Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

A Delphi Study: Teachers’ Perceptions Of Benefits, Prerequisites, Facilitators, And Barriers Of Peer Observation For Professional Learning In Secondary Public Schools, Melissa R. Bazanos

Dissertations

A Delphi Study: Teachers’ Perceptions of Benefits, Prerequisites, Facilitators, and Barriers of Peer Observation for Professional Learning in Secondary Public Schools

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore secondary-school teachers’ perceptions about the instructional and cultural benefits of engaging in peer observations for professional learning in secondary schools. This study also sought to clarify the prerequisites, facilitators, and barriers to implementing peer observations as perceived by secondary-school teachers.

Methodology: The Delphi method was utilized in order to gather perceptual data from an expert panel of secondary-school teachers that have engaged in peer observations at various schools in Riverside …

Building Parent Support For Implementation Of Assessment For Learning ( A4 L ) At The High School Level, Sarah Highfill

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers articulate the positive effects of parental engagement with education. Networking with parents has become a recent focus for educational leaders working to enhance learning. With parent presence diminishing within secondary schools and emphasis on formative assessments rising, this study examined the possibility of family support to supplement the Assessment for Learning (A4L) reform implementation. Using an action research framework, four research questions were addressed. These included what attracts parents to support Assessment for Learning (A4L) reforms at the high school level, the value parents place on assessment reform, and what affects parent perceptions and influences their support of the …

The Professional Learning Motivation Profile (Plmp): A Tool For Assessing Instructional Motivation, Barbara A. Marinak, Divonna M. Stebick, Mary Paxton

Education Faculty Publications

This article chronicles the collaboration of administrators from six districts and three college professors as they assessed professional learning during the first year of teaching. The examination led to the development of a Professional Learning Motivation Profile. Results from the profile indicated a traditional model of professional development was not effective in growing the professional learning motivation of beginning teachers. Anecdotal data shared includes how administrators used the data to inform conversations designed to support teachers in their journey toward courageous, effective instruction.

Using Video Prompting To Teach High School Students With Moderate Intellectual Disabilities A Vocational Skill With A Portable Video Delivery System Employing A Qualitative Case Study, John Newman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of portable video devices in the delivery of video content using video prompting to teach functional life skills to three high school students with moderate intellectual disabilities. The theoretical frameworks of the social learning theory, anchored instruction, and situated cognition show promise as the foundation of the development of specialized curricula to improve students' functioning in adaptive behavior skills. The study utilized a qualitative case study approach, using a multiple-probe across tasks and a single-subject design to obtain quantitative data as the first data collection strategy for a qualitative case …

Thinking It Through: Australian Students’ Skills In Creative Problem Solving, Lisa De Bortoli, Greg Macaskill

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

In every PISA survey, students from every participating country are assessed in the core domains of mathematics, science and reading literacy. In addition to assessing these literacy domains, the OECD proposes additional assessments in other domains. In PISA 2003, a paper-based assessment of cross- disciplinary problem solving was first assessed, when it was included as a core domain. In PISA 2012, problem solving was once again assessed, this time as an optional computer-based assessment.

The focus of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving was: Are today’s 15-year-old students acquiring the problem-solving skills that will prepare them to meet the …

Providing The Fuel (And Passing The Flame), Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

At the risk of opening with a cliché statement- at the heart of the most effective mentor is a burning passion. The fuel for this passion is a desire to convince, not just try to, but actually convince your mentee that you care about their success (be it in the classroom, career, or personal life). I am guilty of believing in, and living by, this cliché. However, despite passion being my primary motivator, I am not unwilling to admit that rationale for mentoring can sometimes transcend this ethically normative line of thinking. I believe that there are also sometimes quantitative, …

Using Remote Sensing Data To Predict The Spread Of Mosquito Borne Disease, Mary Ellen O'Donnell, Erika Podest

STAR Program Research Presentations

There is interest in how environmental variables derived from satellite data such as temperature, vegetation cover, and precipitation correlate to vector borne disease occurrence such as malaria and dengue fever. This study will be carried out using a decision tree based open source software called Random Forests to find correlations between the remote sensing variables and mosquito abundance. Software will be written in C# to take large amounts of data from the NASA satellite database and automatically format it for the Random Forest Software input. Correlations found, using Random Forests, between disease incidence and the variables can be used as …

Teacher Expectations Of Students In A Predominantly African American School District, Durand Duron Payton

Dissertations

Wong and Wong (2004) reported teachers‟ perceptions could become a self-fulfilling prophecy when addressing the students. According to Haycock (2001) once teachers‟ perceptions had developed, even if they were inaccurate, teachers would begin to act as if their beliefs were factual. By acting as though the beliefs were real, teachers could essentially cause their perceptions to materialize into the expectations of students. The purpose of this study is to explore teachers‟ expectations of students in a predominantly African American school district. Ferguson (1998) had considered the behaviors in which teachers' perceptions of the students‟ impact their expectations towards the students. …

Implementation Of A Modified Reading Program In An Urban High School Setting, Ann Vayre

Dissertations

READ 180 is a popular reading program among high schools seeking to improve their reading scores. To date, few studies have examined modified versions of the program, with none focusing on the fidelity of implementation. This study examines a modified READ 180 program where scheduling only allowed for a 50-minute per day block of time, in contrast to the 90-minutes utilized in the original design. Research questions focus on urban high school teachers’ usage of READ 180 components and strategies, consistency with the program’s original design, the level of importance teachers attached to each of the components and strategies, and …

Emerging Technologies In Art Education, Molly A. Marshall

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the emerging technologies in visual arts education and the impact they will make on the future of visual arts education in a K-12 setting. Research was done through a literature review. As a result, it was found that integrating technology into the visual arts is beneficial to both student and teacher on many levels.

The research will cover how these technologies affect best practices in teaching. Also how these technologies influence student learning. You will find the history of how technology has been implemented in art education, to give the reader and …

Teaching Excellence: A Qualitative Case Study Of Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives, Nicole Frederick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative, collective case study explored the phenomenon of teaching excellence from the perspective of multiple stakeholders to include parents, administrators and teachers in one Michigan school district. Research questions focused on stakeholder perspectives regarding the cognitive and affective attributes, as well as dispositions of excellent teachers. Teaching excellence, for the purpose of this study, was defined as teachers who demonstrated high levels of effectiveness in four areas: planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities. Effectiveness was identified using teacher evaluation results of teachers who had at least 90% Highly Effective and Effective ratings with no rankings of …

Supporting Representation-Rich Problem-Solving In High School Physics, Lyrica L. Lucas

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

The literature on physics education research (PER) promotes the use of multiple representations (such as pictures, diagrams, written explanations, and mathematical expressions) to enhance the problem-solving ability of students through instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of a scaffolding strategy that involved the use of multiple representation tasks in problem-solving in a modeling physics class in high school. Another class with similar background was selected as a comparison group. In 12 in-depth problem-solving interviews of students drawn from the two classes, I investigated in detail how the students responded to the multiple representations tasks and …

A Case Study Of The Roles And Perceptions Of Writing Coaches, Amy June Schechter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore the roles, responsibilities, and perceptions of writing coaches, a form of embedded professional development, which had the opportunity to assist teachers in deepening their pedagogical knowledge of writing instruction. Furthermore, this inquiry sought to describe middle school teachers' (N = 235) perceptions of how writing coaches may have impacted their beliefs and pedagogy with regard to writing instruction. At the time I conducted this case study, no extant literature existed to describe the roles, responsibilities, or perceptions of writing coaches, and this inquiry sought to fill that void.

In an …

More Than A Personality Match? High School Administrator Views On The Process, Factors Relevant, And Effectiveness Of The Selection Of Cooperating Teachers, Julie Lickfelt Pavlini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the factors perceived relevant to high school administrators in selecting cooperating teachers in English, math, and science. Qualitative research techniques were used; themes from the data were organized by the research questions and analyzed through the conceptual framework of Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Effective Teaching. This study included semi-structured interview probes and two activity components.

All five participants were complimentary of their school's cooperating teacher selection process and identified several traits and factors as important in selecting cooperating teachers: commitment to professional development and continuous learning, enthusiasm for teaching, varied but not …

Teacher Perspectives Of Professional Learning Community Teams With Respect To Their Collective Inquiries: A Case Study, Allen Pratt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the perspectives of secondary level teachers in East Tennessee who are involved in Professional Learning Community (PLC) teams regarding both the environment and sharing of best teaching practices. The study examined PLC teams to better understand how the team design, interaction, and the process of collaboration enabled teachers to coexist as adult learners. The basic research question lies in what are teacher perspectives of PLCs relating to the environment of the collective inquiry and the transfer of knowledge at the secondary school level. The study examined PLC teams to better …

Cell Phone Cyberbullying's Impact On Victims' Attendance, Academics, And Social And Personal Life In School: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Nathan Heltzel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to describe and understand the shared experiences of five students in a medium-sized public high school in Northern Westchester County, New York, who were victims of cell phone cyberbullying and the impact this phenomenon had on the victims' attendance, academics, and social and personal life in school. Over the last decade, cell phone cyberbullying has evolved into its own phenomenon, thus becoming a significant singularity to be confronted. It is important to understand the didactic and textural descriptions of these experiences as lived by the participants in order to help parents, teachers, …

An Investigation Of The Variables That Predict Teacher E-Learning Acceptance, Juliette Attis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Because of advancements in information communication technologies (ICT), education has evolved in terms of how the students are taught and how students learn. Education can take place in a traditional setting and/or a virtual learning environment (VLE). Consequently, the purpose of this quantitative predictive study was to examine variables that best predict the e-learning acceptance of public school K-12 e-learning teachers. Using a hierarchical regression analysis to analyze 112 teacher survey responses, results demonstrated that the model consisting of the predictor variables (i.e., demographics and experience variables, computer anxiety, computer self-efficacy, technological complexity, perceived convenience, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease …

Rigor And Academic Achievement: Career Academies Versus Traditional Class Structure, Linda Kyees

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if students who attended high school Career Academy classes, as part of Career and Technical Education, showed greater academic achievement than students who attended traditional high school classes. While all participants attended schools in the same school district, and were seeking the same goal of graduation with a standard diploma, the Career Academy students had the benefit of all classes being directed by a team of teachers who helped them connect their learning to their desired career through collaborative learning projects and assignments. The traditional high school classes taught each subject independent …

A Case Study Investigating The Impact Of A Blended International Partnership On Perceptions Of Learning And Global Mindedness In A North Carolina High School, Jennifer Ricks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the ever-increasing popularity of international partnerships that blend study abroad and virtual learning, very little data exists to understand their impact on student attitudes and achievement. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the impact of a blended international school partnership on perceptions of learning and global mindedness in a North Carolina high school. Data was collected, in two phases, from stakeholder interviews, observations, an online Global Mindedness Scale survey, the NC School Report Card, and teacher lesson plans. Global mindedness was found to have increased as participants gained a multifaceted understanding of, and appreciation for, …

The Lived Experience Of Fatherlessness In Male Adolescents: The Student Perspective, Cory Dickerson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated the lived experiences of teenage males who did not have a father figure at home during high school. Participants included eight males of varying ethnicities, ages 18-23, who graduated from high school within the last five years. This was a qualitative study with a phenomenological design. The major data collection method was three in-depth interviews. The two research questions asked "How do adolescent males perceive the absence of a father to have impacted them during high school?" and "Were any school-related interventions available for students without fathers, and if so, how did students perceive these interventions to …

Though This Be Madness, Yet There Is Method In’T: Using Graphic Shakespeare Texts To Create Meaningful Engagement In The High School Classroom, Eric Kallenborn

All Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis covers the attempt to successfully motivate and connect with high school students by giving them the option of reading a graphic form of Hamlet instead of the original text. This research was conducted to not only dispel the myth that comics and graphic novels are juvenile and adolescent but to also explain the benefits of such texts to educators and administrators.

For this research, 10^th graders were assigned Hamlet and were allowed to select the graphic text over the traditional text, allowing for student buy-in from the selection. Students also took part in a project that …

Teaching Discussion In The English Methods Seminar: Climbing The Stairs To The High School Classroom, Diane Kern, Kathryn L. Johnson, Padma Venkatraman

College of Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Student Performance On Large-Scale Assessments: A View Of Long-Term Health, Career, And Societal Outcomes, Roman Usatin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the predictive power of student growth for large-scale assessments on meaningful life outcomes, focusing on the three categories of health, career, and societal involvement. Analysis was conducted using the NELS:88/00 dataset–a longitudinal study that followed a nationally-representative sample of over 12,000 eighth grade students from 1988 to 2000, until the students were 26 years old and entered into the work force. The large-scale assessment variables included math and reading performance in the 1988 cognitive batteries administered by NELS. To gauge growth levels, I generated Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) from tests administered by NELS from 1988 to 1992. …

Picturing The Reader: English Education Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs About Reading Using Photovoice, Michael Dicicco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As students begin secondary school, they are charged with learning more content, at a faster pace and with increased pressure from accountability measures (Dreschler, Shumaker, & Woodruff, 2004). If secondary students' reading difficulties are not identified and remedied, the gap between struggling readers and their peers widens every academic year (Edmonds, Vaughn, Wexler, Rutebuch, Cable, Tackett, and Schnakenberg, 2009).

The task of reading instruction primarily falls on English teachers, but Strickland and Alvermann (2004) note that while secondary English Teachers do have more preparation in reading instruction compared to other content area teachers, they are not as prepared as they …

Experiences Of Hispanic Students Enrolled In Secondary Agricultural Education Programs, Karina Salomon, José Vargas

Agricultural Education and Communication

Nearly 52% of the 72,445 [state] students enrolled in agricultural education are Hispanic. However, when many of these programs participate in leadership development activities beyond the local level, the diversity of their participants fails to mirror that of their enrollment. Many teachers are at a loss as to what they can do to cultivate the talent of these students.

In this phenomenological study, a focus group interview was conducted at a [state] high school agriculture program with the reputation for strong Hispanic student engagement. Nine Hispanic agriculture students were invited to participate. The purpose of the study was to interpret …

Teachers Of English In Pakistan : Profile And Recommendations, Ayesha Bashiruddin, Rabail Qayyum

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper answers a pertinent question: Who are the teachers of English in Pakistan? By answering this question, the current profile of teachers of English is highlighted. We were inclined to do this study because there was no data available in Pakistan. Data for this paper was generated through a survey questionnaire, which was filled out by 100 teachers of English over three years. Out of these 100 teachers, 53 teachers were from public sector schools, 29 teachers from communitybased English‐medium schools, and 18 teachers from private Englishmedium schools. These teachers belonged to various regions of Pakistan, which included Sindh, …

The Effect Over Time Of A Video-Based Reflection System On Preservice Teachers’ Oral Presentations, Michael Cavanagh, Matt Bower, Robyn Moloney, Naomi Sweller

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

We report the development of preservice teachers’ oral presentation performance based on a technology-mediated Video Reflection system. Participants video-recorded oral presentations and uploaded them to an online blog to view and reflect on their performance and that of their peers. Four presentations by forty-one participants were analysed using a range of criteria based on what we call the Modes of Communication (voice, body-language, words and alignment between them) and the Constructed Impression of the communication acts (confidence, clarity, engagement and appropriateness). Results indicate a significant improvement across all criteria with a decreased rate of improvement for later iterations.

Navigating With Trust: A Proposal For Transforming Public Sector Schools Towards Learning Organizations In Pakistan, Zubeda Bana

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

While working with teachers, teacher educators, educational leaders and principals of schools and teacher education colleges throughout the country, I am informed that the most significant factor for transforming public sector schools is winning the trust of teachers. Teachers, no matter how they are recruited and what their current competencies are, have become part of the work-force in public sector schools. It is observed that the school administrators have exhausted their trust and treat all kinds of teachers including good and committed teachers, with the same administrative approach which places them in odd situations, wherein they start losing their own …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of The Special Education Referral Process For Black Males Based On Ace: Administration, Culture And Environment, Malik Douglas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal comparative study is to contribute to the understanding of Critical Race Theory by using a parametric test to compare the independent variable of human characteristics to the dependent variables of Administrative, Cultural, and Environmental/ Hereditary (ACE) factors to develop a picture of parents'/guardians' and educators' attitudes about factors that may explain the overrepresentation of Black males in special education programs. A total of 162 participants completed a self-reporting demographic characteristic survey and the Gresham survey to provide information on the attitudes towards the administrative, cultural, and environmental/hereditary factors that may be correlated with the overrepresentation …

Understanding The Lived Experience Of Late-Entry English Learners In The Vista Canyon Unified School District, Joseph W. Boffa

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Many researchers have attempted to identify best practices, habits, and conditions of English Language Learners (ELs, ELLs) pertaining to school success. It is clear EL students pose unique and significant challenges, yet unclear what strategies and program models educators can implement to motivate learning, improve educational experiences, and appropriately acknowledge and reward these learners’ accomplishments. Few studies have attempted to determine the difficulties and challenges associated with academic success and probability of graduation for Late-entry English Learners (LEELs), defined as those entering the school system as eighth-through-twelfth grade students. Their test scores weigh heavily on high-stakes standardized testing accountability measures. …