Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Culturally And Socially Responsive Teacher Professional Learning At The American Museum Of Natural History, Jessica Correa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project consists of a series of professional learning sessions to support teachers in their implementation of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-SE) using the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) as a resource and case study. Through the lens of Historically Responsive Literacy, the series also seeks to reestablish social science as a critical element of natural history for teachers. This series can help teachers see the museum as not only a place to explore life and physical science, but also a place to explore identity, social/emotional development, cultural studies and American History. The project includes resources and directions for …

Continuing Professional Development And The Commercial Education Society Of Australia, Kathleen Mckenzie, Jacob Munday

International Journal for Business Education

The Commercial Education Society of Australia (CESA) was founded in 1910 and incorporated in 1911 as a non-profit company limited by guarantee. The mission of the Society is to provide students with the opportunity to raise their standards of education so that they can take advantage of the opportunities for further education and employment. This is reflected in the Society’s coat-of-arms ‘Digne Ambulate’ — walk worthily.

Chasing A Moving Target: Examining Shifts In Elementary Teachers' Language And Conceptions Of Digital Literacy During Professional Learning, Stephanie M. Branson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emerging and transforming innovations carry with them new ways of conceptualizing literacy practices in the classroom. As the technology revolution forges ahead and permeates the elementary school setting, teachers must consider how they talk about and model digital literacy practices. Digital literacy goes beyond merely operating technology tools and devices. It includes the cognitive and social processes that take place when reading, writing, and communicating in digital spaces and with digital tools. To understand the integration of digital literacies into the classroom, we must better understand how teachers develop digital literacy competencies and dispositions through focused and intentional professional learning …

Promoting Inclusion In A "Struggling School": Supporting Co-Teachers Through Critical Appreciative-Inquiry Based Professional Development, Louis Olander

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the extent to which the beliefs and practices of teachers who work in a “struggling” school can be shifted towards inclusiveness through an action research based professional development program. The school was struggling in that it was charged with the education of children who are marginalized by a range of social forces while simultaneously accountable to institutional priorities. Broadly speaking, these institutional priorities preferred behaviorist punishment and technocratic approaches to meeting student needs, devaluing and decontextualizing students’ proficiencies as test scores and special education labels, in turn impeding inclusive change. Over the course of four months, an …

Content Area Teacher Perspectives On Integrating Literacy Strategies, Lynette Smith Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Common Core State Standards recommend that all educators prepare students with the literacy skills needed for college and careers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine 7th and 8th grade content area teachers' perspectives towards teaching literacy. The research questions addressed teachers' capabilities in the role of literacy instructor as well as the actual application of literacy. The conceptual framework included Bruner's constructivist, Bandura's self-efficacy, and Knowles's andragogy theories. These theories informed the investigation of adult learners' perspectives regarding the way they learn and gain confidence to provide literacy instruction. Eleven English, math, science, and social …

Faculty Self-Efficacy Instructing In A Hybrid Learning Environment At A Career College, Donna Gosselin Gosselin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the inception of the hybrid instruction model at a career college in the western United States, there has not been an exploration of faculty members' understanding of hybrid instruction. Therefore, campus administrators do not have a clear understanding of the faculty perception of teaching in a hybrid learning environment. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory, this qualitative narrative inquiry study was conducted to explore faculty self-efficacy instructing in a hybrid learning environment at the career college. A purposeful sampling method was used to select 9 faculty who have taught less than 2 hybrid learning courses and attended the college professional …

Adjunct Faculty Perceptions On Professional Development Offered And Needed By Institution Type And Career Cluster, Mark Parrish

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the perceptions of adjunct faculty in higher education to gather their opinion on professional development that was offered and the professional development they feel is needed and whether institution type or career cluster was significant in determining their perception. This causal-comparative, quantitative research study utilized an online survey and included 220 adjuncts from within the United States. The study utilized one-way ANOVA to determine if there were statistically significant differences in means between the institution types and career clusters of adjunct faculty related to professional development offered and needed. It was found that there were statistically significant …

Impact Of Professional Development In Response To Intervention On Secondary Teachers' Efficacy, Crystal Joy Spence

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2012, a southeastern state mandated that all school districts employ the response to intervention (RtI) tiered approach model to meet the needs of struggling students. RtI was implemented at the study site; however, secondary teachers were not confident in their abilities to implement RtI. Researchers have found that a teacher's sense of efficacy can impact student academic outcomes. Professional development on implementing RtI was provided for teachers in the study school. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of explicit RtI professional development on the perceived self-efficacy of secondary teachers and their ability to impact student …

Teachers' Perceptions Of English Language Learners And Reading Instruction, P. Pualani Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in an urban school district in the southwest United States has maintained low achievement scores in the K-5 grades. Students who do not attain reading proficiency at least by the end of 3rd grade are at risk of continued academic failure through high school. Research shows that teachers' knowledge and preparedness to teach reading has an influence on student performance. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the readiness of mainstream classroom teachers to teach reading to ELLs. Guided by the sociocultural frameworks of Bruner and Vygotsky, this study explored …

Middle Grades Students As Teacher Educators: Consulting With Students In Professional Development, John Matthew Downes

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Many teachers of young adolescents face compelling pressures to dramatically change their practice. The rapid adoption of 1:1 computing, whereby each student has nearly constant access to an Internet-connected laptop, netbook or tablet, poses unique challenges to established practices in curriculum, instruction and classroom management. A growing number of teachers also confront a movement to provide students more personalized and flexible pathways to high school graduation, including experiential, blended and online learning, and allow students to apply knowledge and skills to tasks of personal interest. How teachers cope in this dynamic period may hinge on their ongoing professional development.

In …

Technology Integration For Common Core State Standards Implementation: Developing Differentiated Professional Development Based On The Concerns-Based Adoption Model, Tami Boatright

Dissertations

Teachers must learn how to integrate technology for CCSS implementation in an educational environment tasked with preparing 21st century students to not only survive, but thrive in a knowledge-based global society. The changes required for 21st century learning to prepare 21st century students is transformational in nature and represents a paradigm shift for many teachers. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the differences in teachers’ Stages of Concern with integrating technology for implementation of CCSS according to age, gender, and years of teaching. In addition it was the purpose of this study to use information obtained from …

Influence Of Siop Cognitive Coaching Workshops On Teaching Practices Of Esl Teachers And Esl Paraprofessionals, Ruben Alicea

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore and report on the influence that cognitive coaching, as an embedded part of professional development, has on ESL teachers' and ESL paraprofessionals' learning and practice in the context of educating English learner (EL) students using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model of instruction. An examination was made on the views of 52 ESL teachers and paraprofessionals regarding participation in a series of 12 professional development workshops, use of cognitive coaching, and implementation of the SIOP with their EL students. As part of their participation in the professional development, self-reflection data were …