieving Schools In Chikankata, Zambia, Pardon Mwansa

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose

Much research has been done in past years on the topic of student achievement, with most of those studies focusing on factors that contribute to student achievement. Little, or no research has been done, especially in the country of Zambia, that has focused on the relationship between leadership style, teacher self-efficacy, and the extent to which these constructs impact student achievement. This study explored the school principals' leadership style, teacher self-efficacy, and the extent to which these factors contribute to student achievement in Chikankata District, Zambia. The Ministry of Education in Zambia and other educators, especially those …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Regarding The Use Of Data Decision-Making For Instructional Practice, Joy Simon Swain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At an elementary school in the northeastern region of the United States elementary teachers struggled with using data to make instructional decisions. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore elementary teachers' perceptions about how their teaching experiences prepared them to use data to make lesson decisions. The theoretical-conceptual frameworks of this study were Bandura's self-efficacy, a theoretical framework of data use at the building level, and organizational routines framework. The data collected from interviewing eight elementary teachers revealed their perceptions of having to use data to make lesson decisions and how these perceptions influence their teaching practices. The …

Phenomenological Dynamic Of How Adhd Student Recidivism Affects Alternative Education Teacher Services, Lisa A. Charette

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem in this study involved the student cycling, or recidivism, problem associated with specialized education environments. In particular, alternative education students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are cycling in and out of alternative and regular education at a concerning frequency. This student recidivism problem affects the services of teachers who are trying to transform them into permanent regular education learners. The purpose of this study was to obtain specific information from these teachers, via the research questions, as it applies to the theoretical foundation of Bandura's self-efficacy construct, and methodological design of the study. The qualitative method of …

International Students' Use Of English Language-Learning Strategies At A Private High School, Bobetta Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International students in the United States enroll in private and public high schools with a goal to graduate and attend an American university. This goal is often difficult to achieve because these students are not acquiring the academic English necessary to be successful in a post-secondary setting. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate what language-learning strategies (LLS) a group of East Asian international students at a private American high school had self-regulated and what strategies their content area teachers had taught them to use to become proficient in academic English. The conceptual framework was Oxford's findings …

Introduction: Teacher Leaders - Transforming Schools From The Inside, Gil Schmerler

Occasional Paper Series

Describes the issue's purpose, which is a "modest attempt to restore the issue of teacher leadership to the prominence it deserves and requires" -- author.

The Relationship Of Formative Assessment To The Professional Development And Perspective Transformation Of Teachers, Kimberly K. Snyder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses practitioner research to explore teacher perspectives about formative assessment. The researcher engaged in a four-month-long series of professional development sessions with one middle school and two high school English-Language Arts teachers from the Capital View School District. Understanding formative assessment as a process to monitor student learning and then customizing instruction based on the data gathered from the formative assessment is a complex skill in which teachers need practice and even coaching to become adroit. The sessions were intended to help early-career teachers better understand formative assessment and incorporate it as a strategy in their teaching praxis. …

A World Both Big And Small: Understanding Urban Middle School Teachers’ Sense Of Self-Efficacy In An Era Of Accountability, Richard Gallucci

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This explanatory case study seeks to understand the nature of middle school educators’ self-efficacy in an urban public school district during an era of accountability. The study was conducted in a progressive school district, known as OakRidge Pubic Schools. A sequential mixed methods design with a participant-selection model variation was employed. The study identified teachers’ level of self-efficacy via the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), a quantitative survey used to determine high and low self-efficacy focus groups. During these subsequent focus group interviews, the competing objectives of fulfilling responsibilities levied from accountability mandates and initiatives, …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Use Of Small-Group Tutorial, Karen Y. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study addressed the implementation of the tutorial program currently in use at an urban school district in Mississippi. Because successful completion of assessments is a graduation requirement, the study site implemented the tutorial program to help at-risk students improve their academic outcomes on state-mandated assessments in Biology I, United States History, English II, Algebra I. The purpose of this study, guided by Bloom's theory of mastery learning, was to examine the perceptions of the teachers who served as tutors in the program. Using the narrative inquiry method, the research focused on the implementation of the tutorial program, the perceived …

Response To Intervention Teachers' Perspective Of Tier 2 Intervention Fidelity, Doretha Meissner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an urban Texas school district, teachers and administrators were concerned about students' achievement and the teachers' knowledge and implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) Tier 2 interventions with fidelity. This study addressed teachers' perceptions of the reliability of the application of Tier 2 interventions at the study site, its influence on student achievement, and the appropriateness of current professional development at the targeted campus. The constructivist concept of how people learn and the implementation theory of scaffolding instruction, meaningful experiences, and active learning provided the framework for this study. The educators provided perspectives of how the quality and frequency …

Mentor Perspectives On Effective Mentoring For Beginning Elementary School Teachers, Betsy Holley Gross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The attrition of beginning teachers is an ongoing problem for public schools as it impacts campus moral, results in economic losses, and maintains the number of newly-hired teachers. Although induction programs for beginning teachers have been found effective in reducing novice teacher attrition, funding for many induction programs have been eliminated due to budget constraints, leaving local school systems with limited support of the mentors and no consistency as to expectations or outcomes. Compounding this problem is that little research has examined what is most successful and supportive for mentors to be able to function most effectively. Guided by Knowles' …

Successful Approaches To Encourage Family Involvement In A School Division Located In Southeastern Virginia With Varying Income Levels, Katelyn Elizabeth Montague

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this project was to identify successful approaches that teachers use to encourage involvement of all families. Following a review of professional and research literature, a survey of Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade teachers was distributed in a school division located in southeastern Virginia with varying income levels.

The findings in this survey suggested that participating teachers encouraged family involvement by inviting families into the classroom and explaining to them how they could help their children at home. The teachers utilized weekly communication in various forms such as printed material, electronic formats, and classroom websites. Teachers were also flexible …